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Reflections from the front lines serving people experiencing homelessness, feeling grateful, cycling through Phoenix temperature changes, and speaking up for solutions.
Temperatures in the Valley are keeping us all on our toes. One day it's 100 degrees and the next it's 75. It's easy to be lulled in to thinking Summer is far away. According to the Weather Channel it will be 100 and 102 degrees this weekend, with another drop to the 80s next week. And then a bounce up again. We are left happy on one hand that the days of 120 degrees are not here yet. And we are anxious on the other hand that when the heat hits, it will hit hard and last through the Fall.
To prepare for the inevitable heat, Keys to Change and its partners kicked off the annual Thirst Aid heat relief drive this past weekend. We know water will be necessary and in high demand. The number of people served on Key Campus remains high, more than 1,000 people are seeking services daily and close to 900 people are sheltered with us every night. Thirst Aid also benefits our Street Outreach team who amongst other things, offer water to the unsheltered. This morning the Outreach team counted 162 people living outdoors near the Key Campus plus 794 in an expanded area around us. This total of 956 is 120 higher than one month ago.
Also one month ago, I wrote about our chiller situation and asked the community for help. I am GRATEFUL that the call was heard, and donations continue to come in. We were able to order parts and schedule the service for one of the two compressors. And with commitments made this week, we are so very close to having all of the funds necessary for the second compressor. We are still seeking about $21,000.
Grateful. I keep reminding myself there is much to be grateful for, while inhaling slowly and exhaling vehemently.
It's challenging to maintain a state of grace and gratitude as we read the Federal news about the President's proposed budget. Although a budget needs to be approved by Congress, the proposals show us the direction that the Administration's policy is heading. And it is not a positive direction. It's a regressive, uninformed, senseless direction...(read more here)
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