Proyecto Centro Salvavida will serve persons in El Paso County Texas as a population of focus who are homeless, migrant, on the street or in communities of persons who use drugs (PWUDs). Harm reduction and integrated servicecs will reach persons who are 70% Hispanic, 4% African American, 2% Tribal, 8% LGBTQIA and 5% rural. Proyecto Centro Salvavida will provide Harm Reduction, clinical trteatment including Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT) and integrated primary care, mental health care, recovery support services, recovery housing and peer supports.
The catchment area for the project is the US-Mexico Border in El Paso County, Texas, located in an isolated desert region in far WSest Texas with an estimated MSA of 985,000 in 2023. covering 1,015 square miles. The Paso del Norte Region includes the miloitary installations of Fort Bliss, the Tigua Tribe's Native American reservation, Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, Las Cruces, New Mexico and surrounding rural counties. The US Office of National Drug Control Policy identifies this region as a high-risk location or a High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). Close proximity to the international border with Mexico, fluid movement across the border and cross-border commerce make El Paso and Juarez a drug destination for persons who use drugs.
The El Paso Coalition for the Homeless reports over 900 unhomed persons on any given day in 2022, and in 2022 and 2023 unususlly large numbers of migrants entered El Paso who are sleeping on the streets and sidewalks around shelters and migrant relocation agencies.