20 Apr Lisa Huval and Monika Dziamka
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The City of Albuquerque Department of Family and Community Services provides quality health and social services, housing, recreation, and education to improve the quality of life for every community in Albuquerque. Lisa Huval, Deputy Director of Housing, and Monika Dziamka (Jam-kah), Public Affairs Specialist for the City of Albuquerque Family and Community Services, explain the six strategies deployed by their department to accomplish these goals:
Strategy 1: Acquire, rehab, and convert motels into affordable efficiency apartments with on-site supportive services
Strategy 2: Develop Affordable Rental Units through New Construction or Acquisition/Rehab of Existing Multi-Family Properties
Strategy 3: Preserve existing affordable units
Strategy 4: Create more supportive housing voucher
Strategy 5: Create Project-Based Vouchers
Strategy 6: Increase Down payment assistance to help low-and-moderate income homeowners purchase their own homes
Family and Community Services offer a FREE Eviction Prevention Clinic on May 25, 2022. 714 4th Street SW, Albuquerque, NM. 12;30-3:30 pm MT. The clinic is FREE, but you must register online before May 20th. https://www.cabq.gov/family/services/homeless-services/eviction-prevention. Contact 505-768-HELP for more information about Housing resources available.
Catherine Wier
Posted at 11:15h, 08 December12/8/22
Dear Ms. Huval:
In August, 2021, I was given a 30-day notice to move out of the apartment I’d rented for 18 years in Albuquerque, of which my rent was regularly paid on time. The notice said it was to refurbish.
I then did an extensive search of property management companies, listing rental openings. With each management company, there was the stipulation that in order to apply to rent at any house/complex they oversaw, my income must be 2 1/2 to 3 times the rent amount. The Apartment Store, that helps people find apartments, houses for rent, had the same requirement, just to help someone look. I was informed at a low income- based complex, that I had to make 2 1/2 to 3 times the rent, to apply and was informed by managers there that they regularly had wait lists, a number of months out. I only had 30 days.
When I couldn’t find a place on time, my daughter offered me to stay in her 1 bdrm unit, which I did for 3 weeks, until I found a room to rent at a friend’s. I continue to rent there today.
By the grace of God, I had friends/family to take me in. I’m wondering if some of the hundreds of people lined up on curbsides, with baskets, haven’t had the same experience, but didn’t have that opportunity for help.
In evenings, the temperature is currently falling well below freezing. This last summer it reached 106 regularly, a deathly number if one is exposed to it for hours.
I was informed by one property manager, that as a result of Covid and renters’ loss of income, that management companies have instituted this policy, to assure themselves of continued income. It’s understandable that a company would want to cover its base. But aren’t there solutions that might accomplish the same, without proving to be so crippling for many of us?
Could we consider offering these companies some kind of credit, if they lowered this standard, or come up with some kind of creative solution, to help these people obtain a shelter, possibly asking for federal assistance?
During the fires in northern New Mexico, funds were obtained to help those who’d lost their homes. In this post pandemic environment, are these people any less victimized or undeserving?
For years, I as well as others have maintained a shelter on a limited budget. Have become skillful at it and are some of the most reliable renters. If the bar and/or conditions for one to obtain a dwelling, are made too onerous, rigid, some of us don’t have a chance of obtaining a space.
Currently a number of stores in New Mexico are having to close early because of looting. If one has no where to keep their basic supplies, they’re going to have to obtain them somehow. It is extremely difficult to maintain employment while being homeless.
I’m hoping that someone may help to come up with a collaborative solution as to how both management companies and the rental population can benefit, to take a look at what may be a factor in the relentless, homeless, predicament here.
Catherine Wier