PHOENIX — More help is on the way for families in need here in the Valley and it’s all thanks to Grand Canyon University and a national organization called City Serve.
The two have joined forces to fill a 35,000 square-foot warehouse on the GCU campus with $400,000 worth of household items.
The shelves are full of just about anything someone needs to establish a home and house a family; things like small kitchen appliances, furniture, bedding, even pet supplies. It’s a project the GCU President Brian Mueller said is just the beginning of making big changes for nearby families.
“This is a neighborhood of immigrants, there’s a lot of poverty here, there’s a lot of crime here but we’re making a tremendous amount of progress, and City Serve is going to help take us to another level,” Mueller said.
City Serve’s mission is to help local churches have more of an impact in their community.
The items are donated from big box retailers and, in many cases, would end up in landfills.
Instead, they’ll be used to meet a need that just keeps growing according to local non-profit organizer Nicolee Thompson.
“It’s kind of up and down now with the need but there’s so much brand new need so you have families and individuals who have never sought out social services before,” she said.
This is part of an ongoing effort for GCU to get involved in the community immediately surrounding the school’s central Phoenix campus.
“We really believe we are at this time in this place to not just serve GCU but to serve this neighborhood of immigrants. City Serve is going to help us get physical goods into the homes of people who are struggling to build a life here,” he continued.
GCU and City Serve are partnering with local PODS- point of distribution centers. These are local churches or non-profits. Families interested in getting some of the items in this program should reach out to those PODS to begin the distribution process.