Help in Chandler
Somewhere to sleep, something to eat, someone to call. Tap any number to call it.
Free help in Chandler, Arizona: shelter, food, medical care and 24-hour crisis lines.
Crisis lines, 24 hours
Chandler Connect
Chandler’s own outreach and crisis line.
Central Arizona Crisis Line
Mental health crisis support, any hour.
Help finding services
211 Arizona
Dial 211 for information and referrals to community resources and essential needs.
211(9am to 7pm every day, in English and Spanish)
Emergency shelter and housing
Chandler Connect (homeless outreach)
Outreach, assessment, and connection to shelter, health services, transportation and temporary housing.
AZCEND I-HELP
Nightly shelter and a hot meal, plus case management and bus passes.
480-963-1423(extension 112)Family Housing Hub
Family shelter placement. Chandler partners with A New Leaf and Save the Family.
Autumn House and Faith House
24-hour crisis hotline and safe housing for survivors of domestic violence.
480-890-3039(or 1-844-SAFEDVS)
Food and basic needs
AZCEND Food Bank
Emergency food boxes tailored to family size. Fresh food boxes are distributed on Friday mornings.
Chandler CARE Center Food Bank
Open year round, Monday to Friday 8am to 11am. A food box every two weeks. Bring photo ID and proof of a Chandler address.
Medical and behavioral health
Chandler CARE Center
Free or low-cost medical and dental care.
Community Bridges, Inc. (CBI)
Mental health and substance use services.
877-931-9142(Access to Care Line, 24 hours)
Getting around
Valley Metro bus
Several routes serve Chandler, connecting riders to shelters, food resources and medical appointments across the East Valley.
Surviving an Arizona summer outside
The heat here kills people. This matters most from May to September.
- Get out of the heat between 10am and 4pm
- That is the dangerous stretch. Cooling centers, libraries and shelters are all air conditioned and free to sit in. If you have to be outside, stay in shade and rest rather than walking through it.
- Drink more water than you think you need
- Shelters, churches and outreach groups hand out bottled water all summer, and public parks and community centers have drinking fountains. Dehydration is what turns a hot day into a hospital visit.
- Know what heat exhaustion feels like
- Heavy sweating, dizziness, nausea, headache, weakness. Get somewhere cool and drink water immediately. If someone is confused, very hot, or faints, that is heatstroke and it needs an ambulance now.
- Keep your skin covered
- Loose, light-colored clothing keeps you cooler than bare skin in the sun, and sunscreen helps if you can get some. Outreach teams often have both.
- Buses are air conditioned
- Valley Metro fares are low and some programs offer free or discounted rides to cooling centers and shelters. A bus ride is a cheap hour out of the sun.
- Keep a phone charged if you have one
- Some organizations have charging stations. A charged phone is how you find out which shelter has a bed tonight.
Free meals from Pay It Forward
People in the community pay for meals in advance, and you collect one at a local restaurant partner. No ID, no paperwork and no questions about need. Reserving a meal online needs a free account with an email address.
Hand this list out
For a counter, an outreach bag or a meal pickup order. The handout fits on letter paper and has a QR code back to this page, where the numbers stay current.
The folded pamphlet, for a print shop or a good printer. It is a large download and hard to read on a phone.
About this list
City of Chandler homeless services keeps the fullest list, and it outlasts anything we publish.
Checked on . That is the date these numbers were last rung, not the date this page was edited. Transcribed from the printed Chandler trifold that Beanchain Coffee wrote and hands out.
If a number here is wrong, or a program has closed, tell us so the next person does not waste the trip.
Lists researched and checked by Beanchain Coffee in Mesa, the coffee shop where Pay It Forward started. Their copy is at bchain.coffee/unhousedhelp/chandler.
Scan for this list on your phone, where every number dials with one tap: pifboard.com/resources/chandler
Free meals, already paid for: pifboard.com/get-a-meal
Numbers checked on August 5, 2026 by Beanchain Coffee in Mesa. Anywhere in Arizona, dial 211. In an emergency, call 911.
Pay It Forward is a program of the Foundation for Innovation in Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.