The organization helping the woman said every shelter they reached out to was full. 12News was able to make a call that resulted in helping her find a shelter.
PHOENIX — A 71-year-old Valley woman was evicted on Tuesday with her two dogs and is trying to navigate being homeless.
Derralyn Wright, a former nurse by trade, said she had fallen on hard times after she went months without her social security payments, which are $1,107 a month.
“My social security stopped and it stopped for two months before they figured it out, which caused me to be late, which caused late fees,” Wright said. “How do they figure that I’m supposed to get $1107 when $1107 is barely enough to pay rent somewhere now? That’s not enough.”
Wright said she contacted various agencies to see if they could help her pay her rent and get her back into her apartment to no avail.
“I just, I felt, just completely broken down,” Wright said. “I felt like I failed my grandkids, I failed myself and kept feeling like, ‘Why am I here?’.”
Wright said she called 2-1-1 and got connected with Dogs Day Out AZ, a nonprofit organization that helps homeless dogs and their owners in the Valley.
“We were not going to allow a 71-year-old with two German shepherds to sit out on the curb at 7 o’clock at night,” Julie Hunt, an organization volunteer said. “So within an hour, we were able to get Derralyn and her two dogs into a hotel.”
The organization’s founder, Monique Hebert, said she reached out to more than two dozen shelters to try to find Wright a place to stay with her two dogs.
Hunt said most of the apartments they called wanted Wright to provide two to three times the rent and noted other problems were exacerbating the lack of shelter in the city for Wright and her pups.
“A lot of our cooling centers in the Valley have closed, and we even have some shelters that have closed down which have limited the number of beds we have,” Hunt said. “The ones that are open [have] no openings at the shelters that are available, and there are some shelters that do not accept dogs. ”
12News contacted a shelter previously contacted by Dogs Day Out AZ who did not have available space. We were told they did have a room for Wright and her two dogs.
12News also contacted the city of Phoenix about homeless shelter space.
The City of Phoenix said they said the city has prioritized creating more indoor shelters than in previous years and continued to say:
The City’s investments in shelter and appropriate services also help the City address encampments in neighborhoods, parks, transit stops, and other locations, alleviating public health and safety concerns. The City is committed to its work in ending homelessness and recognizes that it requires comprehensive solutions such as affordable housing and prevention supports. The City will continue working diligently to create sustainable solutions for our community as a whole.
Wright said she was grateful for all the help she’s received and hoped to contribute in the future.
“I think I would like to see if I can help somebody else avoid this type of situation,” Wright said. “Or what has to be done in the legislature. There’s no reason people should be out on the streets.”
Dogs Day Out AZ said thanks to the community’s help, they will continue to help Wright and help send her pups to training.
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