HOUSING FOR ALL!!! NEWS FROM THE NEW MEXICO COALITION

TO END HOMELESSNESS

Volume 18, Number 2 July 2018

Applicants Sought for New Projects to House Homeless People in New Mexico by Hana Gossett, Project Manager

The New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness is seeking applicants for about $500,000 in federal funding expected to be available through the Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance grants. The grants can be used to fund new projects that provide housing for people experiencing homelessness in New Mexico. NMCEH is looking for new projects that would use $100,000 to $200,000 annually for housing the homeless.

The Coalition coordinates the annual federal applications for homeless assistance that bring approximately $10 million to New Mexico. New applications are sought that will provide permanent supportive housing for homeless people with disabilities or rapid rehousing rental assistance for homeless people who are able to work and eventually to pay their own rent.

The bulk of the annual funding goes to existing projects in the communities of Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Farmington, Las Cruces, Las Vegas, Clovis, and Silver City. State and local funding supplement the federal funding in most communities. The current New Mexico projects provide permanent supportive housing for 2,500 formerly homeless people with disabilities and temporary housing for 1,300 homeless people who are working to get back on their feet.

The Continuum of Care application process in New Mexico is divided into two geographic regions: the City of Albuquerque and everything outside of Albuquerque, the latter of which is referred to as the “Balance of State.” Applications will be accepted in both regions.

Any nonprofit agency or local government seeking to be a new applicant is requested to register its interest with the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, so that Coalition staff can assist with the application process. Applicants interested in an Albuquerque project should contact Lisa Maury at lisa-m@nmceh.org, and those interested in Balance of State projects should contact Michael Nitsch at michael-n@nmceh.org.

Applicants will go through a two-stage application process. The first stage is a local review to decide which projects will be submitted to the federal government, and the second stage is the consideration of new proposals by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Housing Trust in Santa Fe uses Con-tinuum of Care Funding to help formerly homeless people rent some of the apart-ments in their projects such as Stage Coach Apartments.

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Volume 18, Number 2 HOUSING FOR ALL!!!

From the Executive Director

Standing Up for What is Right

It took a lawsuit, but we have succeeded in getting the Department of Taxation and Revenue to issue

new regulations that make it simpler to obtain an ID or driver’s license. This is extremely important for

homeless people, who cannot begin to put their lives back together without an ID, and who often

lose their ID and other paperwork in the process of losing their housing.

When HB99 was passed by the Legislature in 2016, the law created a two-tiered system for driver’s

licenses and state ID cards. It was a compromise and allowed for those who want a license or ID that

complies with the federal Real ID Act to have a card that complies with those requirements. It also

allowed for those people who didn’t need or want the new type of ID to have a simple driver’s license

or ID card that can be obtained quickly with less documentation. This lower tier is especially

important for people in a crisis like homelessness because, without an ID, you cannot rent an

apartment, stay in a motel, get a job, or cash a check.

We at the Coalition, Somos Un Pueblo Unido, and several individuals, including individuals

experiencing homelessness, and others, sued the Department of Taxation and Revenue because the

regulations they issued after the new law passed added requirements for getting even the simple ID ,

something not intended by the legislature.

At a court hearing about the issue on May 11, the Department of Taxation and Revenue essentially

agreed that we were correct and that they needed to issue new regulations to simplify the process for

getting the non-federal ID or license. Once the new rules go into effect, it will again be possible for

homeless people to get IDs quickly and get on with their lives.

We are excited to announce that Jeremy Yazzie has been named the “Volunteer of the Year” at the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico at their recent “Not Your Mama’s Tea Party” gala. In addition to his work at the TGRCNM, Yazzie serves as an AmeriCorps VISTA member for the NMCEH at Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless. In his acceptance speech, Yazzie noted that he did not set out to become a leader: “I don’t think many people arrive at leadership that way. I set out to help a remarkable space – TGRCNM – and I tried my hardest to ensure that transgender people do not face additional barriers to HIV testing, counseling, and prevention. Discrimination by healthcare professionals is a very real fear, as is being denied treatment because of one’s gender identity or expression. It must end. These barriers make it more likely for transgender people to avoid getting tested for HIV and less likely to remain in care. This has been my honor and a privileged journey.”

Congratulations, Jeremy!

Hank Hughes, Executive Director NMCEH

Jeremy Yazzie, NMCEH AmeriCorps VISTA, Named “Volunteer of the Year” at the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico.

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HOUSING FOR ALL!!!

