Tempe nonprofit helps families get out of heat as shelters fill up

TEMPE, AZ (AZFamily) —Dangerous summer heat is proving deadly for some Valley families, especially those without working air conditioning or a reliable place to cool down.

Officials have already reported heat-related deaths across the region. For John Perry, finding relief from the sweltering temperatures recently meant a single night in Room 217 at a Motel 6 on Broadway Road in Tempe—a temporary shelter for him and his two children.

The room was simple—white walls and two double beds—but for one night it was home.

“I just want to be more for them, and it’s been hard to get back out of the street after I’ve fallen so far off,” Perry said.

Perry is among thousands across the Valley experiencing homelessness. When he can secure a place to stay, he prioritizes being with his children. But by Saturday morning, the family was back on the move, trying to beat the heat on the way to their next place to sleep.

“It eases so much knowing that you got somewhere to go tomorrow to go to bed,” Perry said. “Because it’s different on the streets,” he said.

Perry said many days he walks up to 10 miles under the Arizona sun—often on scorching pavement. He said a chance connection led him to help.

“Some lady gave me a phone number and told me to call this guy — that he was amazing,” Perry said.

That phone number led to Austin Davis, who founded the Tempe-based nonprofit AZ Hugs. The organization is known for nightly outreach, including feeding people experiencing homelessness, but Davis said his focus has shifted to securing motel rooms for families who cannot access traditional shelter beds.

“We’re serving at this point 20, 30, 40 families a day who need shelter, are on all the wait lists and can’t access it,” Davis said. “All the major family shelters in the state go through this coordinated entry point called the Family Housing Hub. And right now, the Family Housing Hub is bottlenecked,” Davis said.

Davis said his team has been working with motels across the Valley to place families who would otherwise be on the street.

“And in the short term, what are families supposed to do with this heat?” Davis said. “We’re having families end up in the hospital,” he said.

As the Valley faces some of the hottest days of the summer so far, Davis is calling on Gov. Katie Hobbs to declare a state of emergency. He said that would help unlock funding and expand capacity more quickly.

For Perry, the stability, even temporary, has made it possible to take steps forward.

“He put this — it gives me a foothold to where I can actually look for a job, get a place to where I can shower and not have to worry about that,” Perry said.

Perry said the partnership with AZ Hugs has helped him line up several job interviews, and he is now looking for permanent housing for his family.

AZ Hugs operates on donations. To learn more or to help, visit this link.

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