The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has allocated $4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to the city of Mesa to buy a motel.
The motel will be used to provide emergency shelter and transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness.
The Grand Hotel on Main Street in Mesa has about 70 units that the city said will house up to 500 people per year. About 80% of those are expected to be women, youth and seniors.
Jacqueline Edwards is the director of the Maricopa County Human Services Department.
"The goal is not to keep people in shelter for an extended amount of time," she said. "It’s really to see what their barriers are in being unhoused and how we can connect them to a comprehensive set of services."
Those wraparound services will be available at the shelter as well.
“From case management, to workforce development, to additional needs that they may have, so that we can quickly end their homelessness and get them to be housed for the long term," Edwards said.
She said the motel should come under the city’s ownership in the next few months and is expected to open for services by the beginning of next year.