Thank You to Our Individual and Business Supporters (since previous newsletter)

Board of Directors: Nicole Martinez, Co-Chair, Mesilla Valley Community of Hope Alexandria Taylor, Co-Chair, Valencia Shelter Services Carol Luna Anderson, Treasurer, The Life Link Deborah Tang, Secretary, St. Elizabeth Shelter Celeste Trujillo, Co-Chair, Community Against Violence Liz Reynolds, Health Care for the Homeless of Santa Fe Lynn K. Valdez, Cion Housing Services Linda Stone, First Nations Community Healthsource Mary Ann Chavez Lopez, El Camino Real Housing Authority Lynn Love, San Juan County Partnership Henrietta Correa, Homeless Advocate David Sisneros, Heading Home Connie Chavez, Barrett Foundation Ann Shaw, Advocate Joe Berenis, Interfaith Shelter Meryl Lieberman, Casa M ilagro

Advisory Board: Abigail Adler, Peter Chapin, Peter Glankoff, Gloria Holloway, Betty Baxter, Karen Beall, Sana Morrow, Tobie Dicker, Alan Jones, and Susan Kelly

Michael Amstrong Jean Bergeron Georgia & William Carson June & Thomas Catron Thomas Claffey John Clubbe Nancy Dahl First Financial Credit Union Rebecca Frenkel

Staff: Kevin Arthun, Coordinated Assessment Connection Specialist BeAnna Chavez, Coordinated Assessment Connection Specialist Victoria Cruz, Data Analyst Hana Gossett, Albuquerque CoC Program Manager Hank Hughes, Executive Director Julie Jacquez, HMIS Project Manager AJ Johnson, Intern Stephanie Lefebvre, Office Manager Lisa Maury, Albuquerque CoC Program Director Michael Nitsch, Balance of State CoC Project Manager Benjamin Ofoma, HMIS Data Quality Coordinator Mark Oldknow, Program Director Rebecca Poe, AmeriCorps VISTA Leader Roman Seaburgh, Director of Strategic Initiatives Brie Sillery, Planning Assistant Donna Trainer, Coordinated Assessment Connection Specialist

Member Organizations and Individuals: For a list of our 80 members, please go to www.nmceh.org

Our Sincere Gratitude Goes Out to These Individuals & Organizations

Home is Where the Art Is Auction Committee: Andrew Rochelle, Judith Shaw, Marsh McMurray Avila, Trina Wheeler, Genevieve Buskirk, Aubrey Harris, Sarah McCord, and Lyn Jones.

Special Thanks to: Everyone who volunteered their time for our Home is Where the Art is Auction. The members of the Milagro group — Ginger Moreno, Lizette Gutierez, Arnold Baca, Bobbi Romero, Dan O’Connor, Grace Alonzo, Jan Hans, Chris Baca, and Lee Allen. Thank you for your continued support of homeless youth! Zoe Lebeau and Jenn Lopez for working with our eight toolkit communities with their new housing projects. City Concilors Renee Villareal, Signe Lindell and Carmichael Dominguez for sponsoring a resolution creating a task force to address homelessness in Santa Fe. Trina Wheeler for doing an online fundraiser for HMCEH for her birthday. Sharron Welsh, outgoing executive director of the Santa Fe Community Housing Trust for creating some of the nicest housing for homeless people in New Mexico.

Windeagle & Rainbow Kinney-Linton Patricia Lollar Daniel Nickelson Linda Osborne Santa Fe Real Estate Scene, LLC—Darlene Streit Norma Lee Schmidt Martha & Ken Simonsen Vanguard Charitable

N O N P R O F I T O R G .

U . S . P O S T A G E P A I D

S A N T A F E , N M

P E R M I T N O . 1 4 0

PO Box 865 Santa Fe, NM 87504 Phone: 505.982.9000 Fax: 1.888.527.6480 www.nmceh.org

The New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness

Creating more housing for homeless people

Quickly connecting homeless people to housing

Holding governments accountable

The New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Ray Belcher’s Success Is Part Of Ending Veteran Homelessness by Hank Hughes, Executive Director

Ray Belcher is a professional fine-art photographer

and Navy veteran. He has also been homeless, off

and on, for years. I met him at the St. Elizabeth

Shelter in the 1990s, and we have stayed in touch

since then. In March, Ray moved into the most

stable home he has had in many years, thanks to

the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program

(VASH). The VASH program is part of the federal

government’s effort to house all homeless

veterans, and one of the tools we use locally when

we locate a homeless veteran through our Coordi-

nated Entry Program. In this program, the formerly

homeless veterans only pay what they can afford.

Ray is a gentle soul who speaks softly and smiles

easily. Ray and I met recently in Circle Park in Santa

Fe to look at some of his recent photographs, which are of brightly colored clouds framed with Ray’s ex-

pert eye. “Photographing clouds,’ according to Ray, “is like being a mountain climber where the mountain

just appears right in front of you.” Some of Ray’s earlier work hangs in the New Mexico State Capitol, and

New Mexico Magazine has included many of his clever photographs of New Mexico landscapes.

“I can cook for myself, and there’s a shower. I don’t have to keep my belongings in storage.” These are

some of the advantages Ray is appreciating about his new home. “One of my friends works in a restaurant,

and he is showing me how to cook some new things.” Ray credits his VA case manager, John Herman, for

helping him stay on the right track to keep his housing, and the staff and volunteers at Pete’s Place who

help homeless people with panache.

If you want to see Ray’s photos, he will be part of a show at the Interfaith Community Shelter a.k.a. Pete’s

Place (Cerrillos Road at Harrison Road) on Saturday, July 21 from 2-5 pm.