Kayla Meins unloads cardboard boxes from her car to her front door. The 17-year-old told ABC15 she doesn’t know where her belongings are going to go.
Meins, her mother, 8-year-old brother, and boyfriend will be evicted on Friday. With her mother on disability, it’s on Meins to find work.
"My situation is normal to me,” Meins said. “I'll do anything I can [to] help my mom pay the rent, anything I can do to keep my brother off the streets."
Meins said her family missed one rent payment and is suffering the loss of her father.
“My dad died. From the memorial, his ashes and all the costs, it definitely pushed us back."
A setback like that, Lisa Glow, CEO and president of Central Arizona Shelter Services said is enough to tip the scale into homelessness.
"It's very easy to evict people here in Maricopa County, so evictions are rising,” Glow said. “We saw even during the pandemic, we had one of the higher eviction rates and now they're soaring again."
According to a new report by real estate data company, Attom, Arizona's home affordability crisis is getting worse in a majority of the state’s counties including Maricopa.
"The lack of affordable housing directly impacts how many people are becoming homeless,” Glow said. “People who are first-time homeless because their rent goes up. There are not enough affordable places to rent."
With COVID funds running out, CASS relies on the city, state and private donors to stay afloat.
Howard Epstein, founder of Arizona Housing Fund said, “While the government does a lot of the heavy lifting, state, county, city, federal funds, it's just not enough."
Epstein is working to help nonprofits like CASS. So far, the Arizona Housing Fund has provided eight equity grants.
"Our whole intention is to bring more units online to provide more housing,” Epstein said.
“If we're going to turn this crisis around, and I do believe it's a humanitarian crisis, it's going to take all of us,” Glow said.
Those looking to help others in Mein's situation can donate to Central Arizona Shelter Services or the Arizona Housing Fund.
