After multiple attempts to move to a new location fell through, the Verde Valley Homeless Coalition, which had planned to leave its previous location at 14 S. Main St. in Cottonwood in September, was able to move its drop-in center into a new building at 654 N Main St. at the beginning of November.
As a large former warehouse, the new building is nearly three times as big as the one that the VVHC left. The building has been certified by the Cottonwood Fire Department to house 20 people for overnight stays when the temperature falls below 34 degrees, a notable increase compared to the 11 permitted at the previous location.
In addition to the extra space for overnights, the drop-in center is open from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, providing the area’s homeless population with a place where they can avoid the elements during the day, watch TV, eat snacks, just lounge around, charge devices, or use the internet and printers at a table of computers. The aim of the drop-in center is to allow guests to take advantage of available support in order to help them get back on their feet, with some clients using it to work on job applications or receive mail. According to Carol Quasula, president of the board and interim director, the extra space allows the drop-in center to provide those services more effectively, with a more relaxed atmosphere for the visitors. “It’s afforded us the opportunity to kind of set up pods, where people are not on top of one another,” Quasula said. “Just last week was a good example. We had three people sitting at the table playing cards. We had a couple of people just quietly reading and we had several people who were just resting — they were tired.”
The use of the current building is being donated by Ruth Chenoweth, a Cornville resident who used to operate the Arizona Food Bank out of the building before it closed down. Though Chenoweth had hoped to sell the building, which had sat unused since the food bank closed, she decided to instead make it available to the VVHC for use as its drop-in center. Chenoweth does not charge rent, but the VVHC pays her utilities.
“Everybody comes in here and they’re calmer,” Suzi Ford, a volunteer who works at the drop-in center two days a week, said. Ford herself was homeless for much of the last year, and though she has since gotten on her feet, she has felt the desire to give back to a place she felt gave her support when she needed it the most.
“They don’t have the skirmishes that they used to because it’s not close quar- ters. There’s places where each person can do their own thing in a little corner if they wanted to. They seem to get along better. They’re just calmer, more peaceful, and we’re able to have more supplies on hand,” Ford said.
Quasula took over as interim director this month after Raena Avalon, who started the VVHC and served as executive director as the drop-in center opened in the summer of 2018, stepped down for medical reasons.
Quasula spent 10 years working as the program director for Catholic Charities in Cottonwood and has stepped up to take over until the board can find a permanent replacement for Avalon.
“I had a wonderful, exciting 2 1⁄2 year journey forming and building the Verde Valley Homeless Coalition service organization,” Avalon wrote in an email. “Now that the Drama Free Zone Drop-in and Emergency Shelter are running successfully, I am stepping down as executive director and taking a break to finally get my knee replaced, rest and heal. The Drama Free Zone Drop-in and Emergency Shelter has been my assignment and through divine guidance is now complete. I have a feeling there are more assignments in the works. I am trusting in God and the board of directors I put in place to continue to grow VVHC in service.”
Avalon’s plan to use the VVHC not just as a resource for the homeless but as an opportunity to help them escape homeless- ness continues. The VVHC hopes to find funding for a planned transitional housing program, putting qualified homeless indi- viduals in cheap housing while they get their lives together. In addition, the VVHC is seeking partnerships with local groups like Steps to Recovery and the Verde Valley Mental Health Coalition in order to help their clientele deal with some of their more serious issues.
“It’s been considerably cleaner since the drop-in center [moved],” said Angelo Jacobo, a homeless man who is a regular of the shelter along with his wife Lisa. “That’s one ofmy goals as a client of the drop-in center and a volunteer here. [We want] people to respect the surrounding neighborhood, the businesses and residences.”
With the holidays coming up, VVHC is requesting Cottonwood residents open their hearts to help the drop-in center. In addition to the need for more volunteers — especially for late night supervision on cold nights — and monetary donations, Quasula specifically mentioned a need for camping gear for the homeless — blankets, sleeping bags and tarps — in order to help out with the coming winter.
“We need to give thanks to our community, because I can tell you it is the community support, it is the support of the council, it has been this community that really got us up and running,” Quasula said. She pointed to over $36,000 raised from local businesses through matching grants, as well as a successful fundraiser the VVHC held last month. “All the years that I’ve been here, this community has said ‘this is what we need.’ We are now here and they’ve been supporting us.”
