Homeless In New Mexico: It’s Hard to Stay Home When You Don’t Have One

While it is hard to get an exact count on how many New Mexicans have no home to shelter in during the pandemic, we can say that the numbers will no doubt increase and that the resources to assist will decrease. As the public health and economic crisis continue, New Mexican families will become more vulnerable to financial hardship. A recent update New Mexico's homeless shelters found that none of the shelters in NM, except in Albuquerque, are accepting new residents.

The best response is to prevent homelessness from happening. There are new protections in place for those who have lost income due to the COVID-19 emergency. The NM Coalition to End Homelessness has handouts that explain your rights to stay in your home and to keep your utilities on during this time.

For those who are currently experiencing homelessness, the situation is much more threatening. The City of Albuquerque's Westside Emergency Housing Center remains open and has been adapted to provide physical distancing for all residents and isolation areas for those with COVID-19 symptoms. But with most shelters no longer accepting new residents, several cities, including Santa Fe and Albuquerque, have begun to offer housing in hotel and motel rooms. This is expensive, and these are usually reserved for those who are vulnerable or with COVID-19 symptoms.

The NM Coalition to End Homelessness is working with other shelters to place vulnerable persons in motel or hotel rooms, using a small grant from the National Low-Income Housing Coalition. New Mexico is also expecting approximately $4 million in federal funds for homeless services arriving in mid-May.

For right now, Hank Hughes, Executive Director of the NM Coalition to End Homelessness, encourages New Mexicans who want to help to donate to their local shelters, either directly to the shelters or through the Coalition website. For a list of shelters and services in your area, enter your location in this search.

Stay Home, Stay Safe, Save Lives

COVID-19
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) remind us that if we follow a few rules all the time, we can help keep ourselves, our friends and family, and our community safe. Check out this flyer on How to Protect Yourself and Others.

In addition to protecting yourself and others, you may need help with resources!  If this is true for you, everyone can access SHARE New Mexico’s comprehensive online resource directory. It’s free to use and made for you! Please check out SHARE New Mexico’s COVID-19 resource page.

Domestic Violence Shelters are Open and Needed

A recent check of NM’s domestic violence shelters confirms that they are open throughout the state, although some are cutting capacity to allow for physical distancing. Unfortunately, domestic violence has spiked during the COVID-19 emergency. “This is a trend [shelters have] been seeing around the country, and around the world,” Albuquerque District Attorney Raúl Torrez, said. “… The thing that concerns us the most is we have victims that are either unable to report the crime or if they’re able to report the crime, feel like they’re going to be trapped with their offender.”

Claudia Medina, executive director of Enlace Comunitario, said for the women her organization serves, mostly undocumented immigrants, this is an especially trying time. “They don’t qualify for the stimulus package, they don’t get unemployment, so those things compound the daily stressors,” Medina said. “They don’t speak English, so navigating the information about COVID-19 is hard … They really, really are in a tough situation.”

For a list of domestic violence services and shelters near you, enter your location in this search.

Finding Food

Food Emergency Call to Action

Help spread the message! Calling New Mexicans to help with COVID-19, Food, Hunger, and Water Relief

• STEP 1: Copy and paste the Food and Hunger Call-to-Action Text into an email.
• STEP 2: Embed the Volunteer, Donate, Contribute, and Help Infographic (as seen on the left of this webpage) into your email. Download it in either a JPEG or PDF.
• STEP 3: Send it to friends and family who want to help with food, hunger and water relief efforts!

New Mexico First to Help with Food, Water, and Hunger Relief Efforts

New Mexico First is pleased to address food, water, and hunger COVID-19 relief efforts by facilitating weekly team meetings meant to help coordinate efforts to address relief issues. We meet to exchange information, identify opportunities for collaboration, reinforce systems that are in place and emerging from the State’s emergency response efforts, and connect local problem-solvers and hunger and water relief providers to one another. We are also coordinating specialized action teams that address communication, policy, food system issues, and funding. Please note: Foremost, the State of New Mexico is responsible for coordinating resources around food, water, and hunger and fair distribution of personal protective needs with front-line relief providers. This work group is NOT intended to duplicate government emergency response efforts.

Check out the New Mexico First Food, Water and Hunger Relief Efforts Website.

The work group includes policymakers, the emergency food sector, farmers, ranchers, resilient agriculture advocates, faith communities, anti-hunger and anti-poverty advocates, human rights advocates, health providers and advocates, local food system advocates, researchers, philanthropy, and more.

If you would like to help the COVID-19 food and water emergency efforts by joining any action team, please email Melanie Eastwood at melanie@nmfirst.org.

Democracy at its best!

Update Voter Registration! 
If you are planning to vote in the 2020 Primary Election, you must be registered with a major political party (Democratic, Republican, Libertarian) before May 5, 2020. Update your voter registration today in just a few minutes.

Stay Home, Vote Absentee! 
Absentee voting begins on Tuesday, May 5, 2020, for the Primary Election. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is May 28. Go to NMVote, which contains the absentee ballot portal.

Census 2020!

A Tip for Staying Engaged: Get Curious

In all relationships, there is the potential for conflict. What we do to address conflict determines if relationships are strengthened, weakened, or destroyed. One of the most useful ways to approach conflict in order to build relationships is to remain curious. Curiosity implies a joy in not knowing and an openness to learning.

While it is true that there are things that we don’t know that present a threat (and there is no joy in a threat), a curious mind allows us to be flexible and avoid rigid thinking. A supple mind allows us to invite other perspectives, values, and ways of approaching problem definition and problem-solving. It is this flexibility which allows us to grow in stressful and conflicted times.
Simple but useful questions that we can ask ourselves and others in times of stress to strengthen relationships include:

• What is that person/group seeing that I don’t understand?
• What has that person/group experienced that is informing their approach to this situation?
• How might our different experiences/beliefs be contributing to this conflict?
• What strengths and assets might we find together given our diverse perspectives?