City of ABQ, local nonprofit Crossroads for Women receive funding for housing

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The city of Albuquerque and local nonprofit Crossroads for Women received millions in funding from the Casa Connection Grant Program.

The program awarded a total of $10.6 million to organizations across New Mexico to create and improve transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness, a news release from the Governor’s Office states.

“Our experience shows that stable housing is an important first step for anyone experiencing homelessness on their path to improving all aspects of their life, and we’re grateful to the governor and her administration for supporting these critical efforts,” Monet Silva, executive director of the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, said in the release.

Crossroads for Women was awarded $2 million to increase housing capacity at Maya’s Place, a transitional living program designed for women coming out of incarceration, according to the release.

Funding will also help renovate an apartment building the organization purchased last year, and will serve up to 15 women and their families when completed, according to Crossroads for Women Executive Director Cory Lee.

“It’s going to allow women who are navigating homelessness, recovery and mental health to have a safe place to live with support systems,” Lee said.

The city of Albuquerque received $2.86 million, which will be used to buy a hotel and turn it into apartments serving as transitional housing for the homeless, the release states.

Hotel and motel conversions are central to Albuquerque’s push to boost permanent housing options for low- and moderate-income residents. Officials estimate that doing so will cost only about a third of building units from scratch.

The new state money is in addition to $20 million the city has available for such projects. The city has not yet bought any hotels to renovate – and a spokeswoman said there is no final agreement about where exactly to spend state funds – though officials have said they hope to start their first conversion in 2023.

Other grant recipients include the city of Deming, El Camino Real Housing Authority in Socorro and the Mescalero Apache Tribe Housing Department, according to the release.

Journal staff writer Jessica Dyer contributed to this report.