GUARDIAN ANGELS HOW OUR ID SCHOOLS’ COMMUNITY

SCHOOL COORDINATORS ARE THE HELP YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU HAD

If your kids attend an International District Community School, you may have heard there’s a Community School Coordinator (CSC) on campus. Or maybe you haven’t heard. We found it surprising that some families had no idea the resources they had at their hands with the help of the CSCs. Per APS, a Community School is about “a set of partnerships” between the school and other community assets. Community Schools include expanded learning programs, integrated student support, and family and community engagement. The CSCs help drive the school’s commitment to building “improved student learning, stronger families, and healthier communities.”

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Amanda Rose Rubio (Hayes Middle School CSC) conducts “comprehensive needs and assets assessments” of her students, and is “responsible for finding resources to provide, such as housing, food boxes, transportation, and donations. The hardest challenge right now,” she states, “is our housing crisis. The rent is rising to an amount that families cannot afford, forcing them to become homeless or living with friends or families. Or, their current living conditions are uninhabitable.” Amanda currently juggles several families on the verge of homelessness. “I work with a couple agencies that assist with paying for hotels, but that’s conditional and families must fit in the agency’s ‘requirements.’ It brings tears to my eyes when I feel I cannot help them. Our families need help!”

Charlton Simmons (Highland High School CSC) considered quitting within his first 90 days as a CSC. “I just became overwhelmed to a degree. But once I changed my approach to the job, it became a better fit.” He was recently concerned seeing a straight-A student affected by their unstable housing situation. They were couch surfing or sleeping in their car with their legal guardian. Charlton noticed the student’s attendance was slipping, which is a telltale sign of stressors. Charlton states how this crisis will play out: either Albuquerque will end up “extremely problematic,” growing a homeless Skid Row like Los Angeles has. Or, the city, county, and state governments will “have to do something they’re reticent to do. And it’s simple: hold these landlords accountable.”

Amanda Carbajal (Van Buren Middle School CSC) works tirelessly for her students’ families, who “are faced with the burden of increased rent and sudden evictions. [They’re] doubling up with other families.” And with “ERAP gone—which many families relied on—they’re faced with uncertainty.” Amanda translated testimonials from Spanish-speaking families about their housing emergencies so that NMBLC could present the shares to the City Council and other civic stakeholders.

It’s encouraging to see such willingness and passion from Community School Coordinators like these who regularly spend their “free” time doing good work for parents, caretakers, and students alike.