The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) will activate 11 heat relief stations throughout the Valley – where anyone in need can go for indoor cooling and hydration – during an excessive heat warning issued by the National Weather Service June 8-12.
“Anyone is welcome into a Salvation Army location for indoor cooling and hydration during regular operating hours,” said Major Tim Smith, Salvation Army divisional secretary for Metro Phoenix, “but when the National Weather Service issues an excessive heat warning, Salvation Army considers it a disaster situation, so our Emergency Disaster Services ‘activates’ our heat relief stations to a heightened awareness. We alert the media to help spread the word, and we have extra signage directing people to each location, with some locations having canopies outside to give water and heat relief items to passersby. Salvation Army officers, staff and volunteers will also take water to those in need around their neighborhoods.”
The following heat relief stations will be “activated” from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 8-12 and on any day the National Weather Service has issued or extended an excessive heat warning (except for federal holidays), including weekends:
- Apache Junction Corps Community Center, 605 E. Broadway Ave.
- Estrella Mountain Corps Community Center, 11 N. Third Ave.
- Chandler Corps Community Center, 85 E. Saragosa St.
- Glendale Corps Community Center, 6010 W. Northern Ave.
- Mesa Corps Community Center, 241 E. Sixth St.
- Phoenix Citadel Corps Community Center, 628 N. Third Ave.
- Phoenix Maryvale Corps Community Center, 4318 W. Clarendon Ave.
- Ray & Joan Kroc Center Phoenix, 1375 E. Broadway Road.
- Phoenix Family Services Office, 2707 E. Van Buren St., Bldg. 2.
- North West Valley Corps Community Center, 17420 N. Avenue of the Arts Blvd.
- Tempe Corps Community Center, 40 E. University Drive
Additionally, a mobile hydration unit will be dispatched each day from June 8-12 to portions of the Valley identified as areas with high homeless populations.
In 2021, the Army provided heat relief to nearly 48,000 people and gave out more than 114,000 bottles of water to people in need in the Valley, and already this year, as the temperatures have been climbing, Salvation Army units have helped over 4,500 people battling the heat and given out nearly 7,000 bottles of water in the Valley to date.
APS, DBP, DripDrop and Ford have all made significant donations of funding, water and product to the Army’s heat relief efforts. If you’d like to donate to help our neighbors in need facing the unbearable summer heat, visit SalvationArmyPhoenix.org or text HEAT to 51555. To volunteer at a heat relief station, contact your local Salvation Army or call 602-267-4100.
The Salvation Army EDS is part of the Maricopa Association of Governments’ Heat Relief Regional Network, the goal of which is to provide resources to prevent heat-related illnesses and deaths among vulnerable populations.
