INSP Vendor Week

What Is a Street Paper?

Through the International Network of Street Papers (INSP), I found there was a way to impact the homeless population in a positive way. I could also fulfill a dream of publishing inspiring stories of homeless individuals to incite change in perspectives. I could fulfill both of these goals with A Street Paper.

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What is a StreetLight?

A Street Light shines brightly, illuminating the world around them.

I chose the name StreetLights because of all the people I have met that have a story to tell, a story of hope, of struggle, success, tragedy and everything in between. Each one of these people are lights on the street full of hope, inspiration, and compassion. Continue Reading

The Numbers Tell Their Own Story

The number of homeless people living without any kind of shelter has almost tripled since 2014, while the number of those living in some sort of shelter has dropped by 1,500. These numbers have increased over 22% just since 2018

7419

# of Phoenix Homeless 2020

3767

average unsheltered every night

3652

in Temporary Shelter

554,000

Homeless in USA

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Our Team of StreetLights

We are contributors, catalysts, advocators, fundraisers, authors, and so much more!

The Struggle is Real

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Shoes, Socks, & Water

Most needed items on for those living on the streets

I have read many articles and seen many ads for socks for the homeless. Some may think why do they need so many socks? Well, I will tell you a few good reasons. Walking everywhere you need to go for services, or a safe place to hide/sleep puts wear and tear on your feet and whatever you have them wrapped in. More often than not it’s ill fitting shoes and worn out socks that are the wrappers for your mode of transportation. You can’t carry around a bag of dirty socks to wash at the laundry mat. Mostly because a lot of laundry mats won’t let homeless people in for one thing and the other is money for wash, detergent, softener, bleach, dryer sheets. How is one expected to purchase and carry these things around with them while looking for housing, a job or other homeless related services.

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Mesa Get’s It!

Mesa, Arizona’s Off the Streets Program is producing great results

I have been doing a lot of reading over the last few days, combing over the new Maricopa Associated Governements (MAG) Regional Action Plan for 2022. MAG is collaborating with local governements and municipalities to address the homeless situation from a regional level. During this research I ran across a section of communities showing success on their own and Mesa has a great program “Off The Streets” with a simple plan and with even better results.

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Free Dental Clinic Available Next Weekend

Friday Dec. 10 and Saturday Dec. 11th

The AZMOM – Mission of Mercy – brings back the very popular free dental clinic next weekend. It is being held again at the State Fairgrounds on Mc Dowell and Grand Ave at 1826 W. McDowell Road, Phoenix, AZ 85007. They offer all kinds of dental services from basic cleanings and fillings to extractions, root canals and crowns, The gates open at 5am and you can line up in car at the gate and then you will have to line up again once inside. They are not offering the Overnight Camping like they have in past years. The website states that there is no overnight lining up in your car either.

Do’s and Don’t

Do plan on being there all day. If you are not around when they call your name they move on and you lose your place in line. Do plan on being crowded and waiting in one of many cues for the routing of patients. Do expect wonderful care by the ALL VOLUNTEER providers.

Don’t bring your pet. Don’t bring your belongings. They are not allowing large bags inside so you will have to secure your personal belongings elsewhere. Don’t bring a tent or sleeping bags either as they are not going to be allowed inside either.

Don’t bring Firearms, Alcohol or Drugs as they are specifically prohibited on the grounds and inside.

What to Expect Inside

Come prepared for the weather when waiting in line. Have a plan to store your gear (tent, sleeping bag, blankets) while you are in the clinic, as large bags will not be permitted. Once capacity has been reached, the clinic doors will be closed and a sign will be placed outside as notification to others.

Once inside, patients will be seated and given a name tag and a number that corresponds with their place in line. Patients must maintain their place in line, in both the waiting room and clinic, and cannot be gone for a long period of time for any reason. They will be escorted, as necessary, by a volunteer for restroom and smoking breaks. Dental health students will be in the waiting area to talk with every patient about proper oral health care and brushing techniques.

Once they are seated, patients will be given a registration/release form to complete. Note that we will not be checking IDs, and any demographic information collected will only be used in aggregate so that we have statistics about our patient population.

Once they are registered, patients will be taken, in order, to medical triage. Their blood pressure will be taken and questions will be asked to determine that everyone is fit to safely receive dental treatment. From medical triage, they will be escorted to dental triage where a dentist will talk with them about recommended treatment.

After dental triage, patients will be taken to routing, where another dentist will confirm the decision made in dental triage and hand the patient a numbered card that tells the patient their place in line for the appropriate treatment area. Patients, as necessary, will be taken to the x-ray department before they receive treatment.

Once patients have received treatment, they will be escorted, as appropriate, to a post-op area where a dentist or dental student will explain proper post-treatment care and answer any questions. From there, all patients will take a short exit survey and then be escorted back outside.

Each registered patient that is healthy enough to receive treatment is guaranteed one service at CADS MOM. We, unfortunately, may not be able to take care of all of your dental needs, but will do our best to get you out of pain.

Glendale Implements New Program to Help Homeless – Kinda Sorta

If you are homeless in Glendale AZ, Leave!
If you are homeless in Glendale, AZ – Please Leave!

In July, 2021, the city of Glendale, AZ, with a general population of about 250,000 residents, announced a new program to “help homeless.” You will find it on the city website in the news section. Sounds like good news, right? It appears that Glendale Community College was given some cash to run a homeless voucher program. The program provides rental assistance to homeless people residing in Glendale. It’s not just for GCC students but the city would prefer that it go to students first. You have to have a referral to get into the program and GCC students have a contact name and number but any other person in Glendale that is currently without a home has to get their referral from the Coordinated Entry Point at CASS (Central Arizona Shelter Service.)

When you go to the City Of Glendale website under Crisis Assistance Service, you get a couple paragraphs about the new resources they have to offer the homeless and then tell you to go to CASS or click a link for a downloadable PDF of other coordinated entry points for homeless resources of which none are in the city of Glendale.

Homeless are not welcome in Glendale

If you are homeless – Leave! is basically what page says. Going to CASS is not easy. There is no free transportation to get there and it’s over 9 miles away. There’s no posting about the reality of CASS, it’s not like you can just roll up anytime of the day and apply for services. You have to arrive 1st thing in the morning and wait in line for their 7:30 am opening. There is no bathroom services available. You have to walk through tent city to get to the door. Tent City is overwhelmed with drug use and offers of sales. You also have to walk through peoples entire belongings and it’s very uncomfortable.

Once inside, you put your name on a list and if they don’t get to you by noon then you have to come back again the next day and try to get in earlier. It’s painful, degrading, dehumanizing, and often leads to nowhere. If you are lucky enough to get an interview and assesment you will be put on a waiting list. Waiting lists could be up to two years. You just have to keep coming back and checking in to see if your name is up to recieve services.

By the time CASS processes you through their system, the funds from the City of Glendale could be long gone. They only put 1.5 million into the program and most of that went to administrative services so that the city itself doesn’t have to deal with homeless people coming in to apply for services. The city doesn’t want you in their downtown area and redirects you to a remote location if possible.

Is it working?

No one knows if the program is working because the reporting isn’t transparent. You would have to go to GCC and read their budget reports or to New Leaf, their other partner in this scheme. Getting results data is like pulling teeth with scissors. I couldn’t find any resources to provide an update on how the program is functioning let alone providing vouchers.

The long and short of it is this. You MUST go through CASS (or Umom if you’re a family with kids) and follow all of their steps, hoops and jumps and you must do it consistently and persistently to get any services. And pay no attention to the 500+ people ahead of you in line, in tents outside of CASS waiting for the same help. And certainly don’t go back to Glendale, they have made it very clear you are not welcome.

What Are People Saying?

There is lots of talk on the streets!

  • “Chino”

    ” Kymberley is smart and I know she can make this happen, it’s a really cool plan for us to have a voice and a place to feel like we matter.  She is also really kind and makes me drink more water like I should’

    Ken (Chino) Tabar
  • Laura Zaki

    ” This is a great concept, I am excited to collaborate with you, be a contributor and help promote the finished piece.”

    Laura Zaki, Founder of Peace Love Hope Foundation
  • Holly

    “I think it’s really neat what she is trying to do to help out the homeless and give back to the community. I will be sharing a lot of resources I got connected with in the last few months and  I am excited to be featured in the newspaper too.  “

    Holly, Phoenix