The executive director Mesa-based nonprofit House of Refuge recently thanked City Council members for their support during the organization's severe loss of funding last year.

Nancy Marion told council members that during 2016, the nonprofit reached “extraordinarily difficult blows,” according to a press release.

"Not unlike our families that find their way into our programs, we were dealing with unforeseen catastrophes, Marion said during her presentation. “We really could have so easily just been a headline on a newspaper of another nonprofit that had closed its doors."

In 2016, the House of Refuge, a transitional housing and support services organization that helps homeless families, was among 200 such programs throughout the country that had lost their funding. The Mesa City Council approved $30,000 in funding for the organization, which was used to help transition families that needed to relocate to other housing programs.

The House of Refuge also received a grant from the Arizona attorney general’s office, help from Trane Heating and Air, which donated its services, and support from Mesa United Way.

Marion said that 88 transitional homes are expected to be full by the end of this month.

"I think if the nation is looking for a spot in this world to see how a community can come together and solve a problem, I think they need look no further than Mesa, Arizona,” Marion told council members.