PHOENIX — Over the last five years, homelessness in Maricopa County has grown dramatically. Families with small children, seniors on fixed incomes, and veterans over the age of 55 make up the majority of those who Arizona’s largest shelter helps to get back on their feet.
Central Arizona Shelter Services, which has been serving the community for more than 35 years is there to help but needs support to make it all happen.
What is the need?
“The recent numbers released in Maricopa County showed a 35% increase in unsheltered homelessness,” said Lisa Glow, the CEO of Central Arizona Shelter Services, or CASS. “That's over 5,000 people that were counted, and certainly there were others who are not counted.”
At any given time, an estimated 1,000 people are staying in tents along 12th Avenue and Jackson Street, waiting for a bed to open in CASS’s main shelter.
“We provide them with a bed, showers, case management support, and resources to help them get back into housing and anything else to break down the barriers that might be in the way of them ending their homelessness,” Glow said.
>> Donate now: cassaz.org/shelter
Caring for seniors
CASS says nearly a third of those who they serve are age 55 and over. Many of those over 55 are medically vulnerable and considered by many to be unemployable.
“We have people in their 80s and 90s that stay with us and shelter. The reason they're here is that they can't afford their rent anymore,” Glow said. “Rents are rising throughout Maricopa County and Phoenix; we have some of the fastest rising rents in the country. Last year, the rents went up 30% in the greater Phoenix area, and senior citizens on fixed incomes, they can't afford it.”
To address the growing number of seniors facing housing insecurity, CASS plans to open Project Haven before the end of the year.
Project Haven is a converted 170-room hotel that will cater to the needs of CASS’s senior clientele.
Glow said it often takes CASS a little longer to get seniors into a permanent housing situation.
“For seniors, it usually takes longer than for other folks because oftentimes they're on Social Security income and they may no longer be employable, or they've got a pretty limited income from their work,” Glow explained.
Caring for families
“When me and my family became homeless, I had no idea what we were going to do,” said Gabriella Sisneros.
That feeling is something nearly 200 other families felt in the past year.
Vista Colina was set up as a shelter for families. It's an apartment complex owned by CASS to offer families a secure place to stay while working to find permanent housing.
“We're building an Empowerment Center for families that will have counseling services, vocational and education training, really the things that families are asking for to help them permanently end their homelessness,” Glow said.
For the families staying at Vista Colina, the shelter provides something you can’t put a price on: Hope.
“When I think ahead, I see us being happy in an apartment, or in a home,” Sisneros said. “Just seeing the smiles every day, seeing my kids smile, you know, those are the things that I look forward to.”
The Valley is in the midst of a housing crisis and CASS is looking to expand and improve its operations to meet the growing needs of its community.
“There's a misperception that people choose homelessness,” said Glow. “No one plans to be homeless; it happens. And then it's challenging for some people once they become homeless, coming out of that. So that's where we intervene is to help them end their homelessness, whatever it takes.”
>> Donate now: cassaz.org/shelter
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