More Seniors 55+ Facing Homelessness in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA
‘A Miserable Existence’
Erica Stapleton, 12News, Phoenix, March 11, 2024
Posted on March 18, 2024 by Steve Beckow
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| Symptomatic of our times, but very sad nonetheless. Thanks to Valerie |
‘A miserable existence’: More seniors 55+ facing homelessness in Maricopa County
Data for Maricopa County shows more than 2,000 people experiencing homelessness are 55 or older in 2023, the first year age ranges were reported in the annual count.
PHOENIX — Greg Baxter thought he’d be on a cross-country road trip at this point in his life,
“I was going to travel the country with my trailer and my truck,” Baxter said. “And my cat.”
Instead, he’s on the streets in downtown Phoenix. He’d been homeless for about a year after he said he lost the trailer he was living in to pay off some of his late mother’s medical bills.
“It’s a miserable existence,” he said, pausing to talk with 12News near Madison St. and 12the Avenue in an area referred to as “The Zone,” which used to be the city’s largest homeless encampment.
At night, he said he stays in an overflow shelter on the Key Campus, which used to be called the Human Services Campus.
Greg is 58 and shared he had medical issues of his own. He uses a wheelchair to get around after losing a leg to diabetes. It’s hard to imagine him cramped in a shelter.
“You sleep on mats on the floor,” Baxter said.
His situation is part of a troubling trend: The rise of older adults experiencing homelessness.
Data for Maricopa County shows more than 2,000 people experiencing homelessness are 55 or older in 2023, the first year age ranges were reported in the annual count.
“The number of seniors has increased significantly,” said Martha Myers, a program manager at Central Arizona Shelter Services, or CASS. “Last year at our downtown shelter, we had someone that was 91 years old… and the thought of her living in her car in a park and Mesa. That’s how she came to us.”
CASS is in the process of opening a permanent shelter for seniors 55 and older. In the meantime, Myers is running a temporary 60-bed senior shelter out of a leased hotel near 51st Ave and McDowell. A sign on the door when you walk in reads “Sorry, NO Rooms Available” in English and Spanish.
The demand outpaces the need.
“All the rooms are taken,” Myers said. “I feel like I should be screaming from the rooftops ‘it’s gonna get worse before it gets better’ because of the specific Baby Boomer generation.”
Some of the top reasons for senior homelessness Myers sees include medical issues, memory issues and issues with income not being enough to meet needs.
“The lack of affordable housing,” Myers added. “The rent prices just being astronomical.”
Providers face hurdles, too. CASS’s permanent senior shelter will have more than double the beds with 170 spaces, but it won’t open until later this year. Yet, the lease for the hotel is up at the end of March, meaning everyone staying here now will have to relocate.
Here’s how to donate to CASS and support those in need
Those working in homeless services say they need to get more creative with solutions and prevention.
“Stay in the house,” Baxter warned. “Save your money and stay.”
His hope is to get a job to earn enough money to pay for a new trailer and get on the hard road out of homelessness.
“You don’t want to be in this situation,” he said.
If you or someone you know is facing homelessness, you can call 211 for resources in Arizona.
Steve Beckow
February 6, 2023 report, accusing me of posting child pornography.
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