SF used CARES funds for housing and food

City distributed $17 million in community

SANTA FE — The city hit a home run when it comes to the distribution of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funds intended for the city’s neediest residents, one city official told reporters Monday.

“We kind of knocked it out of the park,” Community Health and Safety Director Kyra Ochoa said. “We did actually prevent people from being evicted. We did actually put food on people’s tables.”

The city received more than $17 million in September, the largest amount awarded to any small government in New Mexico that applied for CARES Act funding, after stating it would put money toward helping residents navigate a world in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly $5 million went to housing, food and other financial assistance for Santa Fe’s struggling families, many of whom had lost work during the pandemic.

Ochoa said $800,000 was spent on housing alone, with another almost $288,000 going to food.

Almost half of all aid went to those living in the 87507 ZIP code, which encompasses some of Santa Fe’s most economically impoverished areas. A large percentage of recipients also identified as Hispanic and female.

The city also helped distribute more than $3 million to 168 local businesses and nonprofit organizations, which received an average of $21,000 each.

In one of its largest expenditures, the city used $2 million to purchase a motel, formerly the Santa Fe suites, that it used to house homeless individuals during the pandemic. Ochoa said the site is now open and currently home to 13 people.

Santa Fe’s CARES Act application noted the toll the pandemic had on city finances, creating a budget deficit estimated at around $82 million.

The largest allocation, around 42%, of CARES Act funds went to payroll for public safety employees, which include the city’s police officers, firefighters and paramedics, with another $1 million covering paid sick leave for city employees due to COVID-19.

Mayor Alan Webber, though, pointed out that the city is still in need of future financial assistance, especially with a more complete distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine still months away.

“We are far from out of the woods in terms of helping families, individuals and small businesses,” he said.

He said he’s more optimistic about receiving aid now that President Joe Biden has taken office.