As Valley heat keeps rising, it takes all hands to keep pace

Monique Lopez

Submitted photo/UMOM New Day Centers

Learn More

For more information on homelessness throughout Maricopa County, what’s being done to keep people safe when heat turns deadly, resources available and how you can help, visit:

•UMOM New Day Centers at UMOM.org

•City of Phoenix Office of Homeless Solutions, phoenix.gov/administration/departments/homeless-solutions

•Maricopa County Homeless Services, maricopa.gov/1216/Homeless-Services

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OPINION — A few weeks ago, a family of four was brought to our doors by a Phoenix firefighter who had responded to a heat-distress call in a parking lot where the family had been living out of their car.

That handoff, from first responder to shelter provider, happens more often than most people realize, and it’s a small window into something bigger: a regional system, spanning city departments, the county, nonprofits, faith communities and emergency crews, working in real time to keep families alive through a Phoenix summer that keeps getting longer and more dangerous.

Maricopa County has already confirmed more than 100 heat-related deaths this season, running well ahead of last summer’s pace, with July and August, historically the deadliest stretch.

The need isn’t limited to individuals living outdoors, either. Families with children are increasingly among those without a reliable place to escape the heat, whether in a car, doubled up in unstable housing or moving between temporary situations. 

Triple-digit overnight lows mean there is no natural relief once the sun goes down, and for a parent with young kids, that isn’t an inconvenience, it’s a safety emergency that doesn’t clock out at 5 p.m.

What’s encouraging, even as the numbers climb, is how many parts of this community have leaned in. The city of Phoenix’s Office of Heat Response and Mitigation coordinates cooling centers and extended-hour sites, including a 24/7 respite center downtown and evening hours at Justa Center and Cholla Library. Maricopa County’s Heat Relief Network ties together dozens of cooling and hydration sites regionwide, and county-funded partnerships have expanded shelter capacity, from the West Valley Shelter Collaborative to converted-hotel bridge housing. 

The American Red Cross conducts outreach in mobile home and senior communities before the season even begins, and CERT volunteers staff trailheads all summer with water and safety checks. Fellow shelter providers, from Central Arizona Shelter Services to smaller faith-based lodging programs, are stretching capacity right alongside us.

First responders deserve particular credit here, because their role goes well beyond treating heat illness in the moment. Phoenix Fire crews have answered hundreds of heat-related calls this season, and captains will tell you July and August are always the hardest. Increasingly, firefighters and paramedics are the first to recognize when a family, not just an individual, is in crisis on scene, and they’re the ones making the connection to shelter before a bad situation turns fatal. 

UMOM’s contribution this year is a new partnership with the city of Phoenix called Summer Family Heat Relief, our first program at this scale, and it’s been a real-time lesson in how fast the need is outgrowing shelter capacity. The original assessment was to serve roughly 10 families a month, around 50 total, from May through September, an estimate built on the best data available at the time, though we now know it was underestimated. 

As of Aug. 25, the program had served 222 households comprised of 757 individuals including 449 children. At this pace, we expect to serve more than 300 families, over 1,000 individuals, before the season ends.

We built the program around the clock rather than daytime-only, because a cooling center that closes at 5 p.m. is a delay, not relief, when it’s still 95 degrees at midnight. That means a safe place to sleep, daily meals, hygiene essentials and staff on site 24/7 for as long as a family needs to stabilize. The city has been a genuine partner in scaling this alongside demand.

This is an equation that will need to continue as our community continues to experience homelessness and our weather patterns trend hotter: agencies across the Valley building heat response around last year’s numbers, then adapting in real time to a season that keeps exceeding them.

No single department, shelter or grant will solve that alone, and none of us are pretending to. What’s working right now is that a firefighter, a county outreach worker and a shelter case manager can all be part of the same family's path to safety on the same day, and that funders like the city are willing to adjust mid-summer when the data says the need is bigger than planned. 

As our summers keep pushing past the dates we used to plan around, that coordination, and continued investment from every level of government, from fellow nonprofits and from the community itself, is what will keep pace with a need that isn’t slowing down. Many hands are needed to complete this life-saving work, so please reach out if you would like to support us, or any of our partner agencies.

Monique Lopez is chief executive officer of UMOM New Day Centers, a Phoenix-based nonprofit that provides services for families experiencing homelessness across Maricopa County. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.