Phoenix soon may have more shelters for people experiencing homelessness thanks in part to the COVID-19 relief funds provided to the city by the federal government. 

In February, the Phoenix City Council voted to set aside $14 million in federal funds to purchase or improve up to four homeless shelters. 

This is the first substantial financial commitment for new homeless shelters in recent years. 

The shelter money will be awarded to nonprofits through a city application process later this year, but the council made clear that it would like to see smaller shelters committed to helping specialized populations — such as older adults, people with medical conditions or veterans.

Council members also said they want the new shelters to be located outside of the downtown Phoenix core, where shelters and many nonprofits serving people experiencing homelessness are clustered now.

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Homelessness on the rise

Homelessness has increased in Maricopa County by 32% since 2017. There were at least 7,419 people experiencing homelessness in January 2020, according to the Maricopa County point-in-time count — although experts say this is likely a significant undercount.

More than half of those people are not staying inside a shelter and, instead, are sleeping on the streets, in desert washes, in vehicles or another place not meant for habitation.

This is because metro Phoenix has a severe shortage of emergency shelters. The county has about 1,700 emergency shelter beds, and they’re full nearly every night.

The City Council passed a homelessness plan last year to prioritize which types of programs and shelters the city would like to pursue to reduce the number of people sleeping on Phoenix streets. 

The new federal funding is the first significant source of money that could set some of the plan into motion.

The funding came in the form of grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which could have been used for programs ranging from small business assistance to youth programs to housing help.

“We could have used them for a wide variety of uses that are very important to us as elected officials but we chose to prioritize housing and fighting homelessness,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said.

“We understand that housing is such an essential need, and if you’re in a stable housing situation it’s easier to address whatever challenges are in front of a person.”

Councilman Jim Waring, who represents northeast Phoenix, said concerns about homelessness are coming from every corner of the city, replacing streets as the most common concern from residents. 

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Ending homelessness, however, will be tougher than repairing roads, he said. 

“It’s not like a street. You can’t just pave it and it’s good for 50 years,” Waring said. 

He said he believes the city is moving in the right direction by allocating some of the city’s federal money toward facilities for people experiencing homelessness. 

“There’s at least agreement that there is problem, it’s an expanding problem and we can’t just let it go unfettered. And we do actually have some resources to do something about it, so that makes it easier than some of our other problems,” Waring said. 

Smaller, specialized shelters outside of downtown

The city’s homelessness plan called for smaller, specialized shelters scattered throughout the region, and the mayor and council members reiterated that view when allocating the new federal funds. 

The vast majority of the 1,700 emergency shelter beds in Maricopa County are located in Phoenix. The largest homeless shelter in the region, Central Arizona Shelter Services, is located just south of downtown Phoenix near the state Capitol. 

The businesses and neighborhoods surrounding CASS have long argued that they’ve had to carry the burden of homelessness for the entire region and encouraged Phoenix and Maricopa County to open shelters in other areas.

Gallego said the smaller shelter model has many benefits, including lessening the burden on these businesses and neighborhoods. 

She said she’s toured smaller shelters that cater to one part of the population, like youth or seniors, and saw how the people in these programs had better connections with caseworkers in a less-crowded setting, which ultimately helped them end their homelessness more quickly.

Gallego also said that having more shelter options across metro Phoenix would allow people who fall into homelessness to stay somewhere closer to the area that they know, instead of leaving their comfort zone for downtown Phoenix. 

“Human Services professionals tell me that the more you can keep someone’s social networks and routines intact, the more successful outcomes can be. So I want to see solutions in every part of Maricopa County, and I think that will lead to more people ending their homelessness, which is our goal,” Gallego said. 

Gallego has been calling on the state, Maricopa County and other cities to step up and add shelter beds across the region. She said she hopes that by using these new HUD grants, which almost every city in Maricopa County also received, Phoenix can inspire others to do the same. 

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“I’m hopeful we really can truly mover forward with regionalism,” Gallego said. 

Councilmember Betty Guardado, whose district borders Glendale and other West Valley cities, also called for more collaboration with other cities. 

She said she’s been meeting with leaders in those cities and recently took the Goodyear mayor on a tour of a temporary senior shelter Phoenix has been operating since last year.

“A regional approach is the one we need if we’re going to really deal with this issue. I understand that Phoenix needs to pay its piece because we are the largest city, but we are paying a lot,” Guardado said. 

A permanent senior shelter

Many council members said homeless seniors should be among the first population to see a new specialized shelter. 

CASS CEO Lisa Glow has been working for more than two years to establish a permanent senior shelter in metro Phoenix. When the pandemic began, Glow lobbied for some of the city’s federal funding to create a temporary version of her vision that would allow CASS to isolate vulnerable seniors.

Phoenix provided CASS with this funding, allowing the organization to rent 65 rooms in a north Phoenix hotel, where it placed the most vulnerable seniors in private rooms with their own bathrooms. The organization recently expanded the program with 20 additional rooms.

Nearly 70% of the homeless seniors who have stayed at the hotel, dubbed Project Haven, have moved on to permanent housing at a faster pace than seen at the main CASS shelter, Glow said. 

Phoenix has given CASS money to operate Project Haven through September, but several council members said they hope some of the newly allocated $14 million could be used to help CASS purchase a permanent facility for a senior shelter.

“My support is for the seniors. I feel very strongly of what we can do for them,” Councilmember Thelda Williams said. 

Glow said CASS plans to apply for some of the Phoenix funding, in addition to pushing a bill in the state Legislature that also would provide money for a senior shelter on the west side of Maricopa County. Between the two funding streams, Glow said she’s hopeful that a permanent version of Project Haven could be operational “very quickly.”

“The time is clearly ripe to take action to make Project Haven a permanent facility, and one-time CARES Act funding could help to get the down payment to purchase a hotel. The need is growing, and there is a lot of political momentum and support to help open new, smaller facilities for our most vulnerable like senior citizens who are experiencing homelessness,” Glow said.

‘Healing center’ in Sunnyslope

Councilmember Debra Stark, who represents the Sunnyslope area, said she’s been working for months with neighborhood groups, nonprofits and community members in her district to open a small shelter in Sunnyslope. 

The new federal funds could make it a reality, Stark said. 

“We’re really pretty excited that there’s going to be money set aside (for shelter) in other parts of the city. We know there is a need outside of downtown Phoenix,” Stark said.

Stark said her working group is calling the potential shelter in Sunnyslope a “healing center,” because of the sometimes negative stigma associated with shelter. 

She said she hopes the Sunnyslope facility will include support services on site for people experiencing homelessness and benefit to the Sunnyslope community as a whole.

Stark said she’s trying to include community groups, service providers, neighborhood groups and business leaders in conversations about the potential new shelter so that everyone feels comfortable with the new addition to the neighborhood. 

“We’re all trying to move forward together. (Homelessness) can certainly become a NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) issue, and we’re trying our best to make sure it doesn’t end up that way by trying to have everyone at the table,” Stark said.

Coverage of housing insecurity on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Arizona Community Foundation. 

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 480-694-1823. Follow her on Twitter @jboehm_NEWS.

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