“If the Welcome Center is the heart of Key Campus, then the Lodestar Day Resource Center (LDRC) is its lungs,” says Key Campus Executive Director Tish Brown-Gambino.  

Last year, Key Campus in downtown Phoenix served over 14,000 unduplicated individuals experiencing homelessness. 

The LDRC is one of the main buildings on the 13-acre campus, and houses many partner services, including Arizona Department of Economic Security, Community Bridges, Homeless ID Project, and Chaplaincy for the Homeless. The day room in the LDRC sees around 1,100 people each day, and serves as a waiting room for the various services, where clients can socialize, rest, and charge devices.

The team responsible for managing these service connections, as well as day-to-day operations of the Key Campus day room, the shower and storage programs, and the one-of-a-kind Key Campus post office, is the Keys to Change Supportive Services Department. 

“We are a team of eleven – a manager, a supervisor, and nine client engagement specialists,” says Supportive Services Manager Corie Billingsley. “We are the front line and help get client buy-in to receiving help - which is often the first step on the journey to housing."

The Supportive Services team ensures the unique one-stop-shop model of Key Campus continues to thrive. They scan badges, answer questions, assist with navigation, and maintain a hygienic environment and positive atmosphere to help connect clients with services to take productive steps to end their homelessness.

“It’s hard,” Corie admits. “Both physically and mentally taxing. The team really sees the hardships and trauma our clients go through, but they keep doing it every day. My favorite part of managing this team is meeting the clients and seeing how happy our services and hard work make them.” 

“What makes this team especially remarkable,” adds Marketing and Communications Manager Kim Beaudoin, “is that they stay motivated even though they often don’t get to see the end result of their hard work. As clients approach the final stages of a housing plan, this team stays behind to manage the day-to-day. They invest in the incremental wins. Hard-fought but easy to miss. All guts, no glory.”

Director of Operations AAron Iverson agrees. “It takes a special person to do what they do, and they do it well,” says AAron. “They are a tough team, with empathy and compassion for everyone that comes through our gates. Let’s not even think about what Key Campus would be like without them!” 

The members of the Supportive Services team breathe hope into each meaningful client interaction. From motivational pep talks, to appointment reminders, to something as simple as an inside joke exchanged between smiles, this team converts despair into hope, like oxygen for the human spirit.

With relentless consistency, the Supportive Services team keeps Key Campus breathing with ease.

Thank you Corie, T, Mr. Sheppard, Shaney, King, Daniel, Lisa, Makena, Dee, Joe, and Margarita. We see you, we are grateful for you, and we truly could not succeed without you!