Participants stayed an average of 60-120 nights before leaving for permanent housing. The temporary senior shelter, called "Project Haven," saw higher rates of successful exits to permanent housing than CASS's main downtown shelter, Glow said. The organization later expanded the program with 20 additional rooms. Phoenix provided CASS with CARES Act funding, allowing the organization to rent 65 rooms in a north Phoenix hotel, where it placed the most vulnerable older adults in private rooms with their own bathrooms. Prior to the pandemic, people 55 and older took up almost 40% of the 500 shelter beds at the downtown CASS shelter.įor subscribers: 'Silver tsunami' of homeless seniors spurs proposal for West Valley shelterĬASS CEO Lisa Glow has been advocating for a separate senior shelter for the past several years.ĭuring the pandemic, she got to test out the idea through a partnership with Phoenix. Nationally, the epidemic is dubbed the "silver tsunami." Older adults are the fastest-growing homeless population in the Phoenix area and across the country as housing prices climb and those on fixed incomes can't keep up. "Today's decision is really historic for getting support from neighborhoods to accept shelters in their neighborhoods," said neighborhood leader Jeff Spellman. Several neighborhood leaders even testified in support of the project at the zoning hearing, saying it would improve the area. Neighborhood opposition has killed dozens of homeless shelter projects in metro Phoenix and across the country.ĬASS cleared that hurdle, too, after spending almost a year with the surrounding neighborhoods building trust and comfort with the project. The Arizona Department of Housing will provide $7.5 million toward the purchase of the hotel, and the Phoenix City Council approved an additional $4 million that CASS will use to rehab the property and beautify the grounds.īut funding often is not the largest hurdle for homeless shelters. In late September, Phoenix granted Central Arizona Shelter Services a use permit to operate a 130-room shelter out of the old Phoenix Inn near Northern Avenue and Interstate 17. View Gallery: Central Arizona Center turning Phoenix Inn into a senior shelterĪ new shelter for homeless older adults will open in Phoenix next year after winning support from surrounding neighborhood groups.
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