Feb. 5—Charity organizations and government programs that combat homelessness throughout New Mexico will receive more than $16 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The federal department announced the allocations in a recent news release about the Continuum of Care grant program, which annually funds projects that provide housing or services to people experiencing homelessness, as well as data collection on the issue.

The department announced grant funding for 26 organizations in New Mexico, including homeless shelters, government entities and supportive housing programs.

The grant funding includes $382,677 for St. Elizabeth Shelter Corp., $1,434,735 for the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, $340,617 for the Santa Fe Community Housing Trust, $953,769 for The Life Link and $3,591,847 for the city of Albuquerque.

Santa Fe-based St. Elizabeth Shelter receives the grant funding each year, the organization’s executive director, Edward Archuleta, wrote in an email Monday, but the 2023 award represents an increase of about $20,000 from the year before.

Continuum of Care funding goes toward rental assistance, case management and maintenance at Casa Cerrillos and Sonrisa Family Program, two of St. Elizabeth’s supportive housing programs, Archuleta wrote. The facilities house previously homeless tenants in Santa Fe. Casa Cerrillos is a 30-unit complex for single disabled people, and Sonrisa Family Program contains eight apartments for families on the south side of the city.

The city of Albuquerque is planning to award the more than $3.5 million it will receive from the federal grant to nonprofit organizations with rapid rehousing and supportive housing programs throughout the city, city spokeswoman Ava Montoya confirmed Monday.

The city partners with several such organizations, including Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless, which will receive $780,000 of the city’s allocation, Montoya confirmed.

The total federal allocation for the grants amounts to about $3.16 billion nationwide, which is the largest annual allocation for the Continuum of Care program yet, HUD announced in a news release in late January. Awards to new programs and projects make up about $57 million of those grants, according to the release.

The state’s congressional delegation welcomed the $16 million set to flow to New Mexico organizations Monday.

“We need to take an all-of-the-above approach to growing our affordable housing stock and providing New Mexicans experiencing homelessness the services they need,” U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich said in a news release. “I’m proud to welcome this historic federal investment that takes us one step closer to ensuring every person in New Mexico has a stable and secure place to call home.”