Guest Editorial: Setting the Record Straight on The Residence at Paiute

By Raoul Zubia

Let’s start with what was true, because our neighbors deserved the facts, not fear.

Barry Graham’s recent video called The Residence at Paiute a “homeless shelter.” It wasn’t, and getting this right mattered because this project was actually something Scottsdale should have been proud of.

The Residence at Paiute was set to bring up to 28 studio and two-bedroom units at the Paiute Neighborhood Center, built specifically for seniors and people with disabilities who called Scottsdale home, offered at low or no cost. Think about our neighbors on fixed incomes, veterans, longtime residents who had watched rents climb past what Social Security could cover. This was for them.

A small number of units were also reserved for case-managed bridge housing, support for parents with kids who were actively working toward stable, independent housing right here in Scottsdale. That wasn’t a shelter. That was a bridge back to stability, with real support attached, for families who were already part of this community.

This project sat alongside the city’s broader effort to modernize the Paiute Neighborhood Center, where social workers and partner organizations like Hirsch Academy and SARRC already served families every day. Strengthening that campus meant strengthening the safety net our whole community relied on.

Scottsdale had always taken care of its own, our seniors, our veterans, our neighbors working to get back on their feet. That’s what this project was set to do. It deserved an honest conversation, not a mischaracterization.