About Homelessness

Description of Homelessness in New Mexico

People who experience homelessness in New Mexico include families with children, people who are working at low-wage jobs, people suffering from mental illness, those with substance abuse problems, migrant workers, runaway or throwaway teens, victims of domestic violence and veterans. In other words, people who experience homelessness are a diverse group of people with a variety of factors contributing to their homelessness.

Based on the Coalition’s 2005 homeless count, we estimate that there are at least 17,000 people who experience homelessness in New Mexico over the course of a year.

Homelessness is caused by poverty and a lack of affordable housing. Homelessness has grown dramatically since the 1970’s due primarily to the steady decrease in public benefits for people living in poverty including welfare payments and public housing. In part because of the decrease in spending for public housing, there has been a steady decline in affordable housing. According to the National Coalition to End Homelessness, between 1970 and 1995, the gap between the number of low-income renters and the amount of affordable housing units in the U.S. went from almost no gap to a shortage of 4.4 million affordable housing units.

Homelessness in New Mexico is different in some ways from homelessness in other parts of the United States. One difference is that in urban areas homeless people who are not in shelters sleep in cars, abandoned buildings, and empty lots. In New Mexico homeless people use all of these places but they also camp out in the wide open spaces. This use of open space means that homeless people are somewhat less visible in New Mexico than in a more urban state. In Southern New Mexico many of the homeless are immigrants and migrant workers. In northwestern New Mexico known as Indian Country, many of the homeless are Native Americans.

The National Coalition to End Homelessness has a number of well researched fact sheets; please click on the “links” tab above for links to these fact sheets. We also have provided links to other New Mexico and national organizations that may be of interest.

Follow this link to a report that brings together and summarizes some of the available data on homelessness and affordable housing needs in New Mexico. The report divides the relevant documents into three distinct categories: 1) Reports 2) Plans 3) Charts & other data. Each category is also grouped into distinct geographical areas: 1) Albuquerque 2) Santa Fe and 3) Statewide. The report also includes some recommendations for future research and planning. To read the complete versions of each of the summarized documents, follow the tabs listed above.

Albuquerque Reports

1. 2009 Albuquerque PIT Count Report - Final
2. Results of a Survey Conducted of People Experiencing Homelessness in Albuquerque (September 2007)
3. City of Albuquerque Affordable Housing Needs Assessment 2008-2012 (July 2007)
4. City of Albuquerque 2007 Point in Time Count Report (April 2007)
5. Albuquerque Homeless Women Survey (2007)
6. Planning the End of Homelessness in Albuquerque; findings from community focus groups (power point presentation) (April 2006)
7. ABQ CoC Focus Groups Final Report (June 2009)

Statewide Reports

1. New Mexico Housing Trust Fund Feasibility Study (Not available in electronic form. If you would like a copy of this report, please contact the coalition office.)
2. 2005 PIT Count
3. PIT 2006 Homeless Count Summary
4. Statewide 2005 and 2007 PIT Count
5. 2007 Shelter and Non-Sheltered Chart with Chronic Homeless Count

Albuquerque Plans

1) A Community Response to Homelessness in Albuquerque (Fall 2007)

2) Albuquerque Consolidated Plan (July 2007) and Workforce Housing Plan (July 2007)

Santa Fe Plans

1) The Santa Fe 5 Year Plan to End Homelessness (June 2007)

Statewide Plans

1) NM Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative Long Range Supportive Housing Plan (December 2007)

2) NM Consolidated Plan (November 2005)

3) Proposed Stategy for Ending Homelessness in New Mexico (June 2005)

4) New Mexico Plan to End Homelessness (July - August 2004)

5) New Mexico Plan to End Homelessness - Priority Matrix (July - August 2004)

6) The Governor's Invest New Mexico Plan (December 2003)

Albuquerque

1) 2007 Albuquerque Continuum of Care Application (May 2007)

Statewide

1) 2007 Balance of State Continuum of Care Application (May 2007)

2) Cost of Homelessness Chart (October 2006)

Links, other data sources, and reports

2007 Albuquerque Homelessness survey	http://www.nmceh.org/pages/AlbuquerqueSurveyReport-Sept2007.pdf
New Mexico Human Needs Coordinating Council	http://www.hncc.org/
Children’s Defense Fund	http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer
New Mexico Out of Reach Data 2006 –National Low Income Housing Coalition	http://www.nlihc.org/oor/oor2006/area.cfm?state=NM
HUD Homeless Assistance	http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/homeless/index.cfm
New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority	http://www.nmmfa.org/
Link to Bare Bones Budget Summary	http://www.nmpovertylaw.org/BareBonesBudgetsummary.pdf
Link to Bare Bones Budget Full Report	http://www.nmpovertylaw.org/BareBonesBudgetfullreport.pdf
National Alliance to End Homelessness	http://www.endhomelessness.org/
National Coalition for the Homeless	http://www.nationalhomeless.org/
National Coalition for the Homeless Reports and Publications	http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/reports.html
National Low Income Housing Coalition	http://www.nlihc.org/
Corporation for Supportive Housing	http://www.csh.org/
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans	http://www.nchv.org/
Coalition for the Homeless	http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org
National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty	http://www.nlchp.org/
Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law	http://www.povertylaw.org/
Southern Poverty Law Center	http://www.splcenter.org/
New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty	http://www.nmpovertylaw.org/