PHOENIX — A new affordable housing unit is going up in Phoenix where those who qualify will be able to buy the homes.

Trellis, a non-profit that advocates for homeownership, is building 43 units in the Sunnyslope neighborhood with the plans to sell the properties after 15 years.

The townhomes will range from two, three, and four bedrooms for those who qualify for the lower- to moderate-income.

Trellis says that 100% of the units will be reserved for households with incomes below 60% of the area's median income — so for example, a one-person household would need to earn around $33,000 a year or less to qualify.

“These are people who work in our communities, they work hard, but they just don’t have enough money to pay the current market rents,” said Patricia Garcia Duarte, CEO of Trellis.

New data from Apartment List shows that rent prices in Phoenix are up around 31% since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

Median rent prices in Phoenix are at $1,211 for a one-bedroom and $1,479 for a two-bedroom.

Trellis has helped build 310 homes with over 100 more units to come, but these affordable homes have their limitations as non-profits can’t do them alone.

“The biggest setback and challenges in providing affordable housing is that it takes everyone private sector, public, and private,” said Duarte.

Trellis is not taking applications for the units yet but plans to around springtime 2022.

Check here for more information.

Nicole Grigg at KNXV first reported this story.

Typically you hear jobs classified as "white" or "blue collar," but there's a "new collar"

job boom.

And IBM is offering some of those base skills for free which may help those unemployed get back to work.

KNXV looked into these "new collar" jobs and what job seekers need to know to get hired.

As the states and country deal with historic levels of unemployment, a new career is coming to the forefront, so-called "new collar" jobs.

IBM Senior Education Manager Cliff Archey says they refer to these types of jobs as jobs of the future, but "in reality they are here now."

These are tech jobs that don't require a four-year degree, dealing with things like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, digital design and more.

"Having a basic understanding of these things is going to help you no matter what it is you choose to do because being more savvy regarding cybersecurity and how to secure a network, being more user-centric and your approach to anything that you do, being agile and your project management systems that applies to a whole lot of different industries," Archey said.

IBM has launched an initiative called "Open P-Tech." It's a website aimed at offering some of those base skills for new collar workers – for free.

"We are really trying to get you to the point where you go from not having any knowledge to actually earning a baseline digital badge that's been validated by IBM. And you can do that totally for free on the site that takes anywhere from about between 6 to 12 hours to earn that. And you can add that to your LinkedIn profiles. You can add it to your resumes. So it's a really good way to just start that again career-development journey," Archey adds.

Users have to sign up for an account and pick different fields and then get to learning. Interested users can visit

ptech.org




for more information.

But if none of those topics spark your interest there are other "new collar" jobs that don't require a degree, just some training.

Like at Silent-Aire in Chandler,-who specialize in manufacturing HVAC solutions and data center cooling systems.

Silent-Aire Vice President of U.S. Operations Brett Manning says they've been very busy.

"With people moving online for meetings and telecommuting, we've seen a tremendous uptick in demand for our product because the cloud service providers are trying to keep up with everyone moving to the cloud, whether that's for streaming video Netflix and other things or doing meetings, telecommuting."

They're hiring for 150 positions.

Manning says, "We are primarily looking for assembly positions. Anyone who's had