MESA, Ariz. — Arizona’s intense heat is showing no mercy to homeless people living in their cars. In some cases, entire families cannot find housing, leaving them with no alternative.
When Valley temperatures hit a record high Wednesday, Candice Ortiz said despite working two jobs, her car was the best she could offer her family. She said they have been living this way for seven months.
"There’s four of us. Sometimes, five," Ortiz said.
Ortiz recently took her 8-year-old son to the hospital after he showed signs of heat exhaustion. The car's temperature has reached 125 degrees, and the air conditioning quit months ago.
"It’s hard and depressing," she said.
Ortiz sometimes works the overnight shift. She and her family often park to sleep wherever they can find shade, whether it is a park or a parking lot.
"We just have to try to survive, I guess," Ortiz said. "We suffer. We have little cooling fans, but it’s not much help because it’s hot air all the way around. That really doesn’t help much."
Homeless advocates in the East Valley say there is no exact count of how many families live in their cars full time.
Austin Davis leads AZ Hugs, a nonprofit that serves an evening meal for unhoused people every night in Tempe. Davis calls homelessness Arizona's biggest ongoing crisis. His organization works with local hotels to pay for one-night respites, getting homeless families off the streets when they can.
"Right now, we have to look out for the health and well-being of the folks in our community above all else," Davis said. "It’s 115 out here, and we have families every week who are being hospitalized because of this heat."
Both Ortiz and Davis say housing agencies are failing families like hers. They point to groups like the Family Housing Hub, where they say waitlists run long. A spokesperson for the Family Housing Hub told ABC15 the agency is doing the best it can, as the demand for housing exceeds what is available.
Davis is calling on state leaders to open more shelters to provide relief for struggling people.
However, there is a glimmer of hope for Ortiz. On Friday, she followed up with ABC15 to share that she has an opportunity to move into an affordable apartment and could move out of her car as early as this weekend.
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