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Oct 18, 2011

Kat Johnson's picture Posted By Kat Johnson

Mayor Richard Berry wins Humanitarian award for Albuquerque Campaign Effort

If you followed Albuquerque Registry Week, you'll remember that Mayor Richard J. Berry hit the streets with registry volunteers at 4am -- and his leadership didn't end there! Mayor Berry publicly committed to housing 75 of Albuquerque's most vulnerable homeless individuals through Albuquerque Heading Home, Albuquerque's local 100,000 Homes effort.

The team has been working tirelessly since, and has moved nine vulnerable neighbors into housing to date. The City recently benefited from a $1,500,000 award from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) toward its efforts to identify and house chronic and vulnerable people. (For more from the Albuquerque team, check out our May blog post on their effort.) 

Last week, Mayor Berry and the Albuquerque Heading Home team received some much-deserved recognition. Local documentary film festival Duke City DocFest awarded Mayor Berry a crystal clock to represent the urgency he has given to moving Albuquerque's vulnerable neighbors into housing quickly and efficiently.

Learn more in the post below from the Albuquerque City website. Congratulations to Mayor Berry and to the Albuquerque Heading Home team!


Mayor Richard J. Berry is awarded for the Albuquerque Heading Home Initiative from the Duke City DocFest

Albuquerque – Mayor Richard J. Berry received some applause and an award from the local documentary festival, Duke City DocFest, on Wednesday, Oct. 12 for his Albuquerque Heading Home Initiative.
 
In honor of the Mayor’s dedication and creation of the ABQ Heading Home project, the Duke City DocFest and Festival Director Jesse Quackenbush awarded the Mayor with a crystal clock.
 
“This clock signifies the sense of urgency that the Mayor allotted to this project,” said Quackenbush. “The Mayor promised to get 75 people struggling with homelessness off the streets…that is a promise that I’m confident he’s going to make good on.”
 
“This award really belongs to the citizens of Albuquerque and all the volunteers and City staff who have put their heart and soul into doing the right thing for the chronically homeless.” said Mayor Berry. “We can make a positive impact on human outcomes while saving valuable resources for our community.  If our City didn’t stand up and take action, who would?”
 
The ABQ Heading Home project was launched by the Mayor in February of 2011. The initial phase consisted of hundreds of City of Albuquerque employees and volunteers hitting the streets and surveying people struggling with chronic homelessness. Their goal was to identify and house 75 of the most vulnerable in our community by the end of February 2012.  The program will continue to identify and help the chronically homeless into the future.  The City just received a $1,5000,000 grant from the SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) to assist with these efforts.
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