PHOENIX — Mesa Community Court is collaborating with Mesa Community College to refer some of the city’s unhoused people to enroll in the school, giving them access to a multitude of services to assist their reintegration.

In addition to education at MCC, they can access the Mesa Market to buy food and hygiene products and get counseling services, among other things. The goal of the program, which began in 2018, is to prevent the cycle of homelessness within the justice system. Working with MCC is just one new service added.

“I think of this as justice just not inside the courthouse, but justice out in our community. We’re trying to help individuals become productive members of our community,” said Umayok Novell, who presides over the Mesa Community Court as a city magistrate. “When you graduate or you graduate from community court, you’re being recognized as being a productive member of our community, someone who’s working, who’s volunteering (in) our community, who’s giving back to our community.”

If officers come into contact with an unhoused person engaging in a minor offense, they can cite that person, who is then referred to the community court where they will see a navigator who will guide them toward resources.

According to Maricopa Association of Governments, for every 10 people leaving homelessness, 19 new people replaced them across Maricopa County between July 2023 and June 2024. In June, 975 unique households were experiencing homelessness for the first time, and many of these people may lack education to help with better pay or job opportunities.

“Some people come to us with no GED, no high school education,” Novell said. “So we want to meet them where they’re at.”

Program leaders want to use the services to help ensure individuals with unstable housing can achieve a better quality of life than the traditional court system can offer.

“I believe that education has a definite return on investment,” said Greg Reents, a student services manager at MCC and one of the producers of the program. “And in regards to quality of life, we’re less likely to be unemployed, or more likely to have a fulfilling job.”

Though not everyone accepts referral, those who do have been receptive, program officials said. Some may have financial difficulties, and while they use the campus amenities, they may not be able to attend classes immediately as they find stability.

“I see people who start tearing up in front of me because they’re seen, they’re heard for the first time, and they feel like there’s a path forward, and community court is that path for them,” Novell said. “They don’t know what being off the streets looks like. So for them to accept community court is a slow process to get them a house because they have to learn how to live in a house again. And sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn’t work.”

Mesa Community College also hosts We Care Wednesdays, a twice-a-month event that provides food to students and families around its campuses to alleviate food insecurity.

“It’s very important because of the role of community colleges, to educate our community, our population, and in hopes of helping guide them to be productive citizens,” said Adam Soto, the We Care Wednesday food program and Mesa Market manager. “We do know that providing food to students helps them reach their goals and reach college completion, and then, as a result, employment in the community, which again, gives back.”

The program is still new, and only a handful of people have been referred thus far, but those involved are continuing to work to bring more people into the fold and remain hopeful for the future.

“I hear our city and our other cities talking more about low-income housing. I hear them talking about this, I hear them talking about more community spaces for the homeless to bathe and to sleep and to stay overnight,” Reents said. “So I’m always a proponent of that, but I think it takes, … a village. It takes all of us to be part of that system, and I’m very hopeful.”