City of Albuquerque Launches One Albuquerque Fund

Today, city leaders and local business owners highlighted a new effort inviting Albuquerque residents to come together to meet our biggest challenges. The One Albuquerque Fund gives residents an opportunity to get more involved in the City’s largest initiatives, from police recruitment, growing programs for kids, job training and housing vouchers for people experiencing homelessness.

“One Albuquerque is more than a slogan, it’s about how we can each step up when it comes to the challenges in our city,” stated Mayor Tim Keller. “When we came into office, we knew that part of our work was to reinvigorate a sense of pride and ownership in our city. We’re giving residents and businesses an opportunity to accelerate our efforts to tackle crime, create more programs for kids, fund housing vouchers and more. No one leader can do it alone, it’s going to take all of us standing up for our own neighborhoods and working together.” 

At the event, a panel of business owners and other donors came together to highlight the work of the Fund. The Fund raises funds in support of and to supplement measurable city priorities, including the housing voucher program for people experiencing homelessness, recruiting and retaining public safety officers, expanding opportunities for young people in Albuquerque, and equipping our workforce with the skills they need to succeed. Additional funding for these priorities will accelerate progress and help scale significant investments the City is already making go much farther, much faster.

Historically, similar efforts in Albuquerque included the Mayor's Ball, which will likely resume with the support of the Fund. Many other cities have a supporting nonprofit, including New York, Detroit, Los Angeles and others. Here in Albuquerque, other entities like CNM and APS also have supporting nonprofits.

“Dion’s has been part of Albuquerque for 40 years and has grown with the city. We work directly with youth providing jobs to many Albuquerque teens. We want to be part of the narrative of how great Albuquerque is so we decided to step up and donate to the One Albuquerque Fund,” said Mark Herman, Dion’s.

“My family has owned several small businesses along the Central Avenue corridor and have seen Albuquerque change overtime, not always for the better. Today I am hopeful in the future of Albuquerque and I believe that any change you want to see you have to invest in,” said Nicole Kapnison, Yanni’s Restaurant.

“We want to make sure our employees are happy and safe both at work and home, and that their families have access to quality education. I want to thank the City of Albuquerque for providing a great tool to help us move this city forward,” said Erin Muffoletto, Comcast.

“Crime, homelessness, jobs, and youth are all interrelated. It is important for the University of New Mexico that we fix the crime. This program is wonderful because it is bringing everyone together to solve problems,” said Doug Brown, Former State Treasurer.

“Supporting APD is important to the Garcia family. APD is underappreciated, they are responsive, they are helpful, and great to work with. We donated to provide resources to APD for them to be successful. We also believe that investing in our youth will help curb the problems that we have today,” said Carlos Garcia, Garcia Auto Group.

“Recruiting officers in the past was remedial and was done by one individual, today APD is thinking out of the box, recruiting out of state and city limits and being creative to reach the millennial demographic to come and work for APD,” said Dave Romo, Director Recruiting, Albuquerque Police Department.

“We often talk about crime and homelessness, but really those challenges can be combatted at an early age, by offering safe and engaging programs to our youngest residents since birth. We will use the funding to boost our current programs, create new and innovative programs, and reach more youth to make an even bigger impact,” said Cristin Chavez Smith, City of Albuquerque Family and Community Services.

Since its inception, the One Albuquerque Fund has raised over $250,000. Today, the fund donated $5,000 to APD recruitment efforts and $20,000 for housing vouchers. The chairman and president of the fund is Charles Ashley III, and other board members include Drew Dolan; vice president and treasurer; Pilar Westell, secretary; and Bob White.

“The One Albuquerque Fund is about coming together as a community to improve the quality of life for people from all walks of life. I am excited to support City initiatives through this non-partisan fund and look forward to the impact it will make on our community,” said Charles Ashley III, One Albuquerque Fund board president.

For more information on how to get involved visit the One Albuquerque Fund website.

The One Albuquerque Fund is a tax-exempt 509(a)(3) supporting organization for the City of Albuquerque, similar to those for APS and CNM. It will follow all applicable laws and guidelines governing tax exempt entities, and will be audited regularly. It will also file an annual 990 report with the IRS with information on contributions, grants, and expenditures. That report is open to the public. In addition, the One Albuquerque Fund will also be subject to the Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) and the Open Meetings Act.