It’s official. I live in the nicest ghetto in Arizona. This image was taken 200 yards from my front door. Now before anyone is upset… This is behind a Walmart that faces the entrance to my community. Unfortunately… the kind of homeless encampment we are seeing in my neighborhood, West Maryvale is the meth fueled kind, not the people struggling for survival while trying to find a new job kind. I survey and serve them when I can. Ya’ll know me. Their can be no criticism of the way they are choosing to live unless you know for sure this is how they are CHOOSING to live.
Across the street from this about 300 yards is a library where I instruct them to go first. The PPD wont kick a person off the library grounds during off hours if they are just sleeping without a tent. Second, I try to get them to get ahold of Community Bridges here in Phoenix. They will get them an ID. Getting an ID is the first step to getting back on your feet. Believe it or not a personal ID is the biggest obstacle that many of these people believe they can never overcome. Which is sad because to those of us who are not struggling with substance abuse or on the outs due to domestic violence (like the lady who is living adjacent to this scene in the bushes behind walmart), this wouldn’t be an issue.
But lately, I have just been minding my own business and documenting what I can around this neighborhood because honestly the heat is rising and the desperation due to the shortage of adequate housing is increasing. Many of these tent and mattress encampments were hidden. Now they are open and all over the place in the 85035 zip code. Meth has always been a problem in this neighborhood and Central to East Maryvale has consistently been a war zone over the fentanyl pills, so it just makes more sense for me, considering my history with the neighborhood, to just stay away from trouble. Honestly, the only reason this photo isn’t better centered is because I haven’t practiced taking photos with my phone while walking away and pretending that the shutter sound wasn’t from my phone.