MESA, AZ — The last family to move out of an emergency family homeless shelter in Mesa, which has closed due to federal funding cuts, is now wondering what will happen to others who need help.
Ahkeyla Clower, her husband and their four children just moved into an apartment after staying at La Mesita, a shelter the nonprofit A New Leaf operated.
“It feels really good,” Clower told ABC15. “It feels good to call, you know, somewhere home again.”
Clower calls La Mesita “a blessing” and is disappointed the shelter has closed after nearly 30 years.
“It was heartbreaking, because they really helped out a lot of people, and including my family... When I heard they’re closing, I'm like, ‘What are other people gonna do?’” she said.
A New Leaf converted the 16 units at La Mesita into affordable housing, and new residents started moving in last month.
A New Leaf is mostly funded by federal dollars — 78% of its funding comes from 130 contracts. The nonprofit told ABC15 in May that it's seen a significant decline in federal funding for its shelter services.
“So, A New Leaf is strategizing in so many different ways of different scenarios," Laura Bode, chief philanthropy officer, said then. "If funding is cut here, where do we pool our resources to keep the most critically needed community services sustained? How can the community help support those?"
Clower said the shelter was there when her family needed it most.
“Without them, I don't know where we would be today,” she said. “So they've been a big blessing, big help.”
She and her family moved to Arizona from St. Louis in search of a fresh start.
“We were supposed to be moving up here with some family, but they ended up losing their homes,” she said. “So when we got here, we, you know, had to sleep in our car. And we were sleeping in our car for about three weeks.”
Clower called 211 and was connected to La Mesita and A New Leaf. The adjustment was hard on her kids, she said.
“They were a little sad, just because we had never been homeless before, and this was something new to all of us,” she said.
But La Mesita made all the difference.
“When we got into that shelter, that really opened up their minds and like, 'OK, we're going to be OK,’” she said.
Her family is making the most of their new start. The kids are quick to tell their mom about the new friends they’re making. And Clower is looking forward to someday launching her own business.
“I am trying to start my own cleaning business,” she said. “I have been doing cleaning for over seven years.”
Clower told ABC15 she wishes the shelter could reopen.
“Sometimes it feels like you're on your own and you have no help,” she said. “But I would say, just keep the faith, keep praying and just keep being you, the person you know you are.”
