HOMELESSNESS AWARENESS AND ADVOCACY GROUP at the UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO

Homelessness can happen to anyone!

The University of New Mexico Homelessness Awareness and Advocacy Group

was a chartered student organization which was active in the years 1997-1998. Our goals were to: We are no longer active, however, we are leaving this website up for reference purposes. You might be better off checking with some of the individual agencies listed on our services for homeless people in Albuquerque page, or with the United Way of Central New Mexico.

What's the situation for homeless people in Albuquerque?

Both St. Martin's Hospitality Center and Joy Junction have recently documented serving more than 5,000 individuals in a year's time. The vast majority are New Mexico residents. About 10% of Albuquerque's homeless are merely stranded on their way to some other location; for them, Albuquerque and New Mexico become the land of entrapment, not enchantment.

About 35% of Albuquerque's homeless are chronically mentally ill or mentally incapacitated. According to some estimates, between 25% to 75% of the homeless have substance abuse issues. They comprise the most obvious segment of the homeless to the general public. Yet, a substantial portion of the homeless (30%) are women and children. Families are the fastest growing sub-group of homeless people in Albuquerque, following the larger national trend.

At least 35% work part- or full-time. An assessment by the director of University of New Mexico's Bureau of Business Research, Brian McDonald, cited New Mexico's poverty rate (24%) as the highest in the nation. New Mexico median household income fell 14% between 1993 -1996, the sharpest drop of any state in the country. "We're creating more jobs that pay below the median than pay above the median - and this took place during a boom, " McDonald said. "We created a lot of jobs, but a lot of low-paying jobs." (NM Business Weekly, Dec.1-7, 1997) Thus, Albuquerque's homeless also represent the working poor.

How do people become homeless?

Homelessness can happen to anyone for many reasons.

  • High personal debt
  • The onset of a chronic illness
  • Lack of medical insurance
  • Veterans' trauma issues
  • Domestic violence
  • Low education/ Lack of job skills
  • Court decisions
  • City of Albuquerque "No Auto Insurance:Tow Away" Law
  • Labor law
  • Tenant law
  • Post-prison social reintegration
  • High housing costs
  • Lack of comprehensive public transportation
  • Stranded without money
  • At-work injuries
  • Sexual abuse
  • Substance abuse
  • Teenagers who run away
  • Gang membership
  • Gambling debts
are all reasons why people are homeless in Albuquerque.

HAAG's position

Both the University of New Mexico and the Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute (T.V.I.) have over 30,000 students and over a billion dollars worth of resources which could be applied to the issue of poverty.

  • We want to increase the interaction between the TVI and UNM campus communities and the local homeless service providers.

  • We also want to see more use of campus resources to help solve the issues of street poverty.

What about panhandling?

Giving money to panhandlers is controversial. HAAG does not see this as a useful approach to solving homelessness because panhandled money is often used to buy nicotine, alcohol, or street drugs. Although there are people who use the money for transportation or a room for the night, HAAG's position is, if you're going to give money, give to a local service provider instead of giving to panhandlers.

Each person has to decide what's best at that moment. But clearly, giving to panhandlers out of guilt, shame, or intimidation is bad for both the giver and the receiver and shouldn't be the basis of giving.

Why volunteer?

For one thing, agencies really need volunteers to keep their services going. As a volunteer, you will find out what each of the agencies offers, as well as their varying philosophical and practical approaches to the issues of the homeless. You can arrange academic credit for your volunteer time; check with your advisor or professor. And speaking of which...

You don't have to serve soup

There are many ways to effect change. In general, there is a lot of experiential and intuitive knowledge about Albuquerque's homeless, but very limited factual knowledge about who these individuals, families, and children are. Research and empirical data about which approaches are the most applicable and successful in addressing their wide ranging needs, and how service providers can best meet these varying individual needs, is sorely needed.

The solution to homelessness

Homelessness is solvable in Albuquerque for a large portion of the 5,000+ homeless. For instance, if we addressed just the issues of the mentally ill and the temporarily stranded, about 50% of Albuquerque's homelessness issues would be resolved. But these solutions don't happen without wide-ranging input and approaches.

Albuquerque Services

Featured service provider

Ways to help

Links

H.A.A.G. Calendar

U.N.M.

Another Global Homeless Network (GHN) Member:

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All contents © UNM Homelessness Advocacy and Awareness Group. All rights reserved.
Design and layout by Leanne Yanabu, MFA willow at unm dot edu
http://www.unm.edu/~willow/homeless/index.html
Last updated: April 27, 2005