A plan is expected to be finalized this week that allows St. Vincent de Paul to operate its indoor shelter through February. Originally, the shelter would’ve had to stop overflow services by October.
After the Men’s Overflow Shelter operated by Central Arizona Shelter Services closed last year, St. Vincent de Paul and Lodestar Day Resource Center began taking in those displaced by the closure.
Chief Operations Officer for St. Vincent de Paul Steve Attwood said the organization recently approached Maricopa County and offered to operate all overflow shelter services for less than a third of the current cost.
“The funders are currently paying today roughly $125,000 a month to fund temporary overflow shelter(s) and they’ve been doing that now for 15 to 16 months, and we said we could do it for approximately $40,000,” Attwood said.
The funders consist of Maricopa County, the Department of Economic Security, the Arizona Department of Housing and the Valley of the Sun United Way.
Budget cuts will mean 100 people at Lodestar will lose shelter, but St. Vincent de Paul will be able to provide services for 250 others through February.
“It buys some more time and even if people do get displaced in the spring, it’s a better time to get displaced in the spring than right before the holidays when the weather starts turning cold,” Attwood said.
Maricopa County Human Services Director Bruce Liggett said this plan is just a temporary fix.
“What’s most important is that we as a Funders Collaborative continue to work on the real solution, which is finding housing for people who are homeless,” Liggett said.
Liggett said for the past two years the Funders Collaborative has raised $4.5 million to go toward creating housing solutions. So far, they’ve placed 500 people in permanent housing.