Arizona’s HOMELESS HELL 2025: The City of Tents, Trauma & Total Collapse...
23. 🔴 Real stories about homelessness in America – raw, emotional, and unfiltered.
Beneath the scorching Arizona sun lies an invisible hell – tent encampments that surround the city, where homeless people struggle with addiction, poverty and despair. From flawed policies to systemic incompetence, this video exposes the dark side of Arizona’s Sin City in 2025 – where life is no longer humane. ____________________________________________ 📌
> This series explores:
-The Explosion of Arizona's Homeless Encampments
-The True Cost of Poverty, Addiction, and Injustice
-Eroding Community Trust
-Cuts and Slow Government Response
-Small Rays of Light in the Darkness: Organizations and People Fighting for Dignity
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📺 Full series → Homeless in America: Real Stories from the Streets
👉 
• Homeless in America – Real Stories from th...
RELATED POSTS UPLOADED IN 2021 ON THIS BLOG:
The Mayor's Own Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness > Keeping The Promise?
No chance "to under-promise and over-deliver" on this - it's more than "we can" - it is swearing to an oath to finish the goal within one year and complete the criteria to get confirmation from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. The Mayor of New Orleans did just accomplished, as promised. - with No newspeak
As usual a lot of fanfare and skimpy details left out of Mesa Now press releases coming out of City Hall
City of Mesa announces Strategic Plan for Addressing Homelessness
March 24, 2021 at 12:45 pmThe City of Mesa today released its Strategic Plan for Addressing Homelessness, to help Mesa-based homeless recover and transition to stable housing during and after the COVID19 pandemic. Through the investment of federal funding, including funds from the CARES Act, Mesa will focus on supportive infrastructure and systematic steps, referred to as the Housing Path to Recovery.
Using a data-driven process and collaborative community partnerships within the region, Mesas plan endeavors to keep homelessness rare, brief and non-reoccurring.
"Mesa is a compassionate community, and this plan provides a balanced approach to support those most in need while also working toward community safety in public spaces, like our parks and libraries,"said Mesa Mayor John Giles. "This is a strong plan for Mesa."
"Mesas Strategic Plan for Addressing Homelessness is clear, comprehensive and adaptable," said Vice Mayor Jen Duff. "This will be a tremendous tool for Mesa residents and to City Council as we continue to address the growing needs for those experiencing homelessness."
Mesas Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness is available in its entirety on the City of Mesas website at: mesaaz.gov/homeless.
Contact:
Mayors Office
Contact: Casey Blake
Tel. (480) 644-3662
casey.blake@mesaaz.gov
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Homelessness: Just 'A Point In Time' or Lasting Solutions?
In one of the first reactions to the extension of lightrail service into downtown Mesa, city officials wanted a police bike patrol first of all.
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17 September 2018
Let's start off with saying that
ENGAGED RESIDENTS MAKE MORE EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT
Mesa Has A Problem. . . . . . . . . . . .
Many people here in Mesa might consider the homeless a nuisance.
That issue was addressed here in a report from Arizona Attorney Digital Mag
One of the major findings > Working to develop more permanent supportive housing is the true answer.*
Nuisance and Vagrancy Laws: The New Exclusionary Zoning
< What’s Going on in Arizona?
The 2020 PIT Count was conducted on January 28, 2020.
City Staff "Talking Heads" Produce Another Scripted Summit
Point-in-Time Count
The Point-in-Time (PIT) Homeless Count is an annual street and shelter count to determine the number of people experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County during a given point in time. This count is part of a national effort to identify the extent of homelessness throughout the country. The count includes a brief survey to identify the needs of those experiencing homelessness in the community. MAG coordinates the PIT Count each year for the Maricopa Regional Continuum of Care. MAG serves as the hub of collaboration between the Continuum of Care and local communities. The 2020 PIT Count was conducted on January 28, 2020.
Please Note: There are a number posts on this blog for related content from prior years that will help readers assess if the city government - and its administrators - have produced positive outcomes or if the issues and numbers of the homeless population have increased over time. It's a reality-check no matter what they say all the time year-after-year. Obviously they are trying once again to manipulate the news - as you can see right from the start when District 4 City Council member Jennifer Duff has to correct the mayor directly that the homeless are not just visible downtown. . .
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Monday, December 21, 2020
City Staff "Talking Heads" Produce Another Scripted Summit
Point-in-Time Count
The Point-in-Time (PIT) Homeless Count is an annual street and shelter count to determine the number of people experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County during a given point in time. This count is part of a national effort to identify the extent of homelessness throughout the country. The count includes a brief survey to identify the needs of those experiencing homelessness in the community. MAG coordinates the PIT Count each year for the Maricopa Regional Continuum of Care. MAG serves as the hub of collaboration between the Continuum of Care and local communities. The 2020 PIT Count was conducted on January 28, 2020.
Please Note: There are a number posts on this blog for related content from prior years that will help readers assess if the city government - and its administrators - have produced positive outcomes or if the issues and numbers of the homeless population have increased over time. It's a reality-check no matter what they say all the time year-after-year.
