Help in Mesa
Somewhere to sleep, something to eat, someone to call. Tap any number to call it.
Free help in Mesa, Arizona: shelter, food, medical care and 24-hour crisis lines.
Crisis lines, 24 hours
Mesa Homeless Resource Line
The city’s own line for people experiencing homelessness in Mesa.
480-644-4673(480-644-HOPE)Crisis Response Network
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
East Valley Men’s Center (A New Leaf)
Emergency shelter, meals and support services for single men. Intake requires completing a prescreen, and phone intakes are not accepted.
877-211-8661(211 Arizona’s toll-free line, not the shelter’s own)House of Refuge
Transitional housing and supportive services for families experiencing homelessness.
The Mesa House Inc.
Safe, clean re-entry programs for men.
The Salvation Army Mesa Corps
Emergency shelter, food and transitional housing, plus educational, counselling and vocational services for re-entry.
Food and basic needs
Paz de Cristo
Meals, clothing and hygiene services for individuals and families in need.
Streets of Joy
Food, clothing, hygiene products, and help applying for disability benefits.
Medical and behavioral health
Banner Desert Medical Center
A Level I trauma center offering emergency medical services.
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 Mesa, including Route 104 along Alma School Road, which reaches many of the services on this page.
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 Mesa homeless resources 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 Mesa 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/mesa.
Scan for this list on your phone, where every number dials with one tap: pifboard.com/resources/mesa
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.