MESA, Ariz. — The City of Mesa is proposing to move its temporary housing program from one hotel to another.
Mesa's Off the Streets program has operated out of the Windemere Hotel and Conference Center near Main Street and Recker Road for the past three years.
Off the Streets provides people experiencing homelessness a place to stay for up to 90 days while working toward goals to find temporary or permanent housing.
“It’s like a lobby. It’s the waiting room to get them to next step, which is either self-reliance or transitional housing or these other steps," said Det. Aaron Raine, the coordinator of Mesa's Homeless Resource.
Raine said nearly 4,000 people enter homelessness in Mesa every year. About 500 of those people make their way into the Off the Streets program.
The city is currently leasing rooms for about 140 people, according to Raine.
“I’ve seen people leave here, start businesses and become successful," Raine said.
Raine gave 12News a tour of the Windemere on Wednesday and explained why he thinks its necessary to move.
"This is a super hard location to manage because there's front doors and back doors, right? A completely open property," Raine said.
The City of Mesa can't make changes to the Windermere because it leases the property.
Program leaders want to permanently move participants to the Grand Hotel near Main Street and Power Road.
"That (hotel) is so much more secure and easy to manage the security at because it's one point entry, one point exit," Raine said.
Some people living near the Grand Hotel told 12News they don't want the program in their neighborhood.
"I understand the frustration. I understand the fears," Raine said. "The reality is that nobody is going to say, 'Yeah, come do it next to me.'"
Raine said the Mesa Police Department also had safety fears at the Windermere when it opened three years ago.
“The three years prior to us being in the shelter, this particular mile and a half around the shelter was above the city average in crimes per thousand people. Since we’ve been here, it’s been below, at or below the city average," Raine said.
Raine told 12News he's been inspired by the program's participants and he thinks other Mesa residents will be, too.
“If you think you know what homelessness looks like, you’ll end up being surprised," Raine said.
The city council is expected to vote on the proposed change of use in October.
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