WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.),and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), are welcoming more than $16million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Continuum of Care program to support New Mexico projects that provide housing assistance and supportive services to people experiencing homelessness.
“We need to take an all-of-the-above approach to growing our affordable housing stock and providing New Mexicans experiencing homelessness the services they need,” said Heinrich. “I’m proud to welcome this historic federal investment that takes us one step closer to ensuring every person in New Mexico has a stable and secure place to call home.”
"Every family across America deserves safe, affordable housing," said Luján. "Thanks to the Biden-Harris administration, I'm proud to see strong investments go toward efforts to support affordable housing and address homelessness across New Mexico. This $16million investment will support our local communities in New Mexico, including in rural and Tribal communities."
“I welcome this historic $16 million investment to combat the problem of homelessness for youth in New Mexico,” said Leger Fernández. “This investment from the Biden-Harris administration will help make sure service providers have the tools to combat homelessness and push us closer to ending the housing issues that have plagued our state for far too long.”
“Housing is a human right,” said Stansbury.“But far too many New Mexicans have been denied equal access to affordable housing, which hurts all of our communities.That’s why I am thrilled that New Mexico will receive $16million from the Biden-Harris Administration to help end homelessness. This investment will help people find permanent housing and grant them crucial access to programs they need to survive.”
“This historic $16 million investment will go a long way to help end homelessness crisis in New Mexico,” said Vasquez. “I will always work to support the mission of the local housing and charitable organizations across the district, who are helping to care for our community’s most vulnerable members.”
HUD’s Continuum of Care program is the backbone federal program supporting community homelessness response systems across the country, providing grants to nonprofit providers, States, Tribes, and local governments for permanent and short-term housing assistance, supportive services, planning, data, and other costs.
The nationwide total of $3.16 billion announced today represents the largest-ever amount of Continuum of Care program funding awarded to communities to address homelessness in history and provides a critical expansion of resources at a time when rates of homelessness are rising in most communities.
You can find more information about the Continuum of Care awards from HUD’s announcement here.