Human Services Campus opens 100-bed shelter just in time for Phoenix summer heat

The Human Services Campus in downtown Phoenix now has an additional 100-bed shelter for people experiencing homelessness — just in time for the impending summer heat.

The campus opened a 6,300-square-foot "sprung structure" — essentially a heavy-duty, air-conditioned and heated tent — on Friday. It's similar to the Tempe "practice bubbles" used by the Arizona Cardinals and the Arizona State University football team.

The Phoenix City Council funded the $1.6 million structure with federal COVID-19 relief funds. The city and campus decided to invest in a sprung structure instead of a traditional building because it could be ready quicker and is portable, in case it makes sense to move the shelter somewhere else in the future.

Human Services Campus Executive Director Amy Schwabenlender had been asking for the structure since May 2020. The council approved it on July 1, 2021, but because of supply chain issues, it wasn't ready for last year's deadly summer heat.

More than 550 people experiencing homelessness died in Maricopa County last year. At least 106 of those individuals died of heat-related causes, according to the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner.

While the additional shelter beds are a welcome relief, they will serve only a sliver of the people living in tents around the Human Services Campus.

When the Phoenix City Council approved the funding for the structure last year, about 300 people were sleeping in the area surrounding the campus. As of March 24, there were more than 1,000.

The point-in-time count conducted in January found 5,029 people experiencing homelessness outside of shelter across metro Phoenix.

"While (the new shelter is) celebratory ... it's still not enough or close to enough," Schwabenlender said.

'Respiro'

The new shelter will be called "Respiro," Spanish for "respite."

In addition to the shelter space, the Human Services Campus will eventually offer full-day respite and services inside the new facility so people can find relief from the heat all day.

"We want people to be able to come into this space and feel like they can rest, that they can breathe. This is a calming environment. It's not the chaos of living in a tent on the street," Schwabenlender said.

The campus will prioritize two groups of people for Respiro:

• People camped on the streets surrounding the campus who have a housing voucher but are unable to find housing due to market conditions and those already accessing services but unable to find shelter.
• Vulnerable people experiencing significant barriers to housing, including individuals of advanced age and young adults, medically vulnerable people, domestic violence survivors, veterans and individuals discharged from hospitals overnight.

Phoenix Councilmember Yassamin Ansari, who represents the campus area, said she was excited to celebrate the new shelter but recognized there is more work to be done.

"I'm excited to celebrate the beginning of hopefully a series of efforts the city of Phoenix will be launching in partnership with Maricopa County and so many partners to be able to support our unsheltered community," Ansari said.

She noted the City Council has used federal COVID-19 relief funds to support homelessness and housing programs at an unprecedented rate in the past year and plans to spend an additional $20 million on smaller, specialized shelters this year.

"We recognize the massive issue we have when it comes to affordable housing, when it comes to mental health. We are making an effort to support people in all phases of the journey that gets them to this point," Ansari said.

Coverage of housing insecurity on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Arizona Community Foundation. 

Reach the reporter at jessica.boehm@gannett.com or 480-694-1823. Follow her on Twitter @jboehm_NEWS.

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