Proposal On Homelessness in Albuquerque

By
Samantha Snyder and Brandon Weatherspoon
Introduction
Homelessness is a major problem that is growing within the state of New Mexico, more
specifically in Albuquerque. The purpose of this proposal is to highlight the issue that is
homelessness and its effects within our community. We at ABQ HOME, believe that we have a
solution that may counteract the effects of homelessness with the Albuquerque Area. It is a step
by step process thats ultimate goal is to temporarily house the homeless while offering them
rehabilitation and tools to get themselves back on their feet in a matter of 6 months to 2 years.
We believe that by doing this, we can decrease the homeless population and in long term add
more people who contribute to the economy of Albuquerque and the State of New Mexico.
Facts about homelessness in ABQ
An estimated 17,000 people in New Mexico will go without homes in the next year. Most
of which are residents of Albuquerque.1 Albuquerque is still ranked 5th highest in the nation for
poverty and homelessness;2 it is the largest city in our state with a population of over 500
thousand people. While that may seem like a drop in the bucket of the overall population, this is
still a problem that needs to be solved. There is also a correlation to the mental wellbeing of the
person and homelessness. Veterans and the mentally ill are accountable for almost 22 percent of

1 2http://www.smhc-nm.org/how-you-can-help/understanding-homelessness/ St. Martins

Hospitality Center. 2015.

the homeless population. A close second to single parents with one or more children, which was
at 37 percent in a 2012 survey.3

Effects
The effects of a growing homeless population can be quite devastating to not only the
people effected, but the places and things surrounding the homeless population as well. On
average, a homeless person dies at or before age 48. Their lives are 36% shorter than those who
live in a home.4 Homeless people in Albuquerque also have experienced extreme violence
towards them for no apparent reason in the recent years.

3 http://www.cabq.gov/family/documents/albuquerque-homeless-needs-assessment-final.pdf
CABQ. 2012.

4 http://www.smhc-nm.org/how-you-can-help/understanding-homelessness/ St.
Martins Hospitality Center. 2015

In July 2014 a homeless man had fireworks thrown at him from a moving vehicle. He
was badly burned and had to be hospitalized, the people who did this just thought of it as a prank
and even said that they hoped he would recover soon. 5 In 2015 three teenage boys attacked
two homeless men while they were asleep. The teens bludgeoned the men with metal poles and
bricks found in the field. The two men died after the attack. The attack was reported as
completely random. 6 We as Albuquerque citizens cannot forget about the shooting of the
homeless camper James Boyd in the mountains by two police officers. Boyd was mentally ill and
had lived on the streets.7 All of these incidents were not only made local, but also national. This
tarnished our citys image and brought a great deal of mistrust onto our police force.
Without proper methods to help reduce the homeless population in Albuquerque, it will continue
to grow and we as a city could be looked at with Detroit. This city has some of the highest
numbers of homeless people living in their city in the nation. We do not want to be looked at a
city who lets the need go without help. The higher the homeless population, the lower the
economy of the city and state and this can cause the numbers of unemployment to rise. It is all a
ripple effect that has the power to bring down a once thriving city such as the motor city of
Detroit.
We in Albuquerque are already starting to see an effect of homelessness in the areas
called tent cities, all of the tent cities that have been popping up since January of this year are
detrimental to not only the campers, but to the businesses and residents in the surrounding area
5 http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/two-arrested-albuquerque-burninghomeless-man-fireworks-n397176
6 http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/21/us/new-mexico-teens-murder-charge/
7 http://www.koat.com/news/everything-you-need-to-know-the-james-boydshooting-case-file/34430166

as well. The cities become overrun with crime; drugs, prostitution, and theft to name a few.
Residents have seen the people using their front lawns as bathrooms. Businesses have seen a
spike in items stolen from their shops, and even a decrease in people coming in to shop at all.8
Tent cities are not the solution to the homeless issue, in fact, they are just creating a much larger
problem. This is where ABQ HOME steps in to help.
PROCESS STEP BY STEP
Our step by step process shows what we believe is necessary to reduce the growing
number of homeless people in the state of New Mexico. The first step to resolving this issue is to
create rehabilitation centers to house the homeless. We at ABQ Home work in partnership with
Joy Junction which is located in Albuquerque to help shelter and care for the homeless. At ABQ
Home we have teams of specialists who analyze ways to help rehabilitate the homeless
population and eventually get them back on their feet. It is while they are living here that we
will give them job opportunities and access to the basic supplies that they will need to live
normal lives. We have a team of highly certified doctors and professional medical companies
who are willing to donate their supplies and time to help serve these people. This form of
medical care will involve basic routine check-ups, more serious care is needed, they will be
referred to the University of New Mexico Hospital. These rehabilitation facilities will be only
made available to a person for a minimum of 6 months to a maximum of 30 months.
The second step is to require that those living in our centers, pursue some form of
education, during this 6 month to 30 month time while they are with us. We do however

