St Vincent de Paul Phoenix

Right now, in Maricopa County, as one person exits homelessness, two enter. This is because many in our community living paycheck-to-paycheck have no financial safety net and are just one emergency away from crisis. In October 2023, landlords filed 7,948 evictions - the highest of any month since 2005. For many, one-time assistance averaging $2,000 can help them stay in their homes, and it is more cost-effective to keep people housed because it can cost an average of $47,000 per year per person to help someone end their homelessness.
St. Vincent de Paul's Homelessness Prevention team has honed its expertise over 20 years, and in the last three years alone, the team has worked with 7,200 households, paying over $13 million in rental assistance to keep more than 20,000 people safely housed.

Solving the rising homelessness challenge in our community is possible, and prevention is the simplest, most cost-effective way to do it. We estimate that an investment of $5,000,000 will stabilize and prevent homelessness for 2,500 low-income households each year ($2,000 per household).

Your donation will support St. Vincent de Paul's Keeping Families Housed Fund. This fund is an economically efficient way to invest in families 'upstream' and avoid the heavier burden of homelessness costs 'downstream.' These costs are both financial and emotional - for our whole community.

Impact

• Ken and Nicole were sitting at a red light when their car was rear-ended, resulting in a severe case of whiplash. Due to the time off required to recover from their injuries, they were short on their rent. One month of rent held them over until they were able to return to work full time. Their crisis did not lead to a loss of housing.

• Tyasha had been living in Tucson with her daughter when she gave birth to her son with disabilities. After a break-up with her partner, she moved to Phoenix with her children and ended up "couch surfing." With assistance from a family member, she was able to get an apartment and only needed one month's rent from SVdP to make the necessary arrangements for her son's future care. Her crisis did not lead to a loss of housing.