PVCC Puma Press: December 2002

Located just 20 minutes south of one of the finest neighborhoods in North Scottsdale, La Mesita Family Homeless Shelter houses 25 families who have no place else to call home. The building has no sign advertising itself as a shelter for those who are dislocated or homeless; it looks like an old motel.

“This is deliberate,” says the program coordinator for the La Mesita who wishes to remain anonymous, adding that many of the shelter’s residents have come from situations of domestic violence and need their whereabouts to remain secret.

The shelter serves the homeless community by providing temporary housing, childcare, medical care, counseling and job assistance. Prevention and Rehabilitation of Arizona (PREHAB), a non-profit organization, which sponsors domestic violence, homeless and youth programs, manages La Mesita. The program employs psychologists, nurses, counselors and day care professionals to operate the homeless facility. La Mesita receives funding from the Department of Economic Security, Community Services Administration and the United Way Foundation, as well as a variety of charitable organizations.

Thirty-one-year-old Connie Gustafson and her 4-year-old daughter, Anna, have lived at the shelter for three months. In 2000, the family’s mobile home burned to the ground, Gustafson’s husband was arrested, and she and her four children moved in with friends.

For the next 22 months Gustafson, her daughter and three sons bounced from friend to family member. For a while the family lived with her sister, who was the sole support of her own five children. Gustafson says there was simply not enough money to support both families.

Eventually, Gustafson ended up living on the street for two months, her children sleeping in the bed of the family pick-up truck.

“It was a tough time in my life,” says Gustafson, who eventually placed her three sons, a 10 year-old and twin 8-year-olds in a children’s home named Sunshine Acres. Gustafson committed her children to the home for one year. For the sake of the children, Sunshine Acres requires parents to make a one-year commitment. The home, says Gustafson, has given her sons what she could not, a sense of belonging and stability.

Finally, homeless and desperate, someone told Gustafson about La Mesita shelter.

“We can only stay here for four months—to prove we’re serious about getting help,” says Gustafson.

According to La Mesita’s program coordinator, the shelter was created specifically for families living on the street who need a temporary place to live.

“The residents work hard here; there is no free ride,” says the program coordinator, adding that those who attend counseling, keep their rooms clean and work a steady job for 16 weeks, graduate to “Save the Family,” another homeless shelter. There they are provided housing, childcare and counseling for up to two years if they follow shelter guidelines.

“At La Mesita, residents are required to find a job within three to four weeks,” says the program coordinator. “Then we help them learn to manage their own money.”

La Mesita does this by requiring residents to save 50 percent of their money. At the end of the four-month period, the savings are given back to the residents.

“I’m glad they do that here,” says Gustafson, adding that she already has $600 saved toward what will be her first real home since her mobile home burned down.

Every day Gustafson walks her daughter to the on-site daycare facility, jogs over to the bus stop where she rides to her telemarketing job with Desert Marketing Publications, then returns to the shelter at night. Childcare costs her $5 per week.

“Although I get to have them on weekends, I do miss my boys,” says Gustafson, adding that her only regret is that she didn’t find La Mesita sooner. “Then my boys could be with me now.”

For the holiday season, Gustafson says her caseworker has assured her that there will be gifts for little Anna. Her sons will join them for a holiday dinner prepared by volunteers at the shelter.

In spite of her current circumstances, Gustafson is optimistic about her future.

“I know things are going to get better for us; people are good and kind and they are helping me get it all together,” she says. Donations can be made to La Mesita Family Shelter to help families like Gustafson’s at the following address:

C/O PREHAB of Arizona, Administration Office, P.O. Box 5860, Mesa, Arizona 85211-5860.