Finding an affordable home can be a significant challenge for many families, both in New Mexico and across the country. Housing New Mexico is working diligently to make affordable housing more accessible, offering various programs and services to achieve its vision of providing all New Mexicans with quality, affordable housing opportunities.
One of Housing New Mexico’s programs, Restoring Our Communities (ROC), specifically aims to provide affordable single-family homes while helping communities reduce the number of vacant and abandoned properties. Launched in 2023, the program provides funding for the acquisition, rehabilitation and resale of single-family properties that will be sold to New Mexicans from low- to moderate-income households.
“This program not only provides more affordable housing, but it helps communities maintain their property values,” said Housing New Mexico Chief Housing Officer Donna Maestas-De Vries. “Ultimately, one of the goals of Restoring Our Communities is to increase homeownership opportunities in our state. By collaborating with dedicated partners to administer this program, we can help strengthen communities across the state while making homeownership a reality for many families.”
While individual homebuyers are not eligible to apply for funding, Housing New Mexico administers the program working alongside eligible agencies, such as:
- Public and private non-profit organizations
- For-profit organizations
- Governmental housing agencies, authorities, entities or instrumentalities
- Regional/public housing authorities
- Tribal housing authorities, agencies or governments
- Developers, builders, corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, joint ventures, syndicates or associations
- Other entities as specified in the Notice of Funding Availability
Homewise, one of Housing New Mexico’s partners for the Restoring Our Communities program, has recently acquired and rehabilitated homes.
“The ROC program lets us take deeply distressed, often abandoned homes and bring them back to life,” said Homewise Real Estate Development Project Manager J.T. Mitchell. “These neglected properties hinder our neighborhoods, and our partnership with Housing New Mexico allows us to turn them into safe and affordable homes. Once complete, these homes are designated for everyday New Mexicans, giving more families a chance at homeownership.”
Homewise Real Estate Development Project Director Eugene Chavez added, “It’s been a great collaboration with Housing New Mexico and Homewise to turn these problem projects into works of art for future clients.”
The Housing New Mexico Board of Directors allocated approximately $3.5 million in funding for the ROC initiative from the New Mexico Housing Trust Fund in 2023. Four restoration projects have already been completed, and eight more are currently in progress.
Photos courtesy of Homewise and Housing New Mexico
