With affordable housing being a major problem in Chaves County, as well as across the nation, two local nonprofit groups signed a Memorandum of Understanding Monday with the Eastern Regional Housing Authority of New Mexico (ERHANM) to allow the groups to share office space and meeting rooms at the housing authority’s office, 106 E. Reed St.
Both nonprofits, With Many Hands Roswell (WMH) and Hagerman Forward, are working toward the goal of easing the affordable housing problem in Chaves County, representatives from the nonprofits said.
Jeneva Martinez, housing security sector connector with WMH, said her nonprofit has been using a $40,000 home renovation grant from the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority (NMMFA) to help local property owners rehabilitate homes in return for keeping rents affordable.
Martinez said her nonprofit’s research showed the quickest way to provide affordable housing in Roswell’s unique market was through rehabilitation programs.
“We want to create a program where we work with property owners, landlords and property managers to look at homes that need rehabilitation and get them back on the market,” she said.
Dan Jennings said his group, Hagerman Forward, started in 2010 and its mission is to foster interagency cooperation and increase their capacity to “make things happen.”
Hagerman Forward, along with the 100% Chaves County Initiative, has been working on getting homes that have been vacant back into the housing market, he said.
“We know that housing sitting vacant and condemned affects the quality of the neighborhood and it starts to deteriorate,” he said.
Rehabilitating vacant housing can bring more stability back to neighborhoods and bring them back to life, he said.
“This is a good partnership for us to work towards,” Jennings said.
ERHANM Executive Director Chris Herbert said he is excited about the…
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