PHOENIX, Ariz. (Feb. 19, 2021):  The Phoenix City Council has approved $4 million in funding from the CARES Act and other sources to the Human Services Campus (HSC) and directly to Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS).

HSC, Inc. will use its $1.6 million to cover expenses associated with obligations included in stipulations that the council approved as part its recent approval of additional shelter beds on the campus. CASS will dedicate its $2.4 million toward the expansion of the shelter to accommodate the additional 275 beds.

“The Phoenix City Council continues to show its leadership in addressing homelessness not just in the city but across Maricopa County,” said HSC Executive Director Amy Schwabenlender. “Allocating these funds strategically underscores their support for our efforts to provide services and resources for the growing number of men and women experiencing homelessness.”

Schwabenlender said that the allocation “means that CASS doesn’t have to fund raise for the expansion and allows HSC to pay for elements in the stipulations that include expanded neighborhood clean up and hiring additional staff for the Brian Garcia Welcome Center, among other priorities.”

The 26 approved stipulations were developed in collaboration with City of Phoenix staff, neighborhood groups and campus partners to address issues of concern that were expressed during a series of community meetings.

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said she was “proud of what we, as a council, did today. We will be feeling the effects of the pandemic for quite some time, and few will suffer more than people experiencing homelessness. These additional monies, invested with the city’s human services partners, will go a long way toward easing that pain.”

Mayor Gallego also called on “Valley cities, Maricopa County and the state to step up and ensure the providers in their areas have the capital resources they need to care for those who are unsheltered, and to do so close to where these individuals and families are experiencing homelessness.”

HSC, a 501c3 nonprofit agency, owns and operates a 13-acre campus at 12^thAvenue and Madison that is home to 16 nonprofit organizations providing services and resources to people experiencing homelessness.

For more information visit www.hsc-az.org.