Arizona’s largest mass homeless shelter has a new CEO. The nonprofit’s new leader shared about his vision and plans to finally open a shelter for people ages 55 and older.
Nathan Smith is the CEO at Central Arizona Shelter Services, or CASS. For Smith, the priority is figuring out the gaps, developing new workforce partnerships and supporting projects like their new behavioral health program for those with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders.
Smith also has another big project on the horizon: a senior hotel that was supposed to open two years ago.
"There were things missed that got discovered along the way," he explains. "There were completely rotted valves that I've seen pictures of from the very outset of the project that we didn't discover until the project was up and running."
And he says that caused a lot of delays.
"It caused a substantial amount of delays. It turned out to be a very different project altogether," Smith said.
The good news, Smith said, is that construction is almost done and folks could start moving in by the end of the year.
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