PHOENIX — This week marks two years since the City of Phoenix completed the cleanup of "The Zone,” multiple city blocks that were filled with encampments in downtown surrounding homeless services.
ABC15 has monitored the city's progress since 2023, when a judge ordered the city to clear up the area following a lawsuit filed by nearby business owners.
At its peak, roughly 1,000 people lived in the 15-block radius.
The organization providing 24/7 services to people experiencing homelessness in the former zone area, Keys to Change, said they have worked with the city over the past two years to keep a separate “Safe Outdoor Space” open for individuals in need.
CEO Amy Schwabenlender said since the zone was cleared, encampments have been spread out across the city, making it harder for outreach teams.
“It really has disrupted in a way, though, the ability to keep people connected to services,” Schwabenlender said. "Now, people are dispersed across the Valley, and more encampments are in more places.”
Homelessness in Maricopa County is up, per the county’s point-in-time count earlier this year.
"We've had this up and down of shelter capacity, and we have more people falling into homelessness, and we don't have enough housing to move people into, so we're still really stuck as a system,” Schwabenlender said.
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Schwabenlender said the top challenge to their work is funding, as millions of American Rescue Plan Act dollars used for their outreach dried up, and the new federal administration cut $24,000 dollars to the organization’s mailroom.
Their mailroom helps more than 7,000 unhoused people have an address for things like social benefits or job applications.
“We have to fundraise those dollars from other sources,” Schwabenlender said. "We have to keep it open. We know it's critical.”
Keys to Change has been serving the unhoused population in downtown Phoenix for 20 years and will celebrate this anniversary on Friday.
