Help in Phoenix
Somewhere to sleep, something to eat, someone to call. Tap any number to ring it.
Crisis lines, 24 hours
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Crisis Response Network
Mental health crisis support, any hour.
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988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988 for free, confidential help in a mental health or suicide crisis.
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211 Arizona
Dial 211 for information and referrals to community resources and essential needs.
Emergency shelter and housing
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Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS)
Emergency shelter placement and support services for adults 18 and over. Intake starts with a prescreen, so call before walking over.
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Keys to Change Key Campus
The block beside CASS, where shelter intake, meals, showers, mail, storage, ID help, dental care and homeless court all sit together. The Brian Garcia Welcome Center is the way in, and it is open around the clock.
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Family Housing Hub
Shelter placement for families with children, arranged over the phone. You do not need to drive to an office unless they tell you to.
602-595-8700 (or dial 211 from anywhere)
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PHX C.A.R.E.S.
The city’s own outreach team. Call to ask for help, or to ask them to go and find somebody who needs it. Monday to Saturday, 8am to 5pm.
Food and basic needs
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St. Mary’s Food Bank
Emergency food boxes, and a finder for the 700 partner sites across Arizona so you can pick the closest one.
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André House
Dinner most evenings, plus showers, laundry, clothing and phone calls. Each service runs at its own time, so check the hours before making the walk.
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Cooling and hydration centers
The county Heat Relief Network map lists more than 200 free cooled rooms, respite sites and water stations from May to September. Every site sets its own hours, so check the map before you set off.
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Homeless ID Project
Free replacement ID cards, driver’s licenses and birth certificates, and somewhere safe to keep documents so they cannot be stolen or lost. They can start the paperwork even if you have nothing on you.
Medical and behavioral health
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Circle the City Downtown Family Health Center
Medical care built around people who are living outside, including the only medical respite beds in Arizona for recovering after a hospital stay.
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Brighter Way Dental Center
Free and low-cost dental care, including extractions and dentures, for people who are unhoused, veterans, and survivors of domestic violence.
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Community Bridges, Inc. (CBI)
Mental health and substance use services.
877-931-9142 (Access to Care Line, 24 hours)
Veterans
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VA Phoenix Health Care System
Help for veterans who are homeless, or close to it through financial hardship, unemployment, addiction, depression, or leaving jail.
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National Call Center for Homeless Veterans
Free and confidential, any hour, for veterans and for the people who are worried about one.
Youth, ages 12 to 24
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Safe Place
Text SAFE and your address to 44357, or call. Safe Place sites include QuikTrip stores, libraries, fire stations, transit stops and other local businesses across the valley.
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Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development
Shelter, drop-in support and transitional housing for young people aged 12 to 24 across Maricopa County.
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one·n·ten
Housing help, a drop-in center and support groups for LGBTQ+ young people aged 14 to 24.
Survivors of domestic violence
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SAFEDVS (A New Leaf)
Safe Access For Expedited Domestic Violence Services. A 24-hour crisis line, with live chat on the A New Leaf website if a call is not safe to make.
480-890-3039 (or 1-844-SAFEDVS)
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National Domestic Violence Hotline
Confidential support and safety planning, any hour, from anywhere in the country.
Getting around
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Valley Metro light rail and bus
The light rail runs through downtown and past the 12th Avenue campus, and bus routes cover the rest of the city. Both are air conditioned, which makes a fare a cheap hour out of the sun.
Surviving an Arizona summer outside
The heat here kills people. This is the part of the leaflet that matters most between May and September.
- Get out of the heat between 10am and 4pm
- That is the dangerous stretch. Cooling centers, libraries and shelters are all air conditioned and free to sit in. If you have to be outside, stay in shade and rest rather than walking through it.
- Drink more water than you think you need
- Shelters, churches and outreach groups hand out bottled water all summer, and public parks and community centers have drinking fountains. Dehydration is what turns a hot day into a hospital visit.
- Know what heat exhaustion feels like
- Heavy sweating, dizziness, nausea, headache, weakness. Get somewhere cool and drink water immediately. If someone is confused, very hot, or faints, that is heatstroke and it needs an ambulance now.
- Cover up rather than strip off
- Loose, light-colored clothing keeps you cooler than bare skin in the sun, and sunscreen helps if you can get some. Outreach teams often have both.
- Buses are air conditioned
- Valley Metro fares are low and some programs offer free or discounted rides to cooling centers and shelters. A bus ride is a cheap hour out of the sun.
- Keep a phone charged if you have one
- Some organizations have charging stations. A charged phone is how you find out which shelter has a bed tonight.
Somebody has already paid for a meal
Pay It Forward lets one person buy a meal in advance and another person collect it from a local business, with no questions asked and nothing to prove. If you need one, or if you want to buy one for somebody who does, it runs at PIF Board.
City of Phoenix Office of Homeless Solutions keeps the fullest list, and it outlasts anything we publish.
Checked on 2026-08-10. If a number here is wrong, please tell us at contact@bchain.coffee so the next person does not waste the trip.