8 http://krqe.com/2015/01/23/abq-officials-to-clear-out-homeless-from-tent-city/ 9
http://news.unm.edu/news/unm-study-reveals-cost-benefits-in-housing-the-homeless

recommend that our residence receive this education from CNM, we have an agreement with this
institute stating that they will offer our residence access to education at a lower cost than the
average student. This cost deduction will be honored up to 60 credit hours or an associates
degree equivalent. This is a mandatory requirement for all of our residence to receive a degree or
education, if they do not, we will be forced to evict them. The second requirement is that the
head member of each apartment room get a job either through us or on their own. Each resident
will have to pay for a portion of their education and cannot do so without a job. This is also
shows the site managers and staff that each resident is working towards improving their life.
The third step into this project would be to build some sort of bus transit system that is
regulated by the city of Albuquerque. This transit system would be put in place to transport our
residents to and from work and school. We feel this is necessary because the homeless do not
have any way of getting around the city, this bus system would pick up our residents right
outside the facility and transport them to other bus locations. The passes to ride these buses
would be free and would only be offered within the hours of work or school, to ensure that no
illegal activity is taking place.
One of the questions many people have asked is how are we going to regulate those
evicted and ensure that they are receiving the help that they need. Each person upon entry into
the facility will give a fingerprint sample and DNA sample, along with this they will each fill out
a form that states they consent to our three strike system. This system grants each resident
three evictions before they are not allowed to reapply for residency for a five year period. Each
resident is given one month to make the transition from the streets and back into society, it is
during this time that they are not required to work or obtain an education. After each eviction or
strike, the person must wait one year before reapplying for residency in the facility. This ensures

that people do not take this system lightly and further enforces our desire to help give our
homeless population a fresh start. Each site is capable of housing 200 residents in small studio
like units which measure 495 square feet.10 The goal is to create small communities of people
who can slowly move from the life of homelessness and adjust back into regular life.
QUALIFICATIONS
We at ABQ Home are a team of individuals who are dedicated to reducing homelessness
within our City. Many of us are born and raised here and we have some members of our team
who were once homeless themselves. They found help in organizations like Joy Junction. These
people are able to relate directly with the homeless population and serve as our testimonial team,
which is tasked with serving as an example of what each person can become. Our overall goal is
to offer those who are homeless a hand up not a hand out. We want to help break their habits of
drug abuse and move them on into rewarding careers in their lives. We work closely with our
community and make it our goal to bring about change not only in the city of Albuquerque, but
also the state of New Mexico. Our team and staff consist of around 50 people who will be our
team working onsite within the facility. Along with this our medical team consist of 10 highly
trained doctors who work at the University of New Mexico Hospital and are dedicated to
volunteering their time to this cause.
ABQ HOME foundation is a homeless outreach program that was founded in 2013 by a
Samantha Snyder, Brandon Witherspoon and a group of around 5-10 volunteers who are
passionate to help the homeless within our city. We have worked alongside other homeless
shelters such as Joy Junction to help make living on the streets an easier thing for people to do.
Together with our communitys support, we have done projects such as dinners for the holidays
and handing out supply packages for those who lived in the Tent City on 2nd street. While these

initiatives proved to be helpful, ABQ HOME has wanted to do a larger project to help many
people out with more basic needs; like sheltering those who are willing to participate in a
community based rehab facility for the homeless in Albuquerque.
We tested this with a small building we had a permit to use in the downtown area. This
building however was only able to house around 5 people. ABQ HOME worked with these 5
homeless residents to teach them basic skills in order to improve their lives and get better paying
jobs. We even started a small garden of food grown by the residents to teach them the importance
of responsibility and working together with a group of individuals, which are skills that highly
valued by employers. The residents also participated in group activities and worked in several
entry level jobs such as janitors, kitchen workers, and cleaners. Since the start of this project, we
have seen an increase in the lives of these individuals and they are currently living on their own
and have their own jobs. This happened after spending a year so within our program. With the
success of these five residents, we would like to implement our program on a larger scale with
100- 200 residents.
COSTS & BENEFITS
The overall cost of this project would be a cumbersome burden to reach on our own and
with the support of many volunteers and donations, we are able to come up with a large amount
of the smaller expenses which total a great deal of this project. We are looking to the city of
Albuquerque to fund the building of these facilities and the bus transit system needed to help
transport these residents from different areas within immediate closeness to the facilities. A
majority of our staff are paid except for those in the medical fields they are licensed doctors who
donate 3-4 hours on the weekend to make sure each resident has a clean bill of health. The staff
on site consist of a Site Manager who is responsible for the upkeep and wellbeing of the

