As the pandemic continues, Arizona nonprofit organizations are ramping up resources to help people experiencing homelessness.
Circle the City is one such nonprofit that provides medical care. CEO Linda Ross says they are not only ramping up their medical care and increasing virus testing, but they are also providing a place for people to camp.
“We have a total of 40 cots available out in our parking lot behind our respite center and our clinic. With portable hand washing stations, portable toilets, portable showers," said Ross.
Circle the City is a part of the Human Services Campus in Phoenix that provides shelter, food and other resources for people experiencing homelessness.
Executive director Amy Schwabenlender says its shelter reduced the number of occupants, but over the last week, Maricopa County will help the campus find more safe outdoor spaces for people to stay. The campus dayroom also has been converted into a shelter.
“The shelter that is operated by CASS, pre-COVID-19 there were 470 peple in there every night and in order to create more distancing between shelter beds they reduced the number of people that could be inside," said Schwabenlender.
Schwabenlender says that she is most worried about the heat and its impact on people outside so she is working with partners to find indoor shelter as the state heads into summer.
