It was just after 7 a.m on Tuesday when Circle the City’s Winnebago drove into the soon-to-be-renamed Cesar Chavez Park on Baseline Road. The Phoenix-based homeless service provider was about to make its first stop of the day.
Perla Puebla, a nurse practitioner specializing in wound care and the group leader, sat in the front passenger seat next to Brenda Madril, their medical coordinator. Behind them at the van’s built-in table, surrounded by haphazardly stacked boxes and bags of supplies, was Maritza Arias, a behavioral therapist. The three women have worked together since late 2023, developing the kind of intimate rapport that comes with the challenges of the intensity of their jobs.
The trio had met an hour earlier at Circle the City’s administrative building in midtown Phoenix to begin their shift driving around the city in search of unhoused people in need of medical care. While not the named leader, as the team’s driver, Madril decides where they go. The Winnebago — part pharmacy, part medical office, part mobile coworking space — was filled with everything from HIV and Hepatitis C tests to snacks, water and bandages. As Madril drove, the other two caught up on emails and checked in on the status of previous cases. Puebla balanced her laptop on her knees, bouncing questions and ideas off Madril as they popped up. Arias typed away quietly in the back at the van’s table, which swiveled with every turn…