PHOENIX, Ariz. (Aug. 1, 2019): Thunderbirds Charities has awarded the Human Services Campus (HSC) a $300,000 grant for critical client services to help individuals experiencing homelessness remove barriers leading to permanent housing.
HSC, Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit agency, owns and operates a 13-acre campus at 12th Avenue and Madison that is home to 20 nonprofit organizations providing services and resources to people experiencing homelessness.
“We are incredibly grateful to Thunderbirds Charities for their deep generosity through this grant that will provide vital support in our mission to use the power of collaboration to provide solutions to end homelessness,” said HSC Executive Director Amy Schwabenlender. “Of the nearly 7,000 unduplicated homeless individuals who visited the Brian Garcia Welcome Center on the campus last year, more than half initiated a strategy to achieve self sufficiency. This grant will enable us to provide services to even more men and women.”
The Human Services Campus opened in 2005 as a compassionate response to a community problem as well as an economic response to an increase in homelessness in the downtown Phoenix area.
“The Human Services Campus is providing life-changing services for individuals experiencing homelessness, giving them the tools to become self-sufficient and thrive,” said Chance Cozby, President of Thunderbirds Charities. “We are honored to support their efforts in our community.”
“When guests arrive at the Brian Garcia Welcome Center, our first step is to try to reunite them with family and friends so they don’t need to enter the homeless service system,” Schwabenlender said. “When that’s not possible, we collaborate with our partners on the campus to assess each individual and develop a plan to address their specific needs and connect them to the services and programs to remove critical barriers to end their homelessness.”
Services include identification; physical, mental and dental healthcare, meals, shelter, legal services, employment services, navigation, housing match and more. “This grant also provides critical funding for our Weather Relief program for emergency shelter during the terrible summer heat and coldest winter nights,” Schwabenlender said.
Since June 1, 2018, nearly 7,000 individuals have been served on the Human Services Campus. Among them, more than 4,500 were assessed for housing. Since 2005, over 5,000 homeless U.S. veterans have been served and connected to resources designed to end their homelessness.
For more information about Thunderbirds Charities, visit www.wmphoenixopen.com. For more information about the Human Services Campus, visit www.keystochangeaz.org.
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Media Contacts:
Amy Schwabenlender
CEO
Keys to Change
602-281-8628
amys@keystochangeaz.org
About Thunderbirds Charities
Thunderbirds Charities is a non-profit organization formed in 1986 to distribute monies raised through the Waste Management Phoenix Open golf tournament. The mission of Thunderbirds Charities is to assist children and families, help people in need and improve the quality of life in our communities. The Thunderbirds were founded in 1937 with the mission of promoting the Valley of the Sun through sports. For more information on The Thunderbirds or the 2020 Waste Management Phoenix Open, visit www.wmphoenixopen.com. For more information on Thunderbirds Charities, visit www.thunderbirdscharities.org.
