Homelessness Action Plan

Learn about what the City is doing to address homelessness.

Our Key Objectives

Prevent

Ensure everyone in Albuquerque has the resources and support they need to have and maintain a home. Addressing homelessness starts with preventing more people from losing their homes in the first place.

Help

Connect people in need to available shelter, supportive housing, and other key resources including mental health care and substance use recovery to help them exit homelessness for good. Listen to and collaborate with our local and national stakeholders to fill gaps in services and strengthen our system of care with evidence-based approaches.

House

Keep Albuquerque affordable to working families by creating more opportunities all over town for mixed-income, affordable housing and affordable home-ownership that meets the needs of our diverse population.

Understanding Homelessness as a Housing Issue

Affordability

Rent and home prices have risen in Albuquerque, especially since the pandemic. Lack of affordable housing development and income inequality compounds this problem. When people lack a strong safety net, losing a job, high medical expenses, or other unforeseen economic hardships can easily lead to homelessness.

Equity

Generational discrimination and disparity in who has access to housing has led to people of color making up a disproportionate share of the unhoused population relative to their census data in Albuquerque. We are still working to repair the historical trauma that has left our Native American population underserved and provide pathways to housing and home ownership for all marginalized groups.

Health

Physical and mental health challenges, including addiction, can be the result of or compounded by homelessness. We know that half of people experiencing homelessness have serious mental illness and 45% have a substance use disorder. The longer someone remains unhoused, the more help they will likely need to keep their housing.