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New Phoenix program aims to offer jobs, end homelessness

Phoenix is launching a program to help people experiencing homelessness. The effort will combine work opportunities with supportive services.

The city will use $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to contract with the Phoenix Rescue Mission to run a program called “Phoenix Will Work."

Participants will be paid for conducting beautification projects and performing landscaping duties in blighted areas across the city. They’ll also be assigned an outreach navigator who will help them find transportation, housing and health care. 

In 2017, Tempe leaders approved  a jobs program for unsheltered people called “Tempe Works.” Participants get temporary jobs with the city’s public works department or other employers and, after three months of stable employment, they’re offered permanent housing options. In 2021, Tempe hired a coordinator to expand the program.

The Phoenix program will run April 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023, with an option to extend the contract through Dec. 31, 2024, based on need and available funds.

As a senior field correspondent, Christina Estes focuses on stories that impact our economy, your wallet and public policy.