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How Albuquerque Is Taking 'Will Work for Food' Literally [CityLab.com]

 

Albuquerque’s approach to ending homelessness is straightforward: Ask, and you shall receive.

Ask for work, that is. Nearly one year ago, the New Mexico city’s government collaborated with St. Martin’s Hospitality Center, a local nonprofit homeless-services organization, to launch the There’s a Better Way van program with a radically simple mission: to provide real jobs to those sitting on the street, asking for work.

As Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry was heading home from the office one night last year, he pulled to a stop at one of the interstate off-ramps and noticed a man standing to the side, holding a sign that read: “Will Work for Food.” Berry—the first Republican mayor elected in 30 years—has made homelessness a priority in the years since he took office in 2009. Seeing the man’s sign gave him the idea that would grow into There’s a Better Way, says Kellie Tillerson, who manages the program though St. Martin’s.



[For more of this story, written by Ellie Anzilotti, go to http://www.citylab.com/cityfix...od-literally/495932/]

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