The X-Wing at the Phoenix Navigation Center, which the city of Phoenix opened in late March of this year, consists of converted shipping containers that provide private shelter space (photo courtesy of Office of Homeless Solutions).
Summer is here in full force, and along with the reports of record high numbers, there was another concerning number reported recently: 28 percent. That number reflects the increase of people living unsheltered in Maricopa County on the night of the Jan. 28 during the Point-in-Time Homeless Count. The majority of those residents are in Phoenix.
The Point-in-Time (PIT) Homeless Count is an annual street and shelter count that determines the number of people experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County during a given point in time. Conducted on a single day in January, this project includes a brief survey to identify the needs and characteristics of those experiencing homelessness.
County-wide, the number of people experiencing homelessness that night was 9,734 – up by three percent from the 2024 count. Forty-seven percent were sheltered (in emergency shelter, transitional housing or safe haven programs); 53 percent were unsheltered (on the streets or other places not meant for human habitation). Of that total number, 3,761 individuals were unsheltered in Phoenix. That number includes 220 people who were staying at the Phoenix Safe Outdoor Space, a structured outdoor shelter at 1537 W. Jackson that provides meals, laundry, shower facilities and onsite case management, but is not included in the federal “shelter” designation.
The May 2025 report noted three main takeaways:
- Between 2024 and 2025, federal funding expired for more than 1,000 shelter beds across the region.
- The conditions leading to homelessness locally have not improved since last year. These include high rental costs and limited access to supportive services such as long-term care for older adults and mental health services.
- The landscape for funding remains challenging in light of proposed federal cuts to rental assistance and social service programs.
At the city level, Phoenix is working to meet the growing challenges, says Rachel Milne, director of the Phoenix Office of Homeless Solutions (OHS). She is also co-chair of the Maricopa Regional Continuum of Care, which works on regional solutions to end homelessness. She spoke to us about what the city of Phoenix is doing to address the issue by first recognizing the loss of shelter capacity.
“In 2024, the city, the county, the state, we all had some temporary shelter projects online,” Milne said. “We were utilizing a lot of the pandemic funding for a lot of temporary projects, all of which closed before the 2025 counts. There are a lot of permanent projects that we’ve all been working together collaboratively to put in place; however, between those counts, we saw a drastic loss of capacity right in our system.”
The most recent permanent project is the Phoenix Navigation Center, a 280-bed shelter at 11 S. 71st Ave. in west Phoenix that opened March 26. The Center offers 200 dorm-style beds for men and women and 80 private beds in the X-Wing converted shipping containers. It provides a variety of critical services beyond shelter to help people end their homelessness including meals, personal property storage, housing navigation and access to mental and physical health services.
Addressing issues in the North Central area, the CASS Senior Haven (located near the northwest intersection of I-17 and Northern Avenue) came online in January of this year, and the North Mountain Healing Center (located on 25th Avenue adjacent to Rose Mofford Park) opened its first phase in November 2024.
Senior Haven is specifically for adults aged 55 and older and has a 170-bed capacity, which Milne said it is close to reaching. The Healing Center currently can accommodate 30 people maximum, but it will eventually reach a 100-bed capacity. She said that they hoped to add more beds in June, opening to full capacity towards the end of this summer.
Beyond shelter space, the city is focused on respite services for residents during the hot summer months. Three branches of Phoenix Public Library (Cholla, Harmon and Yucca) are once again serving as cooling centers and have extended their hours to 10 p.m., seven days per week, for all library services, in addition to a 24/7 respite site in downtown at 20 W. Jackson.
“That site started May 1 and will go through September 30 at least,” Milne said. “And it’s open all day every day and has all kinds of support services for individuals and families – those who need to get out of the heat and who may be experiencing homelessness and are looking for some additional services; we have the ability to offer those at that site.”
During the summer months, residents who need help or want to find help for others can start with the County Heat Relief Network: https://azmag.gov/programs/heat-relief-network. The website provides a map of a network of partners providing water, cooling and donation sites throughout the Valley. Residents can also dial 2-1-1 for information or visit www.givesmartaz.org to find organizations that they can support.
These services will help meet the immediate need. But what about long-term solutions to reduce the number of people falling into homelessness?
“That’s the big question,” Milne said. “We, as the city and as a community and society really need to work to prevent as many people as possible from entering the homeless service system. Once they are, we’ve got this emergency shelter system available for them. So, we have to help them exit that emergency system and get into permanent housing – that’s what is going to end homelessness. By investing more in prevention and in housing we will truly start seeing a shift in the number of people experiencing homelessness in our community.”
But that takes resources Milne says.
“The 2024 PIT count number really showed what can be done when we truly have a regional approach,” she said. “The city, the state, the county, we all had federal funding that was helping address this regional problem. Once that federal funding started to wane and these temporary projects closed, that’s when we saw the increase in unsheltered.
“So, we need resources. Everyone in the homeless service system right now is a little bit nervous about the state of federal funding in general. And then we need coordination at all levels of government. We do that really well between the city, county and state, but increasing that coordination with additional dedicated resources from the feds is what is most needed.”
Milne added, “In the three years that the OHS has been in existence, we’ve created 1,200 new indoor shelter beds, 300 spaces at our Safe Outdoor Space, and we still have a few projects right now in the works. So, we’re not letting our foot off the gas. We’ve done a lot in these last three years, but we have a lot more to do.”
