The overflow men’s shelter run by Central Arizona Shelter Services on 12th Avenue and Madison is crowded, stuffy and — on a summer night — uncomfortably warm.
But it’s a step up from the street, which — on a July evening — is unbearably hot and often dangerous. Each afternoon, more than 300 men line up to for a mat and a chance to use a bathroom. If not for the shelter, many of them would be sleeping in the street.
And they might be doing just that after Nov. 30, when funding for the overflow shelter is set to run out, CASS spokeswoman Jennifer Dangremond said.
To keep it open, CASS is seeking funding from cities and other sources. Paradise Valley has already given some $25,000, Dangremond said.
That won’t cover the cost, however. Keeping the shelter open year-round is not cheap, Dangremond said, “It runs a little over a million dollars.”
Much of that goes toward staffing — including shelter managers and off-duty police officers, Dangremond said. Another cost is rent paid to the county, which owns the building, formerly a records depository for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
The shelter handles the “overflow” of the regular CASS shelter on a campus for the homeless a block south. That CASS shelter is typically full.
The overflow’s use as a year-round shelter was gradual, Dangremond said.
It first opened in winter months as a place for men to get out of the cold. In July 2005, more than two-dozen homeless residents in the Phoenix area died from the heat. CASS, in response, opened the overflow in summer as well.
If it closes, Dangremond said: “We know there are no other beds.”
CASS is going hat-in-hand to other cities and towns in Maricopa County, seeking the $500,000 needed to keep the overflow shelter open from Dec. 1 through June 30. That would include $250,000 in matching funds from the Arizona Department of Housing, she said.
The Housing Department has agreed to provide up to $500,000 for the overflow shelter, in a dollar-for-dollar match, said Charlene Crowell, an agency spokeswoman. CASS first has to come up with its share of the funding, she said.
“It’s really in CASS’ court right now,” she added.
Dangremond said CASS has already asked Peoria and Scottsdale for a contribution. But that’s just a start, she said.
“I would like to see a contribution from all the cities and towns in Maricopa County,” Dangremond said.
In a Sept. 26 meeting of the Maricopa Association of Governments, mayors and city representatives voted unanimously to support the overflow shelter — at least philosophically, CASS chief executive officer Mark Holleran said.
“There was no funding specifically committed to the action they took,” Holleran said.