A meal being served at the Albuquerque Indian Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Photo from Facebook

The Albuquerque Indian Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, could close by April 1 unless it finds additional sources of funding.

The center provides meals, clothing and other services to a growing number of urban Indians in the state's largest city. But funding levels haven't kept up with the higher costs.

"These people live hard lives,” executive director Mary Garcia told The Albuquerque Journal. “They come in from the reservation, are experiencing poverty and are ill prepared to deal with urban life. This is their community center and closing it would only make their lives more difficult.”

The center relies on tribal, state, local and private grants and donations. The city of Albuquerque provided a large and consistent flow of funds up until 2011, when it began sending money to the First Nations Community HealthSource, a different urban Indian organization that offers some of the same services as the AIC, the Journal reported.

The AIC is raising funds on GoFundMe and benefited from a recent concert that was organized by a local supporter.

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