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Mesa, Chandler And Tempe Open Hotel For Homeless

Three Arizona cities are working together to keep older adults and people who are medically vulnerable and experiencing homelessness off the streets during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mesa, Chandler and Tempe are operating the 25-room hotel.

Nichole Stevens, with the city of Tempe, says finding permanent housing for this population during this time has been tough.

"Some of the innovative things that Tempe is doing currently is providing cellphones to these individuals and tablets. These tablets allow them to search for jobs or apartments while they’re at the hotel. We also have a housing navigator," said Stevens.

Stevens says Tempe is also working with Circle in the City, a nonprofit health organization, to test people coming into the hotel for the virus.

→  Read The Latest News On The Coronavirus Disease 

KJZZ senior field correspondent Kathy Ritchie has 20 years of experience reporting and writing stories for national and local media outlets — nearly a decade of it has been spent in public media.