The Phoenix Mayor’s Commission on Disability Issues met Thursday to discuss and present on an issue in downtown Phoenix: The rise of homelessness in the face of a proliferating pandemic.
As Arizona is slowly reaching 700,000 positive coronavirus cases, more and more people are being put in vulnerable situations, and homelessness is inevitably one of the major repercussions.
“This is a big topic we’re covering tonight, much rather than what we normally discuss,” Jessica Hipskind, the commission’s chair, said.
Amy Schwabenlender, Executive Director at the Human Services Campus (HSC) analyzed possible actions to combat this issue along with stipulations during the virtual meeting. The HSC, located in the A1 Industrial area within the Capitol Mall overlay, has been obtained by Maricopa County since 2005. Their goal is to provide resources for homeless people every day in partnership with twenty other organizations and places.
“Homelessness is not only a downtown issue; this is a regional issue. That’s why we’re in collaboration with 20 other organizations, so we don’t have everyone crowding here.” Schwabenlender said. “We truly need shelter everywhere.”
Schwabenlender shared some community concerns and responses as a result of the growing number of homeless people. First, the community said its desires for feeling safe and secure. Second, it wanted a clean means of communication and transparency in plans. And lastly, the community expressed its concerns about blight, trash, hazardous waste, and materials outside.
Homeless people who have come to these sites are often not only floundering with living on the streets, but they’re also living with disabilities.
“More than half of the time, people have some form of a disability. Just last night, there were over 228 people sleeping in their tents outside, and 60% reported having a disability,” Schwabenlender said. “Even with the harsh circumstances, recently the HSC had to turn down close to 500 people because of the lack of shelters.”
Therefore, in order to combat this issue, the commissioners need to amend a special permit that is required to add in temporary shelter beds.
As of now, the current special permit has two stipulations and a maximum of 425 shelter beds and a site plan. The zoning request amendment would allow an additional 575 beds on the Human Services Campus through a range of options including low and no-barrier shelter, plus any emergency weather relief.
The second request is to appeal to Andre House, which is a food distribution center, to shelter 100 people maximum. In addition to this, the request would also allow a maximum of 200 people to sleep inside St. Vincent de Paul’s dining room and/or Lodestar Day Resource Center day room during extreme weather conditions.
“This would result in a total nightly capacity request to 800 people in shelters all 365 days in the year,’ Schwabenlender explained. “Also, the CDC guidelines stated in last April that 12 by 12 square spaces are needed in shelter buildings too.”
To prevent further concerns from the community and counter the on-going statements, the HSU and its partner organizations hope to get its zoning request approved. This would help fix the crowded places people surround themselves in to create a clean zone, advocates said.
One solution Schwabenlender mentioned for dealing with the distress of the community over chaotic, and often messy roads, was to offer volunteer spots for homeless people. In exchange for helping to clean and pick up trash scattered around the grounds, they would get first in line for meals, showers, and more.
“This is a great way for them to simply get some experience with having a job in the future. In other words, this can help them ease into the working field,” she said.
Schwabenlender additionally stressed the importance of one point of contact for the community while regional networking with Continuum of Care, PCA, and more; they would also have more outreach meetings for the community to get themselves involved and informed.
The next step for the commissioners from this meeting is a hearing at the Phoenix City Council, on Feb. 3, 2021.
Contact the reporter at yhan99@asu.edu.
Yoori Han was the politics editor at Downtown Devil during fall 2021 and part of spring 2022.
