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Albuquerque Awards $2M For Homeless And Hunger Services

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The city of Albuquerque will award over $2 million in contracts to five local nonprofits to fund mental health, homelessness and hunger programs. 

Half a million dollars of the city’s funding will pay for housing programs run by Health Care For the Homeless and the Supportive Housing Coalition. Anita Córdova is with Healthcare for the Homeless.

"The reality is that 50 percent of people in Albuquerque are paying more than 30 percent of their income, in particular renters, to housing,” she said. “That makes them extremely vulnerable to the experience of homelessness.”

Nearly a million dollars in city funding will pay for mental health and housing services at St. Martin’s Hospitality CenterRoadrunner Food Bank and First Nations Community Healthsourcewill also receive cash to support food programs.

Mayor Richard Berry has cut funding to other social services in the past. In 2011, his office slashed half the budget of the Albuquerque Indian Center.

Ed Williams came to KUNM in 2014 by way of Carbondale, Colorado, where he worked as a public radio reporter covering environmental issues. Originally from Austin, Texas, Ed has reported on environmental, social justice, immigration and Native American issues in the U.S. and Latin America for the Austin American-Statesman, Z Magazine, NPR’s Latino USA and others. In his spare time, look for Ed riding his mountain bike in the Sandias or sparring on the jiu-jitsu mat.
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