Obviously
they are trying once again to manipulate the news - as you can see
right from the start when District 4 City Council member Jennifer Duff
has to correct the mayor directly that the homeless are not just visible
downtown.
BLOGGER NOTES ON RELATED RESEARCH
At one point-in-time in a public meeting, District 1 Mesa City Councilmember Mark Freeman, ensconced comfortably in his own family compound-enclave, reacted to seeing the homeless on public transit as 'the awfulness'.
In one of the first reactions to the extension of lightrail service into downtown Mesa, city officials wanted a police bike patrol first of all.
____________________________________________________________________________
Mesa mayor tells conference there are no homeless in city
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17 September 2018
On The Agenda: Today's Mesa City Council Session
Let's start off with saying that
ENGAGED RESIDENTS MAKE MORE EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT
Mesa Has A Problem
Here's some data from MAG, the Maricopa Association of Governments, the results of the annual one-night Point In Time homeless count that probably undercounts the actual number of the homeless. The trend, however, is clear - no matter what cities say they are doing or trying to improve, the problem is only getting worse not better here in Maricopa County.
LINK > http://azmag.gov/Programs/Homelessness/Point-In-Time-Homeless-Count
The 2018 Point-In-Time Count identified 6,298 people experiencing homelessness in the region on the night of January 22, 2018. Of this population, 2,618 were unsheltered and 3,680 were in shelter. This is a 12 % increase from the region’s 2017 number of 5,605. While the overall numbers went up, the count also showed that the number of homeless individuals, youth, and families who were not in shelter continues to increase. This year, the number of people living in unsheltered situations was 2,618. This is a 27 percent increase from the 2017 number of 2,059, and a 149 percent increase from the unsheltered number recorded in 2014. Regionally, the number of people living on the streets has more than doubled since 2014.
_______________________________________________________________________
Many people here in Mesa might consider the homeless a nuisance. That issue was addressed here in a report from Arizona Attorney Digital Mag
One of the major findings > Working to develop more permanent supportive housing is the true answer.*
Nuisance and Vagrancy Laws: The New Exclusionary Zoning
< What’s Going on in Arizona?
> Another unintended consequence of such ordinances can be the erosion of public spaces. Ordinances that criminalize behavior in public eventually can lead to fewer and fewer people using these public spaces, as well. For instance, some parks have eliminated sitting or reclining in grassy lawns to discourage persons who are homeless from loitering in their parks.
> In addition to public safety resources and time, police involvement in arrests and fines associated with public nuisance laws can lead to an erosion of trust in the police if people feel harassed by law enforcement or feel scared to report criminal activity
. . . Yet people experiencing homelessness do end up in the criminal justice system and can become entangled in a cycle of fines and fees they cannot afford to pay, further deepening their involvement with the justice system.
The Arizona Supreme Court, in its recent report of the Task Force on Fair Justice for All, recognize this cycle and addresses it, stating that bailable defendants “should not have to remain in custody simply because they are poor.”10
Moreover, the consequences to individuals who are homeless can be devastating. Being homeless is extremely difficult—and that’s an understatement —and not having a safe space to rest or sleep can contribute to poor health and poor quality of life.12 City leaders’ discussion and promotion of these ordinances can contribute to a culture in which violence and hatred toward persons who are homeless is acceptable. Staggering fines have multiple effects; a person who pays will have even fewer resources to secure stable housing and basic necessities, and those who cannot pay may face incarceration, which will affect employment and housing opportunities as well as social services.13
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To decrease homelessness, a successful approach has been the Housing First model. Housing First provides permanent supportive housing concurrently with services. In Utah, where the model was implemented statewide, homelessness dramatically decreased by 91 percent. Moreover, results indicated that having stable housing helps residents address other challenges such as addictions, unemployment and health concerns; the model proved to be cost-effective after factoring in ER visits and jail costs associated with persons experiencing chronic homelessness.14 Ordinances that encourage affordable housing development would go further to reduce the numbers of individuals experiencing homelessness and thus the public nuisances. It is a positive development that more Arizona communities are moving toward Housing First.
However, there are barriers to affordable housing that need to be overcome. Developers and local governments need to work with communities to help residents understand that affordable housing can benefit the entire community, including making the streets safer for everyone, helping employers by ensuring their employees have stable housing, and by engendering empathy for less fortunate neighbors. Finally, cities and lawmakers should consider a more complete picture of homelessness—which is a complex, regional crisis that requires compassion and flexible approaches.
MELISSA KOVACS has a Ph.D. in public policy and is the principal and founder of FirstEval, LLC, a data analytics and statistical consulting firm, where she helps her clients find meaning in data. She can be reached at mkovacs@firsteval.com or found on Twitter at @firsteval.
JOANNA LUCIO is an associate professor of urban and public administration in the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University. She teaches courses on urban studies and conducts research on affordable housing and the rights of low-income residents. She can be reached at joanna.lucio@asu.edu and followed on Twitter @LucioUMS.
The authors thank Lauren Kuby for significant comments and assistance with this piece, and Leonor Camarena for research assistance.
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