Valley nonprofit looks to educate community on homelessness and provide job training

PHOENIX – Local and national nonprofit, Entryway Talent, aims to educate the Valley community about homelessness while helping others get into more stable housing.

For Entryway, a key part of that work is not just the housing but also making sure people in need are trained to get a job.

That’s the case for Valley resident Mark Amick, who called the 211 hotline several months ago after deciding he had enough of living in a trailer with no utilities and no air conditioning.

“I was homeless, I was about to be starving. But I was also like … I don’t know what to do at all,” Amick said.

While he still has plenty of work ahead to truly stabilize his living situation, Amick is strides further than he was when he made that call.

The Homeless Experience

On Thursday, Entryway held “The Homeless Experience,” to educate members of the community about the issues and how to help others.

It was an exhibit that walked people through the process of being homeless, from looking for key services to listing important resources that people on the streets often need.

“We have five different people’s stories, these are local folks, who have experienced homelessness and climbed their way out,” Mandy Porter-Griffith, executive director of Entryway Greater Phoenix, said.

She believed there’s misconceptions about homelessness and hoped the event helped to challenge some of those stereotypes.

According to Entryway, 78% of all unhoused people are what Porter-Griffith calls “situationally homeless,” which means they’ve been homeless for less than a year and often due to a life-changing event.

“You may find yourself in this position. Whether your couch-surfing, in an unhealthy relationship because it comes with housing, or in a shelter. We serve all those folks,” Porter-Griffith said.

Back on Your Feet

Porter-Griffith explained that because many people now are homeless for the first time or have been for less than a year, there’s also a massive opportunity right now to uplift others.

That includes people like Amick.

After reaching out for help to end his housing instability, he found local resources and was eventually connected with Entryway. From there, he met with a case manager and began figuring out a game plan for his success. The plan led to a workforce training program, which Amick said has been a massive success for him.

The nonprofit focuses on five employment areas for the training: Maintenance technicians, leasing agents, groundskeepers, housekeepers, porters and concierges.

“I had no idea this would be where I was going, I don’t think I could even have imagined. Because where I’m now versus where I was there is like night and day. Now I have hope,” Amick said.

Amick decided to go down the maintenance path and thanks the workforce training, local foodbanks and donors who helped keep their shelves stocked.

“To anyone who gives out peanut butter to food pantries, God bless you. It’s fantastic stuff. It’s just the little things,” Amick said.

While Amick says he’s still looking to improve his housing situation, he’s now getting regular calls back for jobs in the maintenance field, which is what Entryway helped him get trained in.

Looking Ahead

Entryway will be hosting a professional clothing drive in September to make sure its program participants can look good while looking for new jobs.

New or lightly used professional clothing, jeans and shoes can be dropped off from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 5005 E. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ.