PHOENIX — On Wednesday, the city agencies responsible for protecting residents from dangerous heat told the Phoenix City Council's Community and Cultural Investment Subcommittee they'll be ready for summer's heat with expanded shelters, cooling stations, and other heat relief options.
According to the City of Phoenix, in 2022, more than 424 people died from heat-related deaths in Maricopa County.
Of those deaths, 50% involved drug use and 38% of the people who died from the heat were homeless.
When the agencies completed their presentation, District 8 City Councilman Carlos Garcia asked about plans for dealing with the people living in "The Zone," a homeless encampment in the downtown Phoenix area.
RELATED: Judge orders Phoenix to shut down 'The Zone'
"Are we going to need more capacity and are we going to need to establish places? How has the plan you presented today shifted with those changes?" If Garcia was expecting a plan from city officials, he didn't get one. "We have other plans in the works for addressing the crisis that we have in general around the Human Services Campus that we are not ready, we don't have all those details worked out," said Deputy City Manager Gina Montes in response to Garcia's question.
"The Zone" is a seven-block-long, five-block-wide homeless encampment located just west of downtown. As many as 1,000 people live there at any one time.
A Superior Court judge gave Phoenix until July 10 to clean up and remove the residents.
Phoenix currently has 1,575 shelter beds. Since July 2021, it committed $140 million to combat homelessness. A significant portion of the funding is dedicated to housing.
Last year, Phoenix added 592 new shelter beds with 800 additional shelter and transitional beds that will become available by 2024, including 280 beds that are expected to be ready this summer.
"I just want to say that the city of Phoenix more than anyone else understands and takes seriously the crisis that's going on," Montes said.
Even with the growing inventory of shelter space, it's not enough to handle the immediate need.
Summer is fast approaching and temperatures are expected to reach the 90s by Sunday.
With the imminent deadline to close down "The Zone," Montes says the city is going to need help.
"We've been asking and continue to ask for our partners in the region, other communities, nonprofit providers, asking more of the faith community to join us," Montes said. "As we continue to address the crisis and help our most vulnerable residents."
