In a first for the New Mexico Office of Housing, a new grant program to prepare for winter emergencies was announced earlier this month, with $820,000 distributed to shelters across the state, giving a maximum amount of $20,000 to each homeless shelter.
The funding seeks to help shelters prepare for the needs of people with unstable housing conditions during the winter by increasing the holding capacity of shelters and other living facilities and distributing greater amounts of warm food and drink, hygiene supplies including pads and tampons, and warm clothing, according to a New Mexico Department of Workplace Solutions press release.
“Cold weather can be dangerous for people without stable housing across our state,” NMDWS Cabinet Secretary Sarita Nair said in the press release. “By distributing funding for winter readiness, we are helping service providers expand capacity to ensure people not only have access to warmth and safety but also connect to essential services that can help them stay off the streets for good.”
Last winter, shelters like Joy Junction reported being near capacity as temperatures dropped, according to KOAT.
Among the shelters who applied and received the funding were Mesilla Valley Community of Hope and Project Comunidad.
“It’s really awesome, we’re really grateful to the Office of Housing. It’s something that we scrape together every year to make sure people are staying warm and this year the state is really helping us out,” Mesilla Valley Community of Hope Executive Director Nicole Martinez said.
Martinez said they have been purchasing as many items as possible with the grant money to get warming station supplies for people.
“My outreach staff are the ones disseminating the supplies and they go out on a daily basis to make sure people are getting what they need: blankets, water, hot hands,” Martinez said. “We’re seeing a ton of people helped who would not otherwise have access to these items.”
Jan Millis, the founder and CEO of Project Comunidad, said the grant program has its problems.
“It’s basically an Excel sheet where we put down different things we thought would be helpful like blankets, gloves, hats, neck warmers, emergency blankets and can openers. The hard part about the funds is that it is not a disbursement of funds, it’s all reimbursement. So I set myself up as a vendor and what we have to do is purchase and then send invoices. It’s so difficult,” Millis said.
Millis said Project Comunidad was notified last October that they had been awarded $13,590 to spend and get compensated for. Millis’ strategy for effectively using the grant money was to make a deal with a local grocery store.
“Some things I couldn’t afford to buy before reimbursement, so I went to the local store and I worked something out with them where they’re letting us purchase and give us an invoice and then I get reimbursed and I pay the store. It’s really cumbersome,” Millis said.
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Despite the reimbursement system being difficult to handle, Millis said it’s helping her in some ways.
“It’s helping just with that fact that we’re going to be able to get shelf-stable food, as opposed to the food we usually get from Roadrunner Food Bank. It’s good and everything, but it’s not always the best,” Millis said. “We’re at least able to put together kits from that and it’ll be something that’ll get them through the weekend, but now I’m really concentrating on the nutrients part and making sure they get the vitamins and protein they need to survive.”
Millis said they’re “not getting any funding” with the current system, and that it’s a “live and learn” situation. The state can do better next year by providing funding through disbursement and being more transparent when it comes to the type of help they’re going to be providing, Millis said.
“(The shelter) provides another contact for (the community), another safe space and it’s helping in the fact that I’m able to give out a little extra. Connections with the community, with schools, it helps get people in the door to see what we have to offer,” Millis said.
Penelope Loyd Sment is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on X @DailyLobo
