From being formerly unhoused himself, David McKibben has seen the worst of what Albuquerque has to offer and wants to take an active position in changing the inhumane treatment of the unhoused community. With his own plans for making the city better, he encourages others to dispel the negative and untruthful stigmas around unhoused communities.
McKibben came to Albuquerque in 2012 hoping to find a job within the first two weeks of being here, but fell into a slump when that didn’t happen. In addition to that, his former drug use further intensified his situation, something many other unhoused community members struggle with as well.
“I wasn’t so happy about myself ... There was a lot of childhood trauma that was undealt with that led me to extreme drug use that just perpetuated me being homeless,” McKibben said.
McKibben explained that, for many, the struggles of experiencing homelessness are a downward spiral.
“A lot of the time, you don’t choose to be homeless,” McKibben said. “You just get stuck in it, then you get so down and depressed that you can’t help but want to use drugs to escape that. It’s just a dark hole.”
Many unhoused individuals often fear major disruption in their lives by the police, and in Albuquerque, reported force cases with the police became more common every year from 2016 to 2020, according to the 2020 Preliminary Annual Force Report.
Most of McKibben’s aggressive interactions with police were sparked by fearful property owners. In one instance, McKibben and other unhoused community members had a self-contained fire in a parking lot, but were approached by the Albuquerque Police Department and told not only to put it out but also leave.
“We tell him we’re not doing anything against city ordinances,” McKibben said. “They just responded, ‘Well, someone called.’ It all starts with a person saying, ‘Oh, they have nothing? I’m going to bother them.’”
While unhoused individuals are scattered around the city, many often cluster together in encampments to share resources or maintain warmth. However, Source NM has reported that these encampments have been targets of APD sweeps, in which property and valuables are destroyed or trashed, leading to quick decisions for individuals on what to take and what to leave behind. Arrests can also take place in sweeps, and McKibben has had friends arrested for years-old warrants on accounts of petty theft.
“Usually they take bags, tents or blankets ... Whatever little bit they might have. Whether it’s one bag or a dozen, it doesn’t matter,” McKibben said. “I know it looks like nothing in a trash can, but to them it’s everything they’ve got. They’ll dump it in the trash or sometimes they’ll even bulldoze people’s stuff. You either get out of there or you’ll be cited.”
After spending years on the streets, McKibben decided to get sober. Lacking sleep and coming down from drug abuse, McKibben suggested to his girlfriend that they get off drugs but she didn’t agree and kicked him out. After that, McKibben said he “walked into Alcoholics Anonymous and I just kept going.”
Later when pursuing sobriety, McKibben got a job at a gas station but was fired because of a hole in his pants. But after telling AA what happened, one of the leaders gave McKibben a ride to Walmart and handed over his credit card and pin number so he could go buy supplies. This was a turning point in McKibben’s life.
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Wesley Branch, long-time friend of McKibben, noted that McKibben’s story is one that displays how just a small amount of help can change someone’s life.
“David showed me just how far a person can succeed when they are given some love and a place to stay. He has shown me that a person can completely flip their lives into a positive direction when they are given an opportunity to do so,” Branch wrote to the Daily Lobo.
A huge factor in exacerbating the conditions of unhoused people is the antagonistic attitudes of housed communities toward those experiencing homelessness, especially in wealthier areas, according to McKibben. This, he said, only adds to the feelings of isolation and hopelessness.
“It just makes things worse when you don’t get support or people to help you out,” McKibben said. “You end up having to do bad things that people will judge you for because that’s the only way you can eat.”
Simple acts of kindness and empathy go a long way in bettering the lives of the unhoused, according to McKibben.
“You don’t know what heaven’s like until you haven’t eaten for three days and someone gives you a half-eaten cold calzone,” McKibben said.
McKibben hopes to take the lessons of his struggles and apply them toward giving back to his community. He’s transitioned to working in food service and ultimately plans to help stereotyped communities in his future.
“I want to start a restaurant and a sober living facility,” McKibben said. “I would hire recovering addicts, homeless people and felons ... It’s not about what people can do for us, but what we can do for each other.”
Dylan Haworth is a freelance reporter at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.comor on Twitter @dylanhaworth2
