Sedona Designates ‘Safe Place to Park’ for Homeless Arizonans Living in Vehicles

Sedona City Council

The Sedona City Council voted on Tuesday to designate an area for homeless Arizonans who live in their vehicles to park overnight.

In a decision proponents presented as a partial solution to the city’s housing crisis, the city council voted to allow residents to park and stay overnight in an unpaved parking area that formerly served Cultural Park, which closed in 2004.

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Pinal County Left to Address Reportedly ‘Toxic’ Garbage Created by Homeless Campers After Feds Restrict 1,000 Acres in Arizona

Homeless Camp

Officials in Pinal County are reportedly working to address toxic garbage caused by illegal camping by the homeless after the Bureau of Land Management displaced them by closing 1,000 acres of public land in Apache Junction and the Tonto National Forest to create a new recreation area.

Pinal County Supervisor Jeff Serdy confirmed local authorities are left to confront the numbers of “boondockers,” “nomads” and “truly homeless” who were displaced after BLM closed the acreage to build a recreation area in remarks to ABC 15.

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Greater Phoenix Area Receives $46.5 Million in Federal Funds for Homeless as Arizona Spending Reportedly Nears $1 Billion

homelessness in Arizona

The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) announced last week the federal government awarded over $40 million to supplement programs supporting the homeless. The federal money was announced as state spending on homelessness reportedly nears $1 billion per year.

MAG announced in a press release that “more than $46.5 million in federal funding” will be provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to “help fund dozens of local homelessness programs.” The figure is also $10 million higher than the previous year’s federal commitment, MAG explained.

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Phoenix Approves Over $1 Million for Homeless Shelter amid Concern ‘The Zone’ Could Reemerge

The City of Phoenix last Wednesday approved just over $1 million to Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS), which operates the city’s largest homeless shelter.

Phoenix made the payment using leftover federal funds originally earmarked for COVID-19 recovery, but CASS warned the organization still has a shortfall of around $500,000 that could threaten its ability to provide shelter services, explaining that it filed three state grant requests that were denied by Arizona.

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