PHOENIX — Everyone wants a safe place to sleep, but that’s not a luxury for all. With a new initiative by Pure Heart Church and Lifebridge Community Alliance, they’re working to get women and their children out of homelessness by providing a temporary safe space to sleep.
“Never resting because you're so hypervigilant, wanting your kids to be safe and loved and trying to make the new normal not so scary,” Aimee Holje said.
Holje used to sleep in her car with her then three-year-old and newborn more than 30 years ago.
Holje knows what it’s like to be without a home and remembers the stress of being a young mother trying to take care of her kids. She told ABC15 she escaped an abusive relationship and had her family in her car off and on for years.
“It's really draining. So, this is huge and anything I can do to help these women with their children and story, I'm all for it,” Holje said.
She’s now a volunteer, helping out at Pure Heart Church and Lifebridge Community Alliance where she can help women who are going through what she went through.
Bob Hake, one of the lead pastors for the church and the founder and director of Lifebridge Community Alliance, recognized the need. For months, he and his team researched ways to help women and their kids.
They ended up converting a church parking lot in the northwest Valley into what they’re calling Safe Lots. Women sleeping in their cars with their children can stay in the lot overnight with security nearby.
The organization will give hot meals, shower and laundry access as well as wraparound services to help women take the next step forward to helping their family.
“They’re not getting safe sleep and that’s paramount to a person being able to think through what their next steps might be,” Hake said. “This is a simple solution to a big, big problem, a temporary solution to addressing that.”
The families they help at Safe Lots are vetted, and Hake said they can stay on the lot between 45 to 60 days as long as they are working toward more permanent housing options and are working to get on their feet.
During the organization’s test phase which starts Friday, five families will be staying on the lot overnight.
Hake said they plan to eventually expand and have more units on that same lot. Eventually, they hope to have a total of five of the Safe Lots by the end of 2024. Already, they’ve seen an overwhelming response to their initiative.
“Had this been available back then, I think I probably could've gotten further sooner than the day-to-day struggle of trying to find a place to keep them safe and warm and fed,” Holje said.
The Safe Lots program has some partnering organizations helping with costs, but they are taking donations and are looking for volunteers. For more information on Safe Lots, click here.
