After Phoenix's first 'Zone' homeless encampment cleanup, where did people go?
Where will people go?
That was the question on everyone’s mind when a judge in March ordered Phoenix to shut down its largest homeless encampment, "The Zone."
Now, over a month since the first block of the encampment was cleared out, the answer is still unclear in many cases. Although some people moved into shelter space and are still there, and others relocated elsewhere in The Zone, some moved to places unknown.
During the May 10 cleanup, 47 of the 60 people city staff engaged with accepted shelter or other services, according to city data, though that doesn’t include other people who may have left the area beforehand.
Phoenix officials aren’t able to say how many of those people are still in shelter. While each person is tracked in a database shared by homeless service providers throughout Maricopa County, it’s a heavy lift to pull comprehensive data on where everyone from the first cleanup is currently, said Scott Hall, deputy director of Phoenix’s Office of Homeless Solutions.
Meanwhile, The Zone, which occupies blocks near the intersection of 12th Avenue and Madison Street, continues to be incrementally shut down. The third block of the encampment is scheduled to be cleared on Wednesday.
The Arizona Republic attempted to track down six people who were cleared out of The Zone during the May 10 cleanup. Three are in a shelter or hotel room; another has been staying at a hotel but, after being told he has to leave, plans to move back to The Zone.
Two others couldn’t be reached, despite multiple attempts by Republic reporters. It’s unclear whether the people are in a shelter, on the street or somewhere else.
The disparate outcomes lay bare a number of truths about the region's response to homelessness: how getting into shelter can change lives — and being forced to leave it can upend them; how some types of shelter, like hotel rooms, are highly sought after but in far too short supply; and how the current approach to clearing out The Zone is working well for some people but not for everyone.
‘It was a total blessing’: One month in shelter
Brian Patrick had been living in The Zone for almost a year when the May 10 cleanup took place.
With the help of the city and the nonprofit Community Bridges Inc., the 53-year-old moved from his tent on Ninth Avenue between Washington and Jefferson streets to an Extend-a-Suites hotel in north Phoenix and has been there since.
The hotel was crucial as Patrick, like many other people, wasn't open to staying at a congregate shelter. Some people don’t feel safe living in a crowded setting, have experienced trauma during past shelter stays or don’t want to be separated from their partner or pets, which many shelters don’t allow. Other people may not want to pare down their belongings or abide by shelter rules, such as curfew hours or to stay sober.
The adjustment hasn’t been easy for Patrick. He misses the freedom of the street and is still getting used to the 10 p.m. curfew and daily room checks, which remind him of living at home.
But it’s a lot better than the alternative, he said. He’s inside and has access to a bathroom, air conditioning and a telephone — comforts the street didn’t provide.
“It couldn’t have come at a better time for me, because I have a hard time with the heat,” Patrick said. “So it was a total blessing, on my part.”
Patrick also now has food stamps, Medicaid benefits and even got a ride from a Community Bridges worker to the junkyard to get a few parts to fix his truck, he said.
“The city is doing a great job with me,” Patrick said. “CBI and the city, even though I was upset with them at first, they’ve done quite a bit to help me and the situation I was in.”
Whereabouts unknown
As the May 10 cleanup dragged on, Vanessa Martin grew more and more upset.
In the five months that the 38-year-old had lived on the block with her boyfriend, it had become home. Martin had even weeded the area around their tent and planted a garden of artificial flowers at its entrance.
So when it came time to leave, Martin felt “panicky,” she said. She couldn’t find her boyfriend, and she felt rushed by city and nonprofit workers as she packed up her things alone.
“This is all just a nightmarish thing,” Martin said that day, her voice cracking as she carried storage bins out of her tent. She had initially agreed to go to a shelter on Washington Street but was having second thoughts. She had tried shelters before, and the crowds were too much for her.
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As nonprofit workers and Hall, of the Office of Homeless Solutions, gently tried to convince her to change her mind, she began crying harder.
“I’m not ready to go yet,” she told them, wrapping herself in a red plaid blanket.
At one point, it seemed their coaxing had worked. Martin got into the backseat of a white SUV and nonprofit workers drove her away, presumably to a shelter.
But a little over an hour later, she was back in The Zone, gathering up the remainder of her makeshift home. By the end of the day, her belongings — an electric scooter, a plush unicorn backpack, the plaid blanket — were piled high on a street corner two blocks away.
It’s unclear where Martin and her boyfriend are now. A city spokesperson said the city was unable to release her personal information.
In the weeks since the May 10 cleanup, The Republic returned to the street corner three times to try to find Martin but couldn’t. The pile of her belongings is gone. Once, someone in a nearby tent said they had seen her a few days before. That was the only indication she was still there.
Temporarily sheltered, but heading back to 'The Zone'
In the early morning hours of May 10, before the cleanup began, Antoin “Applejacks” Jackson moved his tent and belongings to the corner of 11th Avenue and Jefferson Street, a few blocks deeper into The Zone.
The 59-year-old and his dog, Ruckus, had been staying there until June 9, when Jackson said he called 211 and managed to get a room at a Motel 6 operated by Community Bridges in east Phoenix.
Jackson and Ruckus have stayed at the motel every night since then — but their stay will likely soon come to an end. Community Bridges staff told him on June 16 that the program was temporary and that he would need to leave. His options? Go into a congregate shelter or be back on the street.
It's unclear why some people, like Patrick, are being offered long-term hotel stays while others aren't. A spokesperson for Community Bridges said the Motel 6 is "a short-term solution" and that the goal is "to have the person move quickly into a better housing option."
But Jackson doesn't view congregate shelters, which he's stayed in before, as a better option. On Tuesday, he said he was packed up and ready to go back to his tent in The Zone, feeling betrayed.
"Why did they even bring me here if they were going to kick me out?" he said.
Two friends find the right fit
A few hours after the May 10 cleanup, Daniel Mackey, 62, and Barry Hayes, 67, were settling into their new accommodations at The Bridge, a shelter for men run by Community Bridges, and were feeling optimistic.
“It’s gonna work out, I think," Mackey said that day. "I have high hopes for this.”
So far, it has. The friends are still at the shelter and spend their days doing chores, eating breakfast at a nearby park and working with staff on a permanent housing plan.
Shelter almost didn't stick for them. The day before the May 10 cleanup, they went to a large shelter on Washington Street, only to leave within an hour. It was too crowded and chaotic for them, they said, and they didn’t like having their bags checked upon entry.
The Bridge, which accommodates about 40 men, has more relaxed rules and is a much better fit, Hayes said.
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Their situation illustrates a point that outreach workers and advocates have been repeating for years: Shelters are not one-size-fits-all. Someone may not want to stay in a large shelter but could be open to staying somewhere else, which is why it’s important to have options.
“We’re doing fine, and we’re hanging tough,” Hayes said. “Our life has improved overall, I think, since we left The Zone.”
Juliette Rihl covers housing insecurity and homelessness for The Arizona Republic. She can be reached at jrihl@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @julietterihl.
Reach crime reporter Miguel Torres at Miguel.Torres@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @TheMiguelTorres.
Coverage of housing insecurity on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Arizona Community Foundation.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: After Phoenix's 1st 'Zone' homeless camp cleanup, where did people go?
