Deon Gilchrist, 45, turned to the Lincoln Family Downtown YMCA in Phoenix last year when he found himself without a job and unable to afford an apartment.
As part of the Christian nonprofit’s low-cost or no-cost housing program, Gilchrist rented a bedroom with a communal bathroom for around $600 a month.
On Aug. 7, he and 63 other residents—some of whom had lived at the YMCA for over a decade—received an email stating that the program was ending on Sept. 30, and they would all have to move out by then.
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Gilchrist said the YMCA promised to work with residents to help find them a place to go, but he said the options they were given—including apartments that cost $1,200-$1,400 a month, more than double what he was paying—were not viable.
“ I knew I couldn’t afford it,” he told reporters outside of the YMCA on Oct. 2, the day that all residents were expected to leave after the nonprofit had extended the deadline. “I had no money saved up, so I had to talk to the counselors here and be like, ‘Do y’all have any other better options or something?’”
Gilchrist ended up moving into a halfway house two weeks before the program ended, which he said was an undesirable situation but better than living in a shelter.
Demanding more from the YMCA
Gilchrist spoke at a press conference held by the Valley Tenants Union, a volunteer group that educates tenants on their rights and helps them organize when they are experiencing poor conditions, evictions, or landlord harassment.
The union worked with the tenants to create a list of demands that they sent to the YMCA:
- No evictions from the housing program until everyone has been placed in permanent housing with rent comparable to what tenants currently pay at the YMCA housing program.
- Financial support for moving costs, security deposits, and first month’s rent.
- Extend the housing program until 2027.
- Return rent money to tenants for all of 2026 and all security deposits.
- Cancel September rent.
Ari Smith and Paris Wickramaratne, organizers with the Valley Tenants Union, told reporters they did not hear back from the YMCA.
When asked about the tenants’ demands, the Valley of the Sun YMCA wrote to Rent Check PHX in an email: “Throughout this process, the YMCA explored many different options to support residents through the transition. Ultimately, our focus remained on working directly with each resident to identify solutions based on their individual circumstances and needs.”
Gilchrist said he was frustrated the YMCA did not give tenants more notice and time to potentially save up some money before having to leave.
“Come on, man, y’all supposed to be helping us get somewhere, not just push us to the curb,” he said. “They were pushing us to the curb. Like we were nothing.”
According to the Valley of the Sun YMCA, tenants had been living at the downtown location on 30-day agreements.
“Once the decision was finalized, our focus was on communicating directly with residents and immediately beginning the transition process,” the Valley of the Sun YMCA said. “YMCA case workers met one-on-one and held ongoing meetings with residents to develop individualized housing plans and provide support throughout the transition.”
The Valley of the Sun YMCA said it invested more than $10,000 in supporting residents transitioning out of the housing program and offered permanent housing options including apartments and assistance programs like housing vouchers for eligible veterans.
Smith and Wickramaratne told reporters they were not aware of any tenants being placed into permanent housing—only temporary living situations.
“People are being transitioned from the street to the street, from the shelter to shelter—it’s like we’re never getting to the place where the housing crisis, as they call it, is solved because it’s structural. It’s systemic,” Wickramaratne said.
Big changes downtown
The Valley of the Sun YMCA said it was closing the program due to the building, which first opened in 1952, being in disrepair. It has filed an application with the city for demolition and said it “is working to reimagine the site with a new Downtown Phoenix YMCA.”
Aspirant Development bought the building’s adjacent parking lot in 2020 with plans to build the tallest tower in Arizona, including 390 luxury apartments, 290 co-living units, and a luxury hotel.
The average rent in downtown Phoenix is $1,887 a month for a one-bedroom apartment.
The displaced YMCA tenants have been working with the Valley Tenants Union to raise money for support in their transition, including a yard sale on Oct. 4 and a GoFundMe campaign.
”Where can people be?” Wickramaratne told reporters outside the YMCA. “We can’t eat in the park. We can’t be on the street. We can’t be in our homes. What do we got left? The library, even though it’s not open past six or five? The city hates the poor.”
