Recording-breaking March heat leaves organizers scrambling to aid people experiencing homelessness

PHOENIX – A truck full of plastic water bottles arrived along with the heat to the Key Campus in downtown Phoenix on March 18. As forklifts lined up to unload pallets, volunteers began distributing water to people experiencing homelessness across the 13-acre space nearly two months ahead of the usual schedule. This year is the first since 1988 that Phoenix has surpassed the 100-degree mark in March.

Daily record highs were smashed Thursday, with temperatures 25 degrees above usual  March temperatures.

“For some perspective, the average first 105° day of the year normally occurs on May 22nd. Please practice good heat safety,” the National Weather Service in Phoenix posted on X.

That number is expected to be eclipsed Friday, with an expected high of 106 degrees.

That has left organizers across the Valley scrambling to provide life-saving services to the homeless population in the historic heat.

The campus is operated by Keys to Change, a Phoenix-based nonprofit that works with the city’s homeless population. Kim Beaudoin, marketing and communications manager, said leaders in the organization called an emergency meeting last week after the forecast was projected to jump into triple digits.

“We know that people are going to be dehydrated when they’re coming to us,” Beaudoin said. “We’re offering them [a] bottle of water first thing.”

People experiencing homelessness are more than 100 times more likely to die of heat than the general population in Maricopa County.

Anna Dugan holds up a cooling towel at Sunnyslope Family Services Center, on Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Phoenix, Ariz. The cooling towels are handed out to residents in need of heat relief and do not need to be refrigerated to work; just pour water onto the towel and they begin cooling. (Photo by Allison Kotzbauer/Cronkite News)

In 2025, 48% of all heat-related deaths in Maricopa County were people experiencing homelessness. On average, this percentage has been climbing since 2014, alongside the percentage of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness, according to annual heat and Point in Time count reports published by Maricopa County.

“It’s non-stop exposure, right? Even at night, it’s not getting below 100 degrees,” Beaudoin said. “Your body isn’t able to re-regulate and take that break from the heat.”

It’s common for people experiencing homelessness who receive care from Keys to Change to already have underlying health conditions, mental health challenges or to struggle with addiction. All of those can make people more susceptible to heat exhaustion. Keys to Change trains its staff to recognize symptoms of heat illness.

“Those behaviors can look similar to somebody who’s used drugs or somebody who has dementia. These symptoms have a lot of overlap,” Beaudoin said. “It’s a matter of making sure our staff know what to look for and then also making sure they have the materials and equipment needed to deal with those various situations.”

Phoenix operates a network of cooling centers and respite spaces  – but those do not open until on May 1 as part of its heat mitigation plan. Scott Hall, deputy director for the city’s Office of Homeless Solutions, said that while overnight cooling centers and extended library hours will not be available for another six weeks, the department has already set some of its response plan into motion.

“​​Our teams start out early in the morning,” Hill said. “We’re out there seven days a week, engaging with individuals, trying to get them to the resources.”

The city passes out more than just water. At the Sunnyslope Family Resource Center, volunteers filled truck beds with sunscreen, sandals, cooling towels and more. The center also partnered with organizations like St. Vincent de Paul to run locations for people experiencing homelessness to escape the heat.

Andrew Peters is the shelter programming director at the St. Vincent de Paul Phoenix Dining Room, a 170-bed shelter that began as an overnight heat relief shelter in partnership with the city.

Originally, it was scheduled to shut down with the city’s other cooling centers in October. Instead, the space now operates year-round.

“I personally watched as within 30 minutes after somebody entered our facility, they immediately succumbed to heat exhaustion. If that person didn’t have us there, they probably would have died from exposure to the heat,” Peters said.

James Weed cases of water into a truck in front of Sunnyslope Family Services Center, on Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Phoenix, Ariz. (Photo by Allison Kotzbauer/Cronkite News)

The shelter fills its 170 beds every night and has assisted over 3,000 people since it opened last summer. People who enter while displaying signs of heat exhaustion are offered electrolytes, water, snacks and ice packs to combat their symptoms.

“We notice these things as they’re coming in through the gate because we intake each person individually as they come in and we kind of just get together a visual assessment,” Peters said. “We just started telling people like, ‘Hey, keep an eye on this person. Keep an eye on that person.’”

After federal funding for more than 1,000 shelter beds in Maricopa County expired between 2024 and 2025, the 2025 PIT count showed a 28% increase in the number of people living unsheltered in the county.

“We have an entire community of people that are unsheltered,” Peters said. “When you’re physically exposed to extreme elements, like the Arizona sun, like your body never gets that point of rest where it’s able to recuperate.”