Finding a cool reprieve from the sweltering heat is a matter of life or death for homeless people in Phoenix.
“The Valley of the Sun” recently matched its own heat wave record when temperatures hit 115 degrees during a particularly long sizzling stretch, the Associated Press reported. And since getting access to water under such conditions is critical, homeless people are taking desperate measures to stay hydrated.
“We're always filling cups up with water with the sprinklers to keep cool and stuff,” Carol Molina, a homeless woman, told Al Jazeera America. “Thank God for the blessings we've got.”
From 2006 to last year, there were 691 deaths in the Phoenix metro area as a result of the heat. Of those who died, 151 were homeless persons, Al Jazeera reported.
Last year, the annual point-in-time count identified 1,053 homeless men, women and children in Phoenix, according to KPHO.
While shelters, nonprofits and government agencies are scrambling to help hydrate homeless people, many say they’re struggling to meet the need.
Part of the problem is that there’s at least a 12-block radius in the city where there are no drinking fountains, according to KTAR.
As a result, people on the streets are anxious to find potable water sources.
Local shelter teams, police and other agencies distribute about 1,000 bottles of water a day, Lindsey Roberts, spokesperson for Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS), told KTAR.
To help protect people in need, CASS developed its “Heat Relief Campaign,” which collects funds for distressed homeless people. The group hopes to provide more bottled water, specific medical treatment and shelter from the heat.
Back in 2005, a number of nonprofits and government agencies launched the “Heat Relief Network” to mobilize resources to offer ample water sources to homeless people.
The group collects water and sets up hydration and refuge stations throughout the city.
Officials in Mesa, a suburb east of Phoenix, hope to collect 400,000 bottles of water, according to azcentral.com.
Locals are rallying together to make it happen.
As part of his volunteer project for his bar mitzvah, 13-year-old Ethan Cohen spent half a year collecting bottles of water, and recently donated 22,000 bottles to CASS.
"Donations like this make what we do here possible," Roberts told azcentral.com. "It's a good feeling knowing the people you're working for are going to be healthy this summer."
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