residents and staff. There are 10 caregivers who cover 20 residents each and are responsible for
keeping the site intact. There are a large number of duties who are given to the residents, this can
range from upkeep of the grounds, to working in the garden centers, to sanitation jobs. We offer
these jobs to our residents and they can in turn use these skill sets to get other jobs along the way.
Each of these areas is managed by a work supervisor who reports to the site manager. At each
site we plan to have 20+ people who work in the supervisory area. We have entered into
contracts with many companies to receive donations which helps us pay our workers and manage
certain costs that arise. At some point we would like to be fully self-functional however because
this is a new initiative it will take some time before things turn out that way.
We are petitioning for the city of Albuquerque to fund an estimated 1.5 million dollars to
build one of the 200 unit apartment complexes. We would like to see how the one will do and if
it is even necessary to build anymore.10 We plan to renew residents every two years which could
potentially lead to 1000 homeless people off of the street and living normal lives in one decade.
If this facility does exceptionally well, we would propose for the building of subsequent facilities
in later years. In addition to this cost, we would also like to ask the city of Albuquerque for an
additional 1.3 million dollars for a new bus system maned with 3 buses that is solely tasked with
serving the homeless facility. 2 busses will be running consistently and will rotate with each
other when necessary. After a certain time we hope to fill the drivers positions with some of our
residents. The total we are asking from the city is around 3 million dollars which will give this
proposal everything it needs to hit the ground running. Each year we would require an amount
totaling 1.7 million dollars to ensure that the upkeep of these facilities and transit is kept. The pie
graph below shows the basic costs of starting this program and the basic areas to which funding
will go. We predict that the basic costs to begin this project is 4.5 million dollars.10

Cost of one Apartment complex with

capacity to house 200 residents.
Cost of Bus system with three buses
Total cost for Upkeep of Transit and
Facilities
Total Estimated Initial Cost

1.5 Million Dollars

1.3 Million Dollars
1.7 Million Dollars
4.5 Million Dollars

ABQ Home Start up Cost Summary

11%

Facilites and Transit

donated Medical,
working utensils, food,
etc.

12%

Cost of Site Employees

15%

62%

Misc. Costs

With the establishment of facilities such as these we project that we can help decrease the
homeless population by a great degree. As stated before we have estimated 17,000 homeless
population in the state and most of them are in Albuquerque.1 With this in mind we have
estimated that our city alone spends $20 million dollars per year to house the homeless.9 Now
with this number in mind we would like to state that we are not housing the homeless but

rehabilitating them and giving them a second chance at helping the city. While our costs are
somewhat high, we believe that are in fact necessary to help the spending and well-being of this
city. If we receive the money we are immediately counteracting this issue and in turn we are
building citizens who can effectively contribute to the economy of Albuquerque.9 These expenses
of 20 million a year will likely decrease with these facilities and allow for the city and state to
receive more income because there is a smaller homeless population. In turn the city will save
an average of 3 million dollars per year by using this method.10 Just one of these facilities can
potentially help rehabilitate over 1000 homeless people within 5 years, we plan to build at least 2
in the city of Albuquerque alone because it is has the largest population of over 500,000 people
and has a large amount of potential job opportunities.
We would like to thank the city of Albuquerque and Mayor Richard Berrys office for
taking the time to read and consider this proposal. We would like to reiterate that this solution
will in fact lead to a better future for the city of Albuquerque and its homeless population. With
the increasing number of homeless people in this state and city, we believe that this is an issue
that needs to be highlighted and acted upon before it becomes more difficult to solve. We would
to thank you again for your consideration in regards to this issue and hearing our concerns.

________________________________________

10

http://publictransport.about.com/od/Transit_Vehicles/a/How-Much-Does-A-Bus-CostTo-Purchase-And-Operate.htm
11

https://www.cabq.gov/family/documents/albuquerque-homeless-needsassessment-final.pdf

Source Citation
1. http://www.smhc-nm.org/how-you-can-help/understanding-homelessness/ St. Martins
Hospitality Center. 2015.
2. http://www.cabq.gov/family/documents/albuquerque-homeless-needs-assessment3.

final.pdf CABQ. 2012.

http://www.smhc-nm.org/how-you-can-help/understanding-homelessness/ St. Martins

Hospitality Center. 2015

4. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/two-arrested-albuquerque-burning-homelessman-fireworks-n397176
5. http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/21/us/new-mexico-teens-murder-charge/
6. http://www.koat.com/news/everything-you-need-to-know-the-james-boyd-shooting-casefile/34430166
7. http://krqe.com/2015/01/23/abq-officials-to-clear-out-homeless-from-tent-city/
8. http://news.unm.edu/news/unm-study-reveals-cost-benefits-in-housing-the-homeless
9. http://publictransport.about.com/od/Transit_Vehicles/a/How-Much-Does-A-Bus-Cost-To10.

Purchase-And-Operate.htm
https://www.cabq.gov/family/documents/albuquerque-homeless-needs-assessment
final.pdf

Multimodal PSA 1