For More Than 30 Years

USBC has worked alongside New Mexicans to build stronger, more just communities.

Our work goes beyond housing services. Through advocacy, organizing, and long-standing partnerships, we support community-driven efforts that protect neighborhoods, advance racial equity, and expand access to opportunity. Highlighted below are both historic and recent initiatives that reflect USBC’s deep roots and ongoing commitment to systems change.

Historic Neighborhood Alliance (HNA)

USBC is a founding member and leader of the Historic Neighborhood Alliance (HNA), a coalition established in 1993 to ensure low-income and historically excluded neighborhoods have a voice in public policy and land use decisions.

Through resident-led Sector Development Plans, HNA helped communities preserve neighborhood character, strengthen property values, and protect against displacement.

Through HNA, residents learn how to:

Navigate zoning, planning, and transportation policies
Testify at public hearings and council meetings
Meet with city and state policymakers
Prepare to run for elected office

Engaged residents are a living resource. USBC helps ensure their voices are heard—throughout change, growth, and time.

The Roots of ARTI

USBC’s Anti-Racism Training Institute of the Southwest (ARTI) began in the early 1990s with the launch of Albuquerque Project Change, a multiracial, multicultural initiative focused on dismantling institutional racism.

In partnership with the Claremont Institute for Democratic Renewal and the University of New Mexico Public Policy Center, USBC created ARTI to address one of the greatest barriers to equity: the lack of a shared understanding of what racism is, how it operates in systems, and how and why it is maintained.

Today, ARTI continues to lead transformative workshops that help individuals and institutions:

Examine the historical roots of racism
Recognize systemic barriers to equity
Build shared language for anti-racist action

Want to be notified about upcoming ARTI trainings and conversations? Want to be notified about upcoming ARTI trainings and conversations?

Our Humanity: Advancing Health Literacy (2021–2023)

From 2021 to 2023, USBC co-led Our Humanity: Advancing Health Literacy, a community health initiative that connected Albuquerque residents with trusted, accessible COVID-19 resources.Working in partnership with South Valley MainStreet, Casa del Rey Ministries, and other grassroots organizations, the program reached thousands of residents across neighborhoods such as South Broadway, San Jose, Santa Barbara-Martineztown, Trumbull/La Mesa, Westgate, and the South Valley.

Key outreach activities included:

Door-to-door canvassing and mobile clinics
Social media and text-based health campaigns
Community referrals to wellness and preventive care

Though funding for Our Humanity has concluded, its legacy continues in the relationships, trust, and public health access built during this critical time.

Ongoing Impact

USBC continues to support New Mexicans through direct housing services, neighborhood advocacy, and systemic change work. Each year, we expand our reach through both legal and community-based support.
In the coming year, we’ll share impact stories, neighborhood updates, and program outcomes to keep you informed about the work ahead.

Check back soon for our annual report and new community highlights.

Our History

1997
The Financial Literacy Corps is founded as a partnership with the University of New Mexico Community Engagement Center that trains students to offer workshops and connect families to resources in their own communities to help them prevent or manage financial shocks such as foreclosures and bankruptcy.

2003

The Bosque Youth Conservation Corps serves youth between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one with hands-on training to demonstrate the importance of the community’s connection to forestry and further their education.

2003

Martha’s Garden

2003-2023

The William and Josephine Dorn Charter School, a K-5 public community charter school with a focus on environmental and social justice.

1990
South Broadway Neighborhood Association (SBNA): In the early 1990s, USBC joined SBNA in a successful community-based campaign “Peace in the Streets” to rid the area of entrenched drug traffickers. Neighbors marched in the streets weekly under the banner “Somos Vecinos.”

1994
In recognition of its anti-drug-trafficking campaign, SBNA received the national Neighborhood of the Year Award.

2000
Under USBC’s leadership, the Main Street program rehabilitated and restored buildings in three commercial corridors in Albuquerque: Fourth Street in the Barelas neighborhood, Broadway Boulevard in the South Broadway neighborhood, and Central Avenue in the Huning Highland neighborhood.

2004
The Residential/Commercial Façade Improvement and Good Neighbors/Good Fences project helped Albuquerque businesses and residents refurbish street front properties. The project enhanced local streetscapes, brought in new business, and increased the desirability of the historic neighborhoods south and east of downtown.

2005

The USBC Neighborhood Commercial Revitalization Program was awarded the Excellence in Business Initiative.

The USBC Main Street project received the Main Street 2000 Retail Promotion of the Year and Image Promotion of the Year awards.