Sister José Women’s Center is having growing pains and is asking for help from the community to alleviate the discomfort.
The women’s shelter, which is located at 1050 S. Park Ave., is in the process of renovations that will increase shelter bed space from 42 to 54 by the end of June.
“The needs for our overnight and day programs have increased during the last few years by about 20 percent per year, if not more. Whenever a camp sight area is shut down, we see more faces here. We are also seeing more young women who are 18 and 19 years old and are aging out of the foster care system, as well as first-time homeless older women who have been evicted or lost their apartments due to increases in rent,” said Nicola Hartmann, Chief Operations Officer of Sister José Women’s Center.
In addition to renovation of sleeping spaces and bathrooms, the center is in the process of raising funds to reconfigure the dining area and multipurpose room in order to expand resources and guest services and add additional spaces dedicated to mental and physical health and wellness, job training and donations. Hartmann said that they hope to raise $2.6 million for the expansions and renovations.
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“We have people who would like to come in and do programs for our guests, which would be great, but we can’t because we have no room. We are busting at the seams and during the summer, people just can’t be outside,” Hartmann said.
The Center, which is one of the only shelters to welcome pets, also offers an air-conditioned space for women to take shelter from the heat during the afternoon along with morning services such as showers, laundry, breakfast, clothing and other resources. Last year, it served 2,319 unduplicated guests and hundreds of dogs and cats.
Hartmann said that for the foreseeable future, the need will continue.
“If you are making minimum wage and living paycheck-to-paycheck and your landlord raises your rent, then you have no where to go. Many women staying with us are working to save money to try to find a place to live. We need more affordable housing in Tucson and more support for people who are homeless, especially those with mental health challenges, which is a large percentage of the people we are seeing,” said Hartmann.
In-kind donations of hygiene items are welcome, along with pet food and supplies such as collars, leashes and dog booties.
Go to https://sisterjose.org/donate/ to support the expansion with a monetary donation. Arizona taxpayers also can qualify for the Arizona Qualifying Charitable Organization (QCO) tax credit ($470 for individuals and $938 for married couples filing jointly in 2024).
