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St. Vincent de Paul facility aims to help get unsheltered people out of the heat

Posted at 7:21 PM, Jun 08, 2023
and last updated 2023-06-08 22:21:23-04

The Valley has been heating up for the past few weeks and for those who are living on the streets the heat can be a matter of life and death, but one facility is trying to change that.

"I was at a hotel, and I had got heatstroke, and I couldn't do anything anymore. My money, the money ran out," said Gloria Sotelo.

She's been living at St. Vincent de Paul's Washington Street Shelter near 28th and Washington streets Since last summer.

Sotelo became homeless during the pandemic and had nowhere else to turn when she was hit by heat stroke.

"I just didn't feel I had any more life in me, you know? Until I came here."

The shelter opened its doors in May 2022 as a pilot program. The facility is owned by the city of Phoenix but operated by St. Vincent de Paul.

It has a closed campus, meaning people need to be referred to the facility in order to live there.

"Some shelters have to ask people to leave at about five, six o'clock in the morning, and then they have to return at the end of the day and lineup to see if they can get a bed for that night. We don't want to do that we want to provide a little bit more dignity and stability for people," says Jennifer Morgan, the service navigation manager at St. Vincent De Paul.

The shelter has 200 beds and each person living at the facility has their own dedicated bed to sleep in, access to three meals a day, a shower and a place to store their belongings.

"It's super important to have people have a place that's climate controlled, where their body can actually get some rest and rejuvenate or they're just constantly putting forth the effort to exist," says Morgan.

To Sotelo, it's not just the shelter they provided but the community and the resources she's had access to.

"I'm 54 years old. And I never thought I'd be right here. Where I'm at. But I'm glad I am. You know, because I could give back. Because of me being here in this house and having this shelter here. I could do a lot more than then hold back at anything."

You can help people like Sotelo and those who are still living on the streets by donating to ABC15's water drive in partnership with St. Vincent de Paul, Bashas' and Food City.