PHOENIX — Periwinkle Mobile Home Park will officially close on Sunday and 11 families living there have yet to stabilize a new home.
While the move-out date is May 28, Grand Canyon University, which owns the land, told 12News it will not evict people come that day, promising to be a good neighbor.
The college plans to redevelop the lot near 27th Avenue and Camelback Road and turn it into student housing after purchasing the land in 2016.
“We continue to try to actively work with each remaining family to create solutions that address their particular circumstances,” a GCU spokesperson told 12News in a statement.
Periwinkle was home to 46 mobile home lots. Most of the people that lived there have moved out as the closing date approached.
As of Tuesday, 11 families remained on the property. Some of them have found a new place to call home and are in the process of moving. Others were declined Section 8 housing vouchers and told 12News they have yet to find a new place.
Only two mobile homes in the park were built after 1976 and qualified to be moved to a new lot.
Six Periwinkle residents applied to the Department of Housing Mobile Home Relocation Fund.
Uprooted lives
“We’ll see how we move forward,” said Maria, who has lived at the mobile home park near 27th Avenue and Camelback Road for nearly 15 years.
Periwinkle is where she raised her three children. Even though she paid off her mobile home years ago, it must be left behind because it’s too old to move.
On Tuesday, Maria moved some of her belongings into the new house she found for rent on Facebook. But this new home will cost her four times more.
She paid $480 monthly at the mobile home park to rent her parking spot. Her new rent alone will be $1,900 a month.
Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, has a housing shortfall of more than 74,000 units.
According to a recent Maricopa Association of Governments report, most apartments available in the Phoenix area are between $1,500 and $2,000 monthly.
“It was the only thing we could find,” she said. “But since I have three kids and their school is close by, we had to move fast. That’s what we had to do, like it or not.”
Esther Cook and her husband have lived in their double-wide for 17 years, but the mobile home has been in her family for about 30 years. So, it’s special to her.
“We were afraid we were going to be kicked out in the street,” Cook, 81, told 12News. “We were scared to death and a lot of these families have kids, which is just sad.”
On Tuesday, Cook said she found out her mobile home and her neighbors were the only two houses that will move to new lots. She’s grateful for that.
Gracia Beltran told 12News that her family was denied a Section 8 housing voucher. She was waiting for that to find affordable housing, and now she must start from scratch.
Luckily, Beltran won’t leave empty-handed. Her family did qualify for some of the state and local programs and will get about $13,000 to move.
“It’s not what my home and my life here is worth, but it’s better than nothing,” Beltran said.
Other residents told 12News they had not received financial assistance and did not have a place lined up to go to.
Financial assistance
Out of the 46 families forced to move out of Periwinkle Mobile Home Park, only six applied for state funding through the Mobile Home Relocation Fund.
The Department of Housing told 12News that from January 1, 2022, to May 23, 2023, the number of statewide mobile home fund applications was 18 and the total amount of assistance paid out of the fund was $45,250.
Of the 18 applicants, four applied within the last month. The other three applicants were from Beacon Palms Mobile Home Park, formerly called Las Casitas, which is also set to close in October.
The Mobile Home Relocation Fund has a remaining balance of $7,764,254.
The Phoenix City Council this spring set aside $2.5 million in federal funds to help mobile home park residents facing eviction in the future.
A recent new Arizona law increased state funds for owners forced to move their mobile homes because of redevelopment to $12,500 for a single-section dwelling and $20,000 for a multi-section.
Those who must abandon their home because of precarious conditions can now get $5,000 for a single-section home and up to $8,000 for a multi-section.
Grand Canyon University said it has worked with Periwinkle residents to try and ease the burden of moving out. It did not raise the rent since its 2016 purchase and offered residents money, household goods, and early departure bonuses.
A third mobile home park, Weldon Court near 16th Street and Osborn Road is also set to close at the end of June.
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