ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Albuquerque programs supporting the homeless will have to make do with less money.
The city has cut millions from programs for the new fiscal year, leaving hundreds of people at risk of not having housing.
The Permanent Supportive Housing programs support nearly a thousand individuals throughout the city.
The Coalition to End Homelessness says losing these funds could put those people back on the street.
“So these cuts to these different individual organizations are going to have an impact across the system and that really worries us,” said Monet Silva, Executive Director of the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness.
Millions of dollars are being cut from programs supporting the homeless in Albuquerque. A move that now has close to a dozen organizations scrambling to keep people off the streets.
“When we’re seeing homelessness on the rise we don’t want to add to that because money has been cut without really understanding the big picture,” said Silva.
According to the new budget for fiscal year 2025, $4 million has been cut from 11 housing providers.
The reduction has forced some organizations to lay off staff, reduce supportive services, and stop new enrollments.
The city says the budget cut was based on how much money was spent during the previous fiscal year.
“So when the folks who work on our financing were looking at what contracts were spent last year, they saw that some were not spent and thought that this was a logical place to make a change,” said Maria Wolf, Homeless Innovation Officer for the city’s Health Housing and Homelessness Department.
However, the city said they have realized that some funds might not have been used due to programs having issues with securing leases that fall outside of a fiscal year.
The city and the Coalition to End Homelessness say they’re already discussing solutions to the funding cuts, including providing supplemental funding.
Read more news:
- Biden Campaign Mobilizes Across Georgia Ahead of Debate Clash
- Kristi Noem Denies Formal Vetting for Trump’s VP, Focuses on Winning Strategy
“We are still working with those providers to extend their contracts to allow them to get more of those people into housing with that funding that was allowed in last year’s contract,” said Wolf.
The Coalition to End Homelessness asks programs impacted by the funds to attend the next city council meeting. They will be speaking about these issues during public comment.
City Council meets on Monday. KRQE News 13 reached out to Albuquerque City Council for comment but is still waiting for a response.