PHOENIX – A partnership between the Homeless ID Project and the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division is enabling clients at the Human Services Campus near downtown Phoenix to get replacement state-issued IDs without having to travel several miles to the nearest MVD office.
Clients experiencing instability or homelessness can now get IDs, which are essential for obtaining services and employment, in a campus office set up with the computer equipment, printer and scanner, and camera. Staffed 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday by an MVD representative, the office can be converted to a TeleMVD office in which customers can conduct many transactions with representatives located elsewhere.
“Clients who come to us for replacement ID services encounter one more barrier when faced with the 45-minute bus ride to the nearest MVD office. Now with MVD services available on campus, that barrier is removed. This is a huge win for our clients,” said Homeless ID Project Executive Director Rick Mitchell.
“This is another great opportunity where MVD can serve the community in ways previously not possible,” said Eric Jorgensen, ADOT Motor Vehicle Division Director. “This partnership is a first step in using technology to expand our reach and get services to the place they are needed at the moment our customers need them.”
Homeless ID Project’s Director of Programs, Eric Ortega, added that, “Providing services to our clients experiencing homelessness in our office and meeting them where they’re at will make an enormously positive difference in obtaining identification. This will cut out the bus trips and waiting in the extreme summer heat as well as making it easier for the most vulnerable amongst the vulnerable to be assisted without the fear they can’t make it to an MVD office of their own. We are so appreciative to the MVD for making this happen and we know it will change our clients’ lives for the better.”
During 2022, Homeless ID Project provided 12,143 documents, including 8,000 state-issued IDs and 4,000 replacement copies of birth certificates from all 50 states, from their office in the Brian Garcia Welcome Center on the Human Services Campus and in outreach programs across Maricopa and Pima counties. Housing the MVD’s replacement ID services on campus in the Homeless ID Project offices will allow clients to receive replacement state-issued IDs, eliminating the need for them to travel to a MVD office, allowing them to continue the journey to end their homelessness sooner than ever before.
About ADOT MVD:
Connecting Arizona. Everyone, everywhere, every day. The Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division processed more than 14.5 million transactions during the previous fiscal year, approximately half of those were online through azmvdnow.gov, getting you out of the line and safely on the road.
About Homeless ID Project:
Homeless ID Project is a privately funded nonprofit whose mission is to empower homeless individuals and families to rebuild their lives by providing the critical first step of identification replacement services. The agency was founded in 1988 by Reverend Gerald Roseberry following a month of self‐imposed homelessness during which he discovered that many individuals experiencing homelessness wanting to get a job or find housing had no access to replacement documents that had been lost, stolen, or left behind. The agency now serves the community from two permanent locations and 12 shared space locations. The agency is currently running their 1000 Voices Campaign which seeks to add 1000 new supporters to the conversation on ending homelessness. More information is available at homelessidroject.org/1000-voices.
