New Mexico representatives host housing roundtable

New Mexico Reps. Melanie Stansbury and Gabe Vasquez gathered homelessness and housing service leaders in Albuquerque earlier this week to celebrate $16 million in federal grant funding coming to New Mexico.

“This is our first direct HUD money,” said Laura Fisher, director of Cuidando Los Niños, which hosted the Tuesday event. The nonprofit will use the $229,048 for rapid rehousing and eviction prevention.

“So many people are one expense away from catastrophe,” she said. “So we’ll be able to use these dollars for rental assistance, also utility assistance, car repairs, pet deposits if people are fleeing domestic violence and that’s a barrier preventing them from leaving.”

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care funds hold organizations accountable for making an impact on homelessness, said Jenny Metzler, executive director at Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless. The organization will receive $163,211 of the grant funds.

“The lack of access to health care is a major cause and consequence of homelessness,” Metzler said. “So we don’t want to just serve people with health care and then see them remain on the streets.”

Stansbury shared her own experience with homelessness in middle school, living in a tent in a family friend’s backyard for a summer after her mother lost her job.

“I think that part of our job as people who care for the community is to raise awareness that it’s OK to ask for help to let people know that all of these services are actually available to them, and there’s no shame in getting support from them,” Stansbury said.

What else Congress can do

Vasquez said that point-in-time counts that are used to help communities such as Albuquerque understand how many people are homeless often undercount children, an issue he’d like to work on with the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Vasquez and Stansbury, both Democrats, have also been supportive of the Affordable Housing Improvement Act, which would expand the low-income housing tax credit.

Congress could also further regulate large corporations’ buying affordable apartments and houses for profit, according to Stansbury.

“One of the issues that we’re seeing all over the country right now is that the Securities Exchange has made it allowable for private corporations to essentially use rent as an asset,” Stansbury said.

“So that means that large capital investors are now buying apartment buildings and housing stock all over the United States, including private corporations who are buying houses and essentially refurbishing them and using them for Airbnb. I believe, personally, housing is a human right and should be available to everyone and that for-profit corporations should not have the ability to purchase essentially affordable housing and use it for profit.”