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August is green chile month in New Mexico. The wonderful fragrance of roasting chile wafts in the air near supermarkets, produce markets and specialty chile vendors on parking lots.
The modest retirement account belonging to Samantha Velez’s family has been reset to zero. Just last month, with the coronavirus pandemic gutting jobs and slashing the family’s incomes, that money was used for something more pressing: rent. “Sometimes, you got to do what you got to do,” Velez said. “For now, we’re looking at the short-term goal, which is to make sure we have what the kids need.” Across the Pikes Peak region and Colorado, people are scrambling to pay rent and stay off the streets — dipping into retirement savings, moving in with relatives and frantically search...