Good evening,
I was able to join the ECHO call today (Darryl sent an email about 30 minutes before it started, that contained the zoom link as well as the other).
Attending was a woman named Maria Wolfe, her title is Homeless Innovations Officer. One takeaway from that meeting was the power of 311 for reporting unauthorized encampments. Some of the people on the call have used 311 regularly and have reported good response and response time. I have used it on occasion and have had the same positive experience. One downside is that it is not available on weekends, but that option is being evaluated. 242-COPS is less effective because it is the same operators that answer 911 calls, and so the 242COPS calls are triaged with 911 calls.
Maria responded to the concerns about an alley encampment recently reported in Nob Hill (NH), saying it is the property owners’ responsibility to address the issue with those encamped in the alley (make them aware that alleyways must be kept clear for emergency and utility vehicles), BUT if anyone isn’t comfortable doing so, call 311. She also addressed a couple other specific recent issues.
Like so many in our city, I vacillate between frustration with the homeless, and sadness that so many are in dire straits, by choice or otherwise. I recently did some research on what other cities are doing to address homelessness, and found a website Built for Zero with some great information on how cities like Bakersfield CA have made improvements. Take a look:
https://community.solutions/built-for-zero/the-movement/. Albuquerque is listed as one of the participating cities, but had no data for the past couple years. Maria is new to her position and was able to respond to my questions about this program, and was very enthusiastic about a group that has renewed work using the Built for Zero strategies. They are working with/supported by (?) NM Coalition to End Homelessness - NMCEH (they also have a website). Contact for that group is
jazmin-m@nmceh.org . I don’t have Maria’s email address, but can repost once I receive it. She is available to attend the twice monthly ECHO meeting again, since several people missed it.
I shared with the ECHO group that one of the things Bakersfield did was assess which groups had the greatest need for community support, and they determined it was Veterans. They then focused on that group initially and made some great inroads. Maria was familiar with this, said that a veteran representative from Albuquerque said the same was done here, and only about 3% of the homeless population are veterans. So — the next identified group in Albuquerque are families.
Suffice it to say, I feel more hopeful that our city is doing something, several things, to address and help the homeless/unhoused. The city has a website for homelessness, and there are options there, and on the NMCEH website, for volunteering. I am newly retired and plan to explore these opportunities more. I would encourage anyone else with the time to do the same.
Finally, I’ve been in Nob Hill since 1990 and love this community of kind and caring people. My hat's off to all of the volunteers on the NHNA leadership team. I can’t think of a better leader than Gary Eyster for this neighborhood and these times. Cut him some slack, figure out how you can get involved. I’m sure he has a number of ideas.
Apologies for not providing links to all the websites mentioned, having some technical issues, but google machine should be able to help.
Frances