A number of existing and planned homeless facilities are in line for funding in Albuquerque, as the city applies some $49.1 million in federal funding it has received owing to Covid 19.
The funding is coming through the American Rescue Plan, a nearly $2 trillion economic stimulus bill passed early last year by Congress and signed into law by President Biden.
The purpose of the plan has been to provide funding support for communities impacted by the pandemic.
Member of the Albuquerque City Council have now approved using ARP for a variety of projects, with $4 million supporting the continued use of motels being used for both homeless families and those, because of Covid 19, in isolation.
At least three such motels were set up by the city in 2020, providing room space in existing commercial motels.
Around $1.6 million in ARP funding will go for improvements to the city’s West Side Emergency Housing Shelter, located at 7440 Jim McDowell NW, a 24/7 operation with around 300 beds.
An additional $9.3 million is slated for first and second-phase improvements to the Gibson Health Hub, which is housed in the former Lovelace Hospital at 5400 Gibson Boulevard SE.
That facility is also receiving some $3.5 million for the building out of a medical respite center designed to serve people who are both ill and homeless.
An additional $7 million is slated for the construction of a youth shelter, which is still in the talking stage.
In a statement, Mayor Tim Keller said that since the onset of Covid 19, cities across the country have seen a “tragic and rapid rise in homelessness.”
Keller added: “We can’t just wring our hands over this challenge, we have to press forward and build the spaces that will provide the shelter and support people need to find stable housing and get off the street.”
According to the National League of Cities, well over 300 cities and towns have so far received just over $25 billion in ARP funding. That funding, in turn has supported around 4,600 housing, infrastructure, public health, and public safety projects.
By Garry Boulard
