A UNM student and professor are requesting assistance from the administration and the community at large after their apartments burned down earlier this month.
Charles Truxillo, who teaches religious studies, and Robert A. Gutierrez, a pre-med student, lost all of their possessions, including clothes, textbooks and computers, when the Castle Apartments on Central Avenue burned Aug. 4. It appears to have been an electric fire, but the cause of the blaze is still under investigation, Truxillo said.
Truxillo, who lived in the complex for 11 years without renter’s insurance, said the fire left him with little more than the clothes on his back.
“I really only have $110 of Kmart clothing,” he said. “I bought a couple of cheap suitcases, and that’s it.”
The 30 residents of the Castle Apartments received $160 for clothing and food from the American Red Cross and were reimbursed by the complex’s owners for August’s rent and their deposit, totaling between $900 and $1,100.
After the fire, Gutierrez and Truxillo reached out to the University community for aid. Truxillo said the majority of the help he’s received has been from individuals, but he’d like to receive more assistance from the University administration.
“People individually, as they’ve heard of it, have offered me clothes, pots and pans and stuff like that. One person has offered me a sleeper sofa, but it’s all been on a private basis,” he said.
University Spokeswoman Susan McKinsey said the Office of the President will provide Truxillo with a laptop and clothing.
She said she can’t recall a past instance of the administration providing aid of this sort to UNM staff, faculty or students.
Truxillo said he’s appreciative of the aid from the president’s office, but he believes his three-decade commitment to UNM should get him more.
“I’ve worked here off and on since 1982. That’s a long time,” he said. “I appreciate it tremendously, but it’s not really like the University administration is doing it. It’s almost cosmetic on their part, because they don’t want to seem like they’re coldhearted.”
Gutierrez, who lived at the Castle Apartments for a year and a half, said he has received financial aid and a laptop computer from El Centro de la Raza. He also received a loan of nearly $1,000 from the dean of students.
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Gutierrez said he also asked the financial aid office for help.
“You would think UNM would have some kind of emergency plan for a student who just lost their house,” he said. “Financial aid told me there isn’t any kind of exigency plan at all for help with anything.”
Gutierrez said he asked the dean of students if he could temporarily stay in the on-campus residence halls.
“When I talked to the dean of students, he said maybe he could get me to the front of the line on the waiting list, but they’re so packed,” he said.
Truxillo and Gutierrez are currently staying at a hotel until they can find permanent housing.
To donate money to Charles Truxillo and Robert Gutierrez, go to www.paypal.com and send money to robertag@unm.edu and charlestruxillo@yahoo.com
