City hires director to address homelessness

Dec. 12—A longtime social worker who testified in a landmark education lawsuit against the state of New Mexico has been named the next director of Health, Housing and Homelessness for the city of Albuquerque.

Gilbert Ramírez will lead the department. Outgoing director Carol Pierce will continue to work with the city through the end of the year to support the transition, according to a city news release.

Since 2018, Ramírez was the deputy director for Behavioral Health and Wellness Programs for the city, where he spearheaded the city's behavioral health initiatives. During that time, the city put in place the Albuquerque Community Safety Department, the Violence Intervention Program and established the state's first medical sobering center at the Gateway Center.

His appointment comes at a time when homelessness is a major issue facing the city, which has aimed to address it on several fronts, including with the Gateway Center. Albuquerque's most recent Point-In-Time count — a count and survey of homeless people on one night in January — found that there were about 1,000 more people experiencing homeless than the year before.

"I am ready to continue building on the work our department has done to make historic investments into our city's housing and services network," Ramírez said in a prepared statement. "As Albuquerque grows, our network of services needs to grow with it. We will keep working to ensure our communities have the housing and resources they need to be healthy."

Ramírez is a licensed clinical and school social worker with more than 23 years experience in Albuquerque and is recognized for his work in youth gang intervention. He also has worked as an adjunct professor for New Mexico Highlands School of Social Work program.

He was a fact witness and testified in a consolidated case referred to as Yazzie/Martinez v. State of New Mexico, which stemmed from a judges' decision that New Mexico wasn't fulfilling its constitutional duty to provide all of its students a sufficient education.

"Gilbert's work over the years has expanded access to services for people across our city, bringing needed resources to our communities and our families," Mayor Tim Keller said in a news release. "We look forward to continuing to make progress on our goals to address housing and homelessness under his experienced leadership."