Residents urge Casa Grande council to pursue managed camp or shelter for unsheltered people

During the council's public-comment period, multiple speakers urged the City Council to take more concrete action on homelessness and to coordinate better with nonprofit partners.

Barbara Sundest, who identified her address in Casa Grande, told council members that people she knows are sleeping in tents and vehicles and that some have received citations or spent nights in jail. “We don't see them anymore. So we have to help them,” Sundest said, urging the city to consider setting up a managed homeless camp or transition site and asking for more consistent follow-up from city agencies and partners.

Council members and the mayor later noted existing coordination efforts: the CG Helps Coalition and the Unsheltered Person Action Committee meet monthly, and local organizations including Salvation Army, Seeds of Hope and Saint Vincent de Paul are involved in outreach. Mayor Fitzgibbons said the city and partner agencies are continuing to look for property that could serve as a transition center and that staff are updating online resource pages for services and supports.

Speakers emphasized that the need extends beyond encampments to elderly residents and other individuals who lack family supports. Public comment highlighted both short-term needs (shelter from rain and cold) and the importance of longer-term planning and coordination between the city and social-service providers.

Council members did not take formal action during public comment; staff and the mayor said they would continue coordination with nonprofit partners and pursue property options and planning in follow-up work.