PHOENIX — A local organization is pushing forward on a new project hoping to help families that are experiencing homelessness.
It’s a new venture for AZ Hugs for the Houseless. Austin Davis, the founder, said they’ve been trying to get a trailer to help get families off the streets. The trailer is meant to be a bridge between being on the streets and finding a shelter.
ABC15 did a story with Davis in the beginning of February about families getting priced out of motels with the Super Bowl and other events that came through. Those events shot motel prices up, which then priced out homeless families who stayed in them because they couldn’t afford it anymore.
Davis expressed a need for a trailer to continue their work and a little more than a week later, an ABC15 viewer stepped up and donated one.
“We’re going to be turning it into the Hugs House which will be a crisis respite center super excited and super grateful and happy to be here,” Davis said.
Since the donation in February, Davis has been trying to figure out how to transform the trailer, finally starting renovations on Saturday. They need to clean it, replace water-damaged beams, put in insulation and install some beds.
He hopes to make it comfortable for families to stay in and get the resources they need to get into shelters and move forward from there.
“We’re facing a real crisis here in Arizona. I think this is just the first step in one little, small way that we can help bridge that small gap,” he said.
