Category Archives: Blog

The rain has come…

The rain is here, and our incredible staff at FSS is constantly adapting to address the most pressing needs every day for people experiencing homelessness. With our community facing repeated rounds of flash flooding – caused by the burn scars created by the wildfires – new dangers are faced by our most vulnerable neighbors needing shelter from the storms. Unlike most weather events that are measured in days or weeks, monsoons are measured throughout seasons – and this time of year disproportionately affects people who are living in poverty and without access to the protection of safe housing…

Spring is in the air…

New life and new beginnings are visible everywhere, especially at the Shelter. Covid has been hard for our team and our clients, and while the pandemic is by no means over, we are starting to feel the spring winds of change like a breath of new life through our doors. We are continuing to gain momentum and make big strides in housing and working with the most vulnerable people in our community – the chronically ill, folks dealing with serious mental illness, veterans, the elderly and the list goes on.

FSS & the Corporation for Supportive Housing

What is Permanent Supportive Housing? PSH combines affordable housing with services, that help people facing complex (medical, mental health, etc.) challenges to live with stability, autonomy, and dignity.

Make a difference with planned giving…

There really are SO many ways that you can support our organization and the people that we serve. One great option to ensure that your gifts will have a lasting impact on the lives of so many of our vulnerable neighbors for YEARS to come is to incorporate planned giving into your financial future preparation. There are many ways to do it –

A new schedule and expanded programming…

Another big change that we have recently made is to the schedule for our emergency shelter operations. This shift has come as the result of hearing the needs of our clients, and making sure that our staff will be set-up to assist these neighbors all throughout the day and night. We made this change to ensure that clients with different schedules will have ample opportunity to use our day services and connect with FSS resources…

What we have learned…

As COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in Coconino County, our staff and leadership are once again encouraging our clients and our community to do everything you can to stop the spread in our region. We have our precautions solidly in place –

The forests are closed and we are ready…

The summer is in full-swing here in Flagstaff. With temperatures rising to record highs, the forests surrounding our town are drying out and we are all prepping emergency responses with the full forest closures that took effect as of June 23rd.

New CARES Act charitable giving tax deduction

It is well-known that the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Securities Act (the CARES Act) is coming through in big and necessary ways with direct financial relief for FlagShelter and so many other nonprofits around the country. What is less well-known is that the CARES Act also includes significant charitable giving benefits and tax relief with the new charitable income tax deduction.

It’s a team effort

In the midst of responding to crisis each day, the leadership of Flagstaff Shelter Services is constantly evaluating the effectiveness of our response to the needs of our community.

Delays in funding endanger the progress we have made

Our work is unpredictable for so many reasons, but unpredictability becomes extremely consequential when it comes to needing to pay our employees for their hard days worked in risky environments, or when it comes to the choice of whether or not we can afford to keep 250 high-risk people sheltered and safe during a pandemic. As you can read in the article, Flagstaff shelter waits for federal relief funds to house COVID-free population, published yesterday by the AZ Daily Sun, we have been awaiting the release of COVID-related funding for too long at this point.