Letter from the ED

It’s been a year since the Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless (AHCH) Board of Directors selected me to lead the agency.  I’m always amazed by how quickly time passes and the last year certainly flew.  Thanks to your support, I have the following reflections on the past year at AHCH to share with you.

Because of you, Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless has a solid tradition of delivering health care services to people experiencing homelessness.  Our vision is “To live in a world that is just and without homelessness.”  This dual emphasis sums up the two primary foci at AHCH of both providing health care and of advocacy work to end homelessness.

The health care provided at AHCH is comprehensive.  As you can see on the website, we provide medical, dental, counseling and therapy, art therapy, outreach and social services.  Recently the Senior Management team started a process to implement “dashboards” which will help us evaluate services and goals in an ongoing way.  A total of 15 indicators were chosen in the areas of access, disparity, integration (of services), outreach, client outcomes and client satisfaction.  These indicators reflect a promise to you to deliver quality care and to address inequities in access to care and housing.

The other emphasis of our work is advocacy.  Advocacy work continues because you make it possible with your donations of time, talent and treasure.  The Advocacy Committee of the Board of Directors, including staff and community volunteers, offers opportunities for donors, community and staff to participate in initiatives that: end homelessness, create affordable housing, equitable wages and access to health care for all.  One example is a Medicaid Re-design community meeting held in Albuquerque in November of 2011 that AHCH donors, volunteers and staff actively helped organize and showed up as attendees. This event demonstrated to Governor Susana Martinez, your support of an accessible Medicaid system as the state of NM works on a statewide re-design of a lifeline for 550,000 New Mexicans.

You make it possible for AHCH to remember and honor those who have died while being homeless.  AHCH participated in the planning committee for the 2011 Memorial Vigil held at the First United Methodist Church.  The vigil was coordinated by the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness; other organizations involved planning were the Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center, Central United Methodist Church, Joy Junction, Barrett Foundation and St, Martin’s Hospitality Center.

At the beginning of 2012, AHCH staff, board members and clients joined other members of the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness for lobby day at the New Mexico Legislature on January 25, 2012.  Staff was also involved in a Medicaid Appreciation Day at the Legislature that built on earlier advocacy work to keep Medicaid accessible for the 550,000 New Mexicans who are eligible, including some individuals and families who are living with disabilities.

I have fully enjoyed this year and getting to know the many people who make this work possible.  I invite you to join me in my desire to end homelessness.

Thanks for all YOU make possible!

You, too, can find your own way of making a difference, at any level, right now.

  • You can support direct care by holding a collection drive for socks, sunscreen, lip balm, toiletries, and bottles of water this spring/summer.
  • You can generate awareness about homelessness and expand the base of support for the AHCH response by organizing a grassroots fundraising event.  Call the development department at 766-5197 for more information.
  • You can change the structures and systems that perpetuate homelessness by educating yourself about policy options and engaging in advocacy on related issues – whatever you care about most – from health care reform and access, to housing affordability, to decent incomes.

For more information, click here and here.

Winona Stoltzfus, MD, Executive Director