Jessica Berg, Chief Program Officer of the St. Vincent de Paul Association, is gazing around the organization’s dining halls at Key Campus, a downtown Phoenix hub for homeless services. The campus is preparing for major changes this summer as two overflow shelter spaces beginIt’s falling down.

“It’s a dining room, and there are 140 men in this space, and the women pass through,” Berg says.

She said early in the pandemic, campus shelters were trying to separate residents, so the dining room and another resource centre building began to open overnight, with sleeper mats placed on the floor. Maricopa County has allocated federal funds to tens of thousands of dollars per month needed to operate as makeshift shelters for staffing and other expenses.

But social distancing concerns became so urgent that the county continued to fund overflow space, especially as extra beds became so critical, especially during the brutal summers in Phoenix.

“People get literally three-degree burns from lying down or sitting on the ground. If there’s no place to sleep, that’s where you’re sleeping,” says Berg.

However, overflow space is always intended to be temporary and the funds are now gone. The dining hall will remain open for overnight use until October. However, other spaces will need to close at night from June 1st.

This means that the key campus will lose about 110 beds, just as dangerous fevers begin.

“It’s scary to say the least,” Berg says.

It’s scary because it could be a life or death situation.

Katherine Davis Yong/kjzz

Over the past decade, fever-related deaths have skyrocketed in Maricopa County. In 2014, 61 people died due to the heat. Last year, 602 people died.

This increase coincides with rapid growth among the homeless population in Maricopa County. But efforts to protect people from extreme heat, like major campus overflow shelter spaces, are beginning to run out of funds from the pandemic era, and there is no other permanent state or federal source of funding to pay for these programs.

“We know who is at the highest risk, we know what works to keep people cool and safe,” said Dr. Nick Stave, chief medical officer of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.

At least half of last year’s fever-related deaths in Maricopa County were among those experiencing homelessness. In particular, expanding access to indoor, air-conditioned spaces for immobilized people has been central to city and county strategies to reduce these deaths.

Counties and cities have significantly improved federal funding for social services during the pandemic. In Maricopa County, much of that money went to fever relief.

What used to be a patchwork system for libraries and churches that provided air conditioning places to rest, has grown into a much more organized network of sites in the past few years. Increase the time of the day In many cases, we can coordinate transportation or referrals for people who need treatment, housing, or other services.

The county is paying Repair or replace more than 1,000 air conditioners Since 2021, they have been using pandemic-related federal funds for low-income Maricopa County homeowners.

Staab said it has managed to prevent the intervention from climbing to the top of the death toll. I even saw it in Maricopa County Last year’s fever deaths have slightly decreased year-on-yearDespite record temperatures.

“If we can continue to do that, I think my hope is that we can continue to lower this number,” Staab said.

However, all US Rescue Plan Act funding, paid for most of these new heat mitigation programs, expires at the end of 2026.

Staab said the authorities have proven their concept of the past few summers. Now they are looking for a way to continue doing that.

“Is it private business, charity, state, county, local funds? If this is the responsibility and we can show you the right way to spend money to help people over the summer, then I think there are a lot of possibilities out there,” Staab says.

For organizations that rely on these funds, the future feels uncertain.

“We’ve been working hard to get into the world,” said Rev. Katy Sexton, executive director of the Arizona Face Network.

Sexton’s coalition of faith-based organizations has also begun heat relief work with support from the pandemic grant. Last year, the group saw record demand at 15 heat relief sites that operated in churches and other public spaces.

However, if Grant’s funds run out, Sexton said the organization’s own funding could probably only cover the costs of around three sites.

“We know it won’t be cooler, but even so, we haven’t seen any laws that would entice heat relief funds into state budgets.

Heat Reduction Resolution Bills There was little traction in the Arizona Legislature. this year.

At the federal level, Heat Relief also has no obvious source of funding.

FEMA does not react to heat Methods for other natural disasters. Funding opportunities from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help states pay for vaccinations, overdose, or disease tracking Do not exist the same due to the public health threat of extreme heat. and federal programs that help low-income Americans cover utility bills and household life costs. Turn more money into cold climate states.

New funding cuts from the Trump administration threaten to cut other public health resources that could indirectly affect Arizona’s response to heat. Arizona and County Public Health Agency Losing $190 million in grant funds For example, from the US Department of Health and Human Services.

This year, Phoenix city Plan to spend $4.9 million About the heat reduction program. The rest of the US Rescue Planning Act fund covers some of it. The city will also supplement the heat relief budget with payments from the opioid settlement. But Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego has been speaking out about concerns about the long-term heat budget.

“Phoenix cannot do this on its own.” Gallego told reporters at a press conference in October Meanwhile, she called for the federal government, states and even other Arizona cities to sell more as temperatures rise. “We’re asked to do more, but we’re less resources.”

In Phoenix Record-breaking of over 110 degrees for 70 days In 2024, Gallego said it was likely just the hottest summer ever.

“We hope there will be one silver line of silver about the number of bad heat this summer. This is when we realize that this is a national issue, and it’s not just a Phoenix issue, we’ll finally see Congress pass the law,” Gallego said.

Senator Reuben Gallego of Arizona is Invoice sponsor This year’s Congress will create a $30 million grant program through the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Agency to reduce the impact of extreme heat in urban areas of the United States, but the Democratic-backed bill faces long-term odds in Republican-controlled Congress.

For now, people like Berg, who work directly with Phoenix’s most vulnerable groups, are doing their best to prepare for a summer approach and resources diminished.

“That’s a bigger problem than we all have now,” Berg said.