The city of Glendale is partnering with A New Leaf and Glendale Community College to help residents experiencing homelessness become self-sufficient.

The city has allocated $1.2 million of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant funding to deliver services through implementation of a Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) Program.

This temporary voucher program will provide housing opportunities to eligible individuals or families who are currently experiencing homelessness in Glendale but are “housing ready” and can likely sustain their housing after the period of assistance, which can be up to two years. The program will be administered by A New Leaf, and will include application and case management support for applicants.

This partnership was born when GCC President Teresa Leyba Ruiz reached out to city officials about the possibility of collaborating to provide housing support for Glendale residents attending their campus.

“My intention was to learn about Glendale’s housing programs and instead we had a powerful conversation about the possibilities that would benefit both the city of Glendale and GCC students experiencing housing insecurity,” Ruiz stated in a news release.

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The partnership will provide GCC students who are accepted into the TBRA program with critical support services including employment, computers, life skills training and academic support while they pursue learning that will ultimately elevate the student and their family.

“The timing was perfect,” the city’s Director of Community Services Jean Moreno stated. “When Teresa shared stories of students that stayed as long as they could in the student union and used fitness facilities to shower, we had to find a way to do something.”

While the TBRA program is not limited to GCC students, they are a priority population the city hopes to target for these services. This program is part of the Glendale’s strategy to address homelessness in the community and complements the recently implemented Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS) Homeless Master Services Agreement partnership, which provides a service delivery model that allows for a single point of contact for referrals and multiple entry points for clients, depending on their individual needs.

The program will accept applications by referral only.

GCC students can obtain a referral by contacting Connie Greenwell at 623-845-4474 or at c.greenweel@gccaz.edu.

All others looking for a program referral can reach out to CASS, Norton and Ramsey Social Justice Empowerment Center at nrec@cassaz.org or to the city of Glendale at mailto:revitalization@glendaleaz.com.