I took a tour and learned a lot! GRM has the ability to house nearly 400 people - men, women, and…read morenow families too.
There are carefully monitored guidelines including strict intolerance of drugs/alcohol, violence, and even hate language. Every resident must participate in a program (learning, job training, etc.) as well as in requirements of the house - cleanliness, chores. These all evolve from their mantra: love, grace, dignity, and respect. It is demanded by and from residents and staff.
Remarkably, it is intrinsically self-policed, that is, residents will call out misbehavior by a peer before staff ever need to. And, despite their Christian roots, participation (by staff volunteers and the unhoused) is non-proselytizing. We learned that medications are also strictly regulated - no one can have them loose by their bed, etc. All meds are locked and carefully distributed directly to the assigned patient-resident one day at a time. Once a resident has completed job training they become eligible to attend a Pima College certificate program - one that, again, GRM pays for. These ultimately lead a resident to become employment ready. One of the really cool things about GRM is that residents stay until they have BOTH a job and an apartment lined up... and, maybe a bit counter-intuitive, despite all that's provided for free, residents are self-motivated TO graduate.
GRM manages to accomplish all of this on a budget of around $12-15M per year. We learned that they regularly receive corporate donations from the likes of Amazon (giant pallet surprises) as well as from area businesses. Another cool thing is that donations from individuals like you/me are never resold. Rather all are distributed in-house, frequently to those graduating to their own place. Moreover, they have a small fleet of trucks (think medium-sized U-Hauls) that will drive to you and pick up any donated furniture or appliances... for free! They will go as far south as Green Valley and as far north as Oro Valley and all in between, east/ west. These items provide "graduates" with the modest items to furnish their new apartment. There were other volunteers in attendance on this Saturday as well and you can register to volunteer most anytime. I have since brought my last two "goodwill" loads to this (local) charity!