Valley mothers share frustrations with local responses to homelessness

PHOENIX — As local responses to homelessness continue to evolve, two unhoused Valley mothers have been left looking for safe spaces for their families.

They told KTAR News 92.3 FM that resources in the metro Phoenix area are not enough and expressed frustration with the long wait times for family shelter.

Due to the delays, Phoenix nonprofit UMOM: New Day Centers is working to make housing more accessible for families in need.

Mother of five living in hotel frustrated with Valley city

Breanna Wood currently lives in a Chandler hotel with her five children, spending much of her time searching for home-cleaning jobs to buy another night of security for her family.

“I’m just trying to get day by day, make sure I pay the hotel,” Wood told KTAR News. “Some days I can’t pay it on time, so I have to figure it out while the kids are at school.”

Wood became homeless in October 2025 when she lost her job. She emphasized that since then it’s been difficult getting help.

Wood claimed that when she sought out shelter from the city of Chandler’s hotel-based program, the city accused her of lying.

The mother of five explained that she faced pushback from the city because she had previously contacted UMOM in 2020 for help.

“And (the city of Chandler employee) looked up my name and she blankly told me, ‘Why are you lying?’” Wood said. “Basically, if I’ve had help before, you can’t get help again. That’s how it was perceived.”

According to Wood, she never received assistance from UMOM in 2020, as the situation that led to her contacting the program was resolved without the nonprofit’s help.

Chandler Neighborhood Resources Director Riann Balch told KTAR News the city requires families seeking help from its 90-day hotel shelter program to be on the Family Housing Hub, the main shelter wait list in the Valley region operated by UMOM.

That’s because the city program is short-term, and they want to ensure that families who may still need help after 90 days have a backup plan.

Wood was not on that list prior to reaching out to Chandler, and Balch said that was likely the cause of her issue with the city as well as the program likely being full.

Balch noted that receiving previous help does not exclude people from further assistance and city staff will assist callers who are in need to get on the hub.

While Wood said she is now on the Family Housing Hub, she expressed confusion and frustration about the process. She added that being on the hub is not leading to any short-term resources for her family.

For Wood’s school-age children, living in a hotel means more complications getting to and from school.

For example, the Chandler mom is worried one of her sons may not be able to play for his high school’s basketball team due to not having a way home from practice.

“(It’s) very frustrating (and) sad, (and) it’s emotional,” Wood said.

‘I can’t even count how many wait lists I was on’

Yoleaisa Carwell and her two teen children’s homelessness began in mid-2025 when they were evicted from their apartment.

They were sleeping in a storage until recently when the owner of the business found out and threw out their belongings.

In addition, Carwell’s job search became more complicated last month when she was hit by a car.

Carwell told KTAR News she had been on the Family Housing Hub wait list for three to four months until one of her sons turned 17 in October 2025. She claimed that after that a 211 operator told her that her family was being taken off the list since they no longer qualified.

211 Arizona Information and Referral Service is a nonprofit that can help connect residents with critical services. The process of calling 211 is referred to as “coordinated entry” and can lead to families getting on UMOM’s Family Housing Hub wait list.

“Happy birthday, but unfortunately Mrs. Carwell, we have some bad news for you,” Carwell said, quoting the phone call she received.

Carwell explained that her son has autism and can’t go into a shelter on his own, leaving them without a path forward since she wants to keep her family together.

“My son also has panic attacks, PTSD (and) he has separation anxiety,” Carwell said. “So that’s kind of impossible for him to go to a teen shelter on his own.”

Fernandez Bjork, vice president of programs at UMOM, told KTAR News Carwell’s description of events doesn’t match up with the nonprofit’s eligibility rules and records, adding that a “family” can include 17-year-olds and not be removed from the hub wait list.

Instead, Bjork claimed that Carwell declined shelter on Oct. 9 because it was too far away from her location, and after that the organization never heard back from her.

“It’s on the client to call back, every single week. And if they don’t call back after ‘X’ amount of times, they’re then taken off the list,” Bjork said. “(It) seems based on our documentation, that’s what happened with Ms. Carwell.”

Carwell said she only stopped reaching out to 211 after she was told she’d been taken off the hub wait list, which she claimed happened on Oct. 8.

“Now I’m getting upset because they’re lying,” Carwell said in a statement to KTAR News.

According to Bjork, the Family Housing Hub’s wait list currently has around 200 families with a seven- to eight-week turnaround time.

“I will acknowledge at the end of the day phones do get cut off, things happen,” Bjork noted.

Possible changes to Hub eligibility, youth considerations

The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) handles federal funding for local homeless solutions, including the Family Housing Hub as it is the primary intake system for family shelter beds across much of the Valley.

Matthew Finley, senior planner of youth services for MAG, couldn’t provide KTAR News with a clear yes or no answer on if current eligibility rules could result in a situation like Carwell’s.

However, Finley explained that there is an effort to revaluate how families and single adults qualify for shelter.

“That intake procedure can better connect people to the services that are going to be the most supportive for them,” Finley said.

Finley added that organizations are rethinking the rules and definitions surrounding “youth” versus “family” when it comes to homeless solutions.

He indicated it’s hard to get a scope of the full problem, explaining that many unhoused families are not actually on the streets and often sleep in cars or somewhere else.

However, Carwell stressed that her family can’t wait on another list.

“My family and I, we’ve totally reached our lowest point and if any help could be given, it would be taken immediately,” Carwell said.

Wood echoed that sentiment, stating that she and her family need help now, not later.

“There’s no way we can get on track if there’s no immediate help, we need immediate help,” Wood said.

Both women emphasized that they’re willing to work and are not on drugs, responding to the stereotype homelessness is a product of addiction and laziness.

Wood and Carwell are both receiving community assistance from Tempe-based nonprofit AZ Hugs, which accepts donations from the public to help pay for hotels and other needs for those experiencing homelessness.

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