The Town of Taos pursues a variety of beneficial partnerships in its ever expanding array of constituent services and programs. One such program is the creation of a Taos Homeless Shelter - a dream that has finally begun to materialize on Albright St., next to the County of Taos Planning Department. This portable building began its relocation Tuesday, July 10, and should be up and running within the next couple of months. It's taken a while, but delays have primarily been due to the fact that to date most of the effort has been driven by volunteers (listed below) who have had to work around their own demanding schedules. Now Town of Taos staff, plus volunteers, will be completing the shelter's 'reconstruction' and remodel, including the addition of bathrooms.

The building itself has been made available through a lease between the local school district and the Town of Taos. Taos County has allowed the building to be placed on its land. The Town is pursuing the finished remodeling, including an allocation of $30,000 to this effort, plus staff time. And, community and business volunteer contributions have rounded out the overall partnership effort. Welders and painters are still needed to assist with completion - call the Town of Taos Buildings Division at 737-5849 if you want to be among them.

As of July 11th, the list of community and business donors/volunteers have included the following:

• Dr. Douglas Scott
• Architect: Jack Nottingham
• Plumbing & Electrical: Phoenix Mechanical, Bob Draper
• Site Utilities and foundation: A & S Construction
• Handicap shower: Dahl, Inc.
• Plumbing fixtures: Perry Supply, Inc.
• Rebar and block: Randall Lumber
• Lumber, sheetrock & paint: Cooks
• Concrete: Northern Mountain Construction