Albuquerque- Albuquerque Sunport travelers have given more than $8,000 to help “¢hange a Life” by donating their loose change to the Albuquerque Heading Home initiative. The “¢hange a Life” receptacle, which is located near the security line, prior to the TSA checkpoint has been collecting donations from generous travelers since December 2015. Every month Albuquerque Heading Home gathers the proceeds and shares the contributions with their partner agencies and draws the name of the partner agency that will receive the next month’s gifts.
Change collected throughout the month of August will be going to APD’s COAST team. Sunport travelers charitably donated $930.00. All of the money was then used to purchase motel vouchers and grocery store gift cards for COAST.
Today Heading Home Housing Director Jodie Jepson, who coordinates the housing for Albuquerque Heading Home clients, presented Chief Gorden Eden Jr. with the vouchers and gift cards.
“The partnership between APD and Heading Home is key to helping provide resources to homeless members of our community and is a critical step in helping them find stability,” said Chief Eden. “Today’s donations will provide hotel stays to families who are struggling to get back on their feet and assist them with much needed day to day necessities.”
“At Heading Home, we know that we can have the greatest impact when we combine our efforts with our partners. The “¢hange a life” campaign is a great example of how we as partnership agencies are truly able to positively impact the lives of our current and future clients,” said Jepson.
Prior to her role as a Housing Director, Jepson was member of COAST, on a daily basis she was doing outreach to members of the community who were experiencing homelessness. “Despite limited resources, COAST provides vital services to those in crisis across our city. We are honored to partner with APD/COAST and to support their efforts.”
With Balloon Fiesta right around the corner, people traveling through the Sunport can donate to the “¢hange a Life” when they are catching a flight out of Albuquerque.
Heading Home is a 501 c 3 that runs several initiatives- Albuquerque Heading Home, Vets Heading Home, Keeping Families Together and the Albuquerque Opportunity Center which includes a men’s shelter, respite and Veteran transitional housing. Collectively these programs have transitioned more than 2,000 individuals and their family members into housing.
