Proposed bill would take ‘Heading Home’ program statewide
Updated: 01/27/2015 6:48 PM | Created: 01/27/2015 6:24 PM
By: Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News 4
An Albuquerque program that has moved hundreds of homeless people into homes could go statewide.
“Heading Home Albuquerque” provides a steady place to live and keeps homeless people out of jail, out of the emergency rooms, and getting treatment for alcohol and drug problems. Mayor Richard Berry led the charge to get the program going in his first term and it’s now a model for similar efforts in other cities.
In the legislature, Democratic Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino of Albuquerque gives the Republican mayor huge credit for Heading Home’s success, and says helping the homeless is not a party politics issue.
“They’ve actually moved several hundred people off the streets into housing,” Ortiz y Pino said. “They’ve got them into job training programs, got them into drug and alcohol treatment programs, and they’ve made a difference. It’s a simple concept but it takes a lot of work.”
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