8-13-2024 8:40am

New Mexico Low Interest Home Loan Program Begins and NM Seeking Director of Statewide Homelessness Initiatives

Chris Edwards Editor

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s newly created Office of Housing aims to improve housing availability and affordability across the state, and she is now accepting applications for the team that will tackle these issues, including the position of Director of Statewide Homelessness Initiatives.

A core part of the work of the Office of Housing will be to create a coordinated and strategic response to the growing unhoused, and the new Director of Statewide Homelessness Initiatives will lead this important effort.

“There is no single way to address the issue of homelessness but continuing down a path that has led to record increases in homelessness is simply not an option,” said Gov. Lujan Grisham. “The Director of Statewide Homelessness Initiatives will be an integral part of my administration as I do all I can to help provide housing to those who need it.”

The Director of Homelessness Initiatives will be responsible for leading the development and implementation of a statewide strategic approach to addressing homelessness and its relationship to broader statewide housing strategies. That includes expanding access to a range of housing interventions including supportive housing and bridge housing solutions, and behavior health interventions.

In addition, the Office of Housing is seeking people with experience in housing development, programs, policy, regulatory frameworks, data, and demographics, among others. Rather than hire for specific positions, the talent-based hiring approach encourages applicants to explain how they want to apply their skillsets to the challenge of solving New Mexico’s housing crisis. The Office is especially seeking talented and innovative thinkers to build out a strategic approach for the State.

The Office of Housing is led by Daniel Werwath, who joined the Governor’s office in January 2024 after having served on the Governor’s Housing and Community Revitalization Investment Council the previous year. Werwath has over two decades of experience in affordable housing development, consumer housing services, housing planning and policy development in New Mexico and nationally.

“The housing landscape has changed monumentally in the last few years, and it’s time for new models and new levels of coordination,” said Werwath. “The Governor is assembling an experienced team with broad expertise to develop innovative ways to combat the unprecedented housing crisis facing New Mexico.”

The Director of Homelessness Initiatives job posting can be found at: https://www.nm.gov/app/apply.html?jobId=95

The general job posting for the Office of Housing can be found at: https://www.nm.gov/app/apply.html?jobId=97

On the front to create affordable housing financing and a key part of what state lawmakers called a “historic” investment in affordable housing will take a major step forward in September, when applications open for what will ultimately be $125 million in loans to develop middle-income housing and affordable housing infrastructure.

An interim legislative committee Monday approved rules for administering a new revolving loan program to boost the state’s housing supply. Up to $30 million in low-interest loans will be available to applicants, largely private and nonprofit developers, when the first round of loans opens up in early September.

The loan program is overseen by staff from the New Mexico Finance Authority and approved by a newly created board, which includes members appointed by the governor, commercial developers and others. Loan recipients are expected to be private developers and housing nonprofits.

Lawmakers approved the loan program in February, part of what they touted as the biggest one-time investment in housing in state history. In total, the Legislature approved about $200 million in one-time spending, including $20 million on homelessness initiatives and $50 million for the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority, which recently rebranded as Housing New Mexico.

The rules and a related policy guide describe a 100-point system that will reward applicants whose projects are in rural areas, use local developers, are close to amenities and transportation, are affordable and have more than 65% of the project costs covered by the team they seek a loan.

Under the guidelines, up to 40 points could be awarded for projects that demonstrate they meet a community need, use inclusive design techniques, or use local apprenticeship programs and developers.

The authority will accept applications for the latest round starting Sept. 4, 2024.