Mesa faith and community leaders with Valley Interfaith Project (VIP) are pressing the City Council to complete the final step needed to open the Sunaire Hotel as transitional housing for families experiencing homelessness. Gathering outside City Hall, clergy and residents called on the council to approve the contract needed to furnish the renovated hotel so Mesa’s Off the Streets program can move into the facility — expanding a program that has already helped thousands of residents regain stability.

The project, first approved by the council in 2023, is now close to completion. But after a recent recall election brought a new councilmember onto the council, the final vote needed to furnish the building was removed from the agenda, raising questions about the timeline for opening the site. VIP leaders say they will continue organizing with faith institutions and residents to ensure the city follows through on the investment already made.

For VIP housing leaders, the path forward is clear.

“It’s the right thing to do both morally and financially,”

said Heidi Thomas, a Mesa resident and VIP housing leader, urging the council to complete the work already underway.

Advocates for Transitional Housing Project in Mesa Push for Completion, ABC15 [pdf]

Mesa Must Move Ahead with Homeless Hotel Plan, Faith Leaders Say, Arizona Republic [pdf] 

Church, Civic Leaders Urge Mesa to Spare Hotel, Mesa Tribune [pdf]

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...faith leaders and lawmakers from both sides... support two bills. The first: HB 2815, known as “Yes in Gods Back Yard”.

About HB2815, Rev. Sarah Oglesby-Dunegan, Minister at Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation said, “Many of our congregations are sitting on unused land that they're eager to convert into affordable housing. This bill would adjust zoning to make it easier to do so. With restrictions on density to ensure projects fit with neighborhoods and requirements that the units be affordable to low- and middle-income people."

Then there’s HB2576. This would renew the state's low-income tax credit.  Both bills work to address a long-term affordable housing solution while leveraging private equity.

Religious Leaders Calling on State Lawmakers to Address Housing Crisis, ABC 15 [pdf]

Religious Institutions Want AZ Law to Allow Low-Income Housing on Their Property, KJZZ [pdf]

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What we kept hearing was housing, affordable housing in particular, and rental housing,"

said Barb Quijada of the Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Chandler.

....VIP had been hosting open house meetings for about two years, where representatives ask people about the real-life problems they are confronting.

Interfaith Group Maps Campaign for Dominion, Arizonan SanTan Sun

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“Despite our differences in theology, we have so many things in common across the different denominations,” said Quijada, who is a member of Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation.

One of those things in common is affordable housing in the Valley. These congregations, which include Catholics, Methodists, Episcopalians and even Muslims, are all coming together through VIP to fight for issues they believe are worth fighting for.

Interfaith Effort Fighting for Affordable Housing in Chandler, ABC 15 [pdf]

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"I think as a community, as a church, most of us are looking out for each other. It's important we stay together as a congregation and the people we know and love aren't forced to move away," Davis says.

....VIP is assembling Chandler residents, like retiree Susan Davis, to share their personal experiences of housing insecurity with elected officials in hopes of garnering support for the project.

• Davis, who is a member of Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church, moved to Chandler in 2019 to be closer to the church. At the time, her rent was $1,100. It's now $1,900, plus fees.
• "I'm struggling now to survive month to month. I'm just making it by the skin of my teeth," she tells Axios Phoenix.

How Metro Phoenix Churchgoers Are Fighting Against NIMBYs, Axios Phoenix [pdf]