We surpassed our goal to rehouse 2,025 people!

What started out as a goal to permanently rehouse 2,025 people experiencing homelessness by 2025 has become a reality for St. Vincent de Paul, as the nonprofit has surpassed its “Housing 2025” goal ahead of schedule.

In total, SVdP has moved 2,061 people into permanent housing, including 875 single adults and 1,186 parents and children.

This achievement comes right as the 100 Days of Summer campaign turns its focuses on shelter for the month of August. Previous months focused on meeting the needs for water and food during Arizona's tough summer season, when survival is hardest.

Building on this timing and momentum, SVdP is extending its goal to permanently rehouse an additional 250 people experiencing homelessness before 2025.

SVdP’s Housing 2025 initiative was born out of response to Arizona’s homelessness crisis. The initiative focused on three things: 

• Moving people into permanent housing
• Increasing SVdP’s permanent rehousing rate by 20% (a rate it far surpassed)
• Offering the community a shared goal to inspire support for neighbors experiencing homelessness

“Let this accomplishment fill us with great hope in our community,” says Shannon Clancy, SVdP’s Rob and Melani Walton Endowed CEO, “That, YES, we can rehouse people and find solutions to homelessness when we come together in a focused effort, forming real and achievable pathways off the street for those seeking better, more stable lives.”

The Maricopa Association of Governments reported that the number of people living on the streets in the Phoenix area dropped by 17% in 2024 compared to 2023. Of the 9,435 people counted in the Point-in-Time count, 43% were unsheltered and 57% were living in shelters or transitional housing.

SVdP’s Associate Chief Program Officer, Julia Matthies, who’s managed the Housing 2025 project, adds, “We are especially proud of our collaborative efforts with community partners that made achieving this goal possible. 

"We like to think that our collective work has contributed to the reduction in the number of people living on the streets."

In 2023, Maricopa County recorded more than 645 heat-related deaths, a 52% increase from 2022, 45% of whom were people experiencing homelessness. Thanks to the work of Housing 2025, SVdP has assured that at least 2,025 people avoided such a tragic end and instead are now thriving in permanent housing. 

“Accomplishing our goal ahead of time doesn’t mean our work stops here,” Matthies continues. “As long as people are living on our streets, we will continue our rehousing work as fervently as before, because every day someone goes without shelter and hope for housing is a day of crisis.” 

That’s where the goal extension of 250 people comes in alongside SVdP’s 100 Days of Summer focus on shelter and housing, inviting the community to join efforts, particularly this summer, to aid SVdP in helping people move home. Previous summer months focused on providing water and food to neighbors in need.

SVdP rehouses people through case management, charity dining rooms, and Interim Housing Communities, which include transitional housing and emergency shelter. Before the month ends, SVdP will open two additional Interim Housing Communities on its main campus. All the programs work together with government and agency partners across the Valley to find the best permanent housing solution for each individual or family. 

“For all those who found hope in our rehousing goal and for all those new to St. Vincent de Paul’s homelessness response efforts, we hope you’ll join us in our goal extension,” Clancy says, “and continue the Housing 2025 spirit and momentum.”