TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The City of Tucson Housing and Community Development is receiving $2.7 million in state funds to address unsheltered homelessness. The funds will go toward preserving existing emergency beds for people experiencing homelessness and expanding shelter services.
The City of Tucson plans to direct the funds toward purchasing a new hotel to help stabilize the City's Housing First and emergency shelter services.
“I want to thank Governor Hobbs and the Arizona Department of Housing for helping us expand our emergency shelter capacity and purchase an additional property to serve people with our Housing First program. The investments that this Governor and Legislature are making in addressing unsheltered homelessness are crucial for our City to continue implementing our Housing Affordability Strategy for Tucson.”
The Tucson allocation comes from $20 million in grants for the newly created Homeless Shelter and Services fund. This was included in the new state budget as part of the immediate allocation, but the total budget for the fund is $60 million.
It was crucial to meet the moment and allocate these resources secured in our bipartisan budget as quickly as possible, in this fiscal year, to assist those struggling with homelessness as we work toward building an Arizona for everyone.
The funds will also benefit existing services like the Housing First Program operating at the Wildcat Inn, as well as nonprofit agencies that also provide shelter.
