https://raiderswire.usatoday.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2026/06/23/phoenix-could-keep-outdoor-campground-for-homeless/90652251007/ raiderswire.usatoday.com Phoenix could extend ‘temporary’ homeless campground 4 more years Shawn Raymundo 4 - 5 minutes

Updated June 23, 2026, 8:09 a.m. PT

Phoenix leaders will decide whether to keep a downtown homeless campground open for four more years.
The Safe Outdoor Space provides shelter and services for about 300 people who may prefer it over indoor shelters.
Operating the campground costs Phoenix over $6 million annually through contracts with charitable organizations.
While the city says the project is a success, police data shows a sharp increase in service calls in the area.

Phoenix leaders will decide this fall whether the city’s shaded outdoor campground for the homeless should remain open for at least four more years.

The Office of Homeless Solutions is asking local officials to continue running the Safe Outdoor Space, or SOS, in downtown Phoenix, where roughly 300 people receive services and temporary shelter from the heat.

It’s been operating the site at 15th Avenue and Jackson Street under a temporary permit that expires in October.

Phoenix’s Central City Village Planning Committee, a 15-member advisory board comprising residents in and around downtown, has already recommended that the City Council approve the four-year extension.

Homeless Solutions now needs the city’s Planning Commission to weigh in this August. Why is Phoenix keeping open a temporary solution for 4 more years?

The overall concept of the outdoor shelter has been an effective tool for the city to combat the ongoing homeless crisis, Homeless Solutions officials have said.

The office wants to continue operating it for four more years after demonstrating that it can do so without negatively affecting the surrounding area.

Over the past three years, officials said, the city was able to build trust with the community, which initially opposed the endeavor. How did the homeless campground affect surrounding Phoenix neighborhoods?

The city has boasted that neighbors are supportive of the city’s proposal.

Phoenix police’s call logs show there’s been a sharp increase in reported incidents.

Since SOS opened, Phoenix police recorded 334 service calls for things like trespassing, fights and domestic violence along the 1500 block of West Jackson Street.

There were two incidents recorded in 2023, both before the lot became a campground. How much does the SOS shelter cost Phoenix?

Through service contracts with charitable organizations, Phoenix spends more than $6 million to manage the campground.

This coming fiscal year, it’s paying Keys to Change, which operates the nearby Key Campus, Phoenix’s largest homeless services hub, $5 million to operate the SOS shelter, as well as provide round-the-clock security, daily meals and janitorial services.

There’s also Community Bridges, Inc., whose $1.25 million contract allows the nonprofit to provide case management services and connect people to behavioral health, housing, and employment services.

When the shelter first opened, the operation initially cost roughly $13 million, including the price of the property. Why do some people prefer this over shelters?

The campground is largely designed to support those who aren’t comfortable staying at an indoor shelter but still need services and don’t want to sleep on the street.

Some individuals have previously said they don’t like being around a lot of people and prefer the outdoors.

Others said the SOS allows them to store their possessions and stay together with their partners or animal companions. What’s the long-term strategy beyond this campground?

Phoenix’s goal for the outdoor space has been to transition people into housing and indoor shelters.

Officials touted last fall that about a third of the people it had served moved to some form of indoor space. They also said the city was looking to the project as a model for a new way to tackle homelessness, with guests as far as Australia coming to tour the site.

Despite the space’s reported success, though, Homeless Solutions doesn’t have plans to open additional campgrounds, Couturier said.

Shawn Raymundo covers Phoenix and Scottsdale. Reach him atsraymundo@gannett.com or follow him on X @ShawnzyTsunami.