The Coalition for a Safer Albuquerque was first organized in 2020 by people who have disabilities; people who have lived experience seeking or receiving behavioral health services or living without stable housing; people who are family members of people who receive, or want to receive, behavioral health services or social services; people who have experienced problematic actions by local law enforcement personnel; and other concerned individuals who advocate on behalf of those people and on behalf of our community’s most vulnerable members.
We are concerned individuals, many of whom have professional experience working on behalf of greater Albuquerque’s most vulnerable citizens; people with disabilities, substance dependence, and/or who experience homelessness. Combined, we have hundreds of person-years of experience trying to improve how our local government uses our tax dollars to address the needs of those members of our community. Many of us helped the County establish the 1/8 percent gross receipts tax in 2014 that currently funds the County’s Behavioral Health Initiative in the amount of about $30,000,000 annually. For years, the Coalition has been pushing the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County to remedy the lack of effective strategic planning that limits the efficacy of the behavioral health and social services programs funded by the City and County.