The city of Albuquerque will award over $2 million in contracts to five local nonprofits to fund mental health, homelessness and hunger programs.
Half a million dollars of the city’s funding will pay for housing programs run by Health Care For the Homeless and the Supportive Housing Coalition. Anita Córdova is with Healthcare for the Homeless.
"The reality is that 50 percent of people in Albuquerque are paying more than 30 percent of their income, in particular renters, to housing,” she said. “That makes them extremely vulnerable to the experience of homelessness.”
Nearly a million dollars in city funding will pay for mental health and housing services at St. Martin’s Hospitality Center. Roadrunner Food Bank and First Nations CommunityHealthsourcewill also receive cash to support food programs.
Mayor Richard Berry has cut funding to other social services in the past. In 2011, his office slashed half the budget of the Albuquerque Indian Center.