Anthony sits on a bench at the edge of campus with other men, surrounded by a heap of clothing, sleeping bags, a walker and grocery bags filled with old food.
Five years ago, Anthony said he tumbled down the stairs at his apartment complex and suffered a brain injury that has left him unable to work. He’s been homeless ever since and sells pot to try and make a living.
“I’m disabled,” Anthony said. “I’ve got bipolar, too, and since my traumatic brain injury, I can’t remember enough to keep a job. Ever since I cut my head, I have a hard time filling paperwork out. I get pissed off, and I just rip it up and throw it away.”
Anthony is one of thousands who have experienced homelessness in New Mexico, according to a 2005 count done by the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness.
Albuquerque lacks affordable housing, which contributes to the city’s homeless population, said Lisa Huval, the coalition’s advocacy director.
“The solution to homelessness is to help folks obtain safe, high-quality, affordable housing and to provide the support services they need to stay in that housing, and we have homelessness in our communities because we don’t have either of those,” she said.
To address the issue, Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry launched the Albuquerque Heading Home Project in early January. The program selected 75 of the city’s “most vulnerable” homeless and is in the process of placing them in city-funded housing. Anthony said he was never surveyed to participate in the program.
Berry said the plan is ambitious, but will make a difference. He said, in the long run, it will save the city money.
Last year, the Albuquerque Fire Department responded to more than 3,650 “down-and-out calls” from homeless people suffering from drug or alcohol addiction, Berry said. With an average cost of $177.93 per rescue response, these calls cost taxpayers more than $644,000, not including ER expenses and time spent in hospitals, he said.
“We cannot ignore the problem any longer and must make every effort to improve the situation for the chronically homeless and the community as a whole,” Berry said.
Anthony said he’s visited the ER multiple visits, including one visit for a fractured wrist that required surgery. Still, he said he prefers sleeping on the streets.
“I’d rather camp out and sleep by myself because it’s just like jail in there,” he said. “I don’t like to smell the other guys. I’d rather just camp out and freeze my ass to death than have to be around those other people.”
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In February, volunteers divided Albuquerque into sectors and spent two days surveying homeless persons they encountered. The volunteers encountered about 700 homeless people, 475 of which took the survey. The New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness sent out volunteers in 2005, 2007 and 2009 to spend one night counting the city’s homeless. In 2009, volunteers recorded 2,002 homeless persons in Albuquerque.
Heading Home volunteers inquired about individuals’ medical history, number of recent visits to the ER and age to determine his or her level of vulnerability.
Of those surveyed, 252 were found to be “highly vulnerable.” The city selected 75 people for the housing program deemed the most vulnerable from that group.
Program participants are, on average, 53 years old and have been homeless, on average, for about 20 years. Combined, they have had 235 inpatient hospitalizations at the cost of $852,000 and 564 emergency room visits at the cost of $141,000. The 75 have cost the city nearly $1 million, according to survey results.
The cost of 75 housing units for the Heading Home project is just over $500,000,and 25 percent of the people selected have already successfully moved into housing, according to Albuquerque Heading Home’s website.
Huval said the program is a step in the right direction for Albuquerque’s homeless.
“It’s based on this principal that we really need to be smart and strategic and coordinated in our approach to homelessness,” she said.
Still, there are many people like Anthony still on the streets.
“I’m just sick and tired of being on the streets because it just sucks,” he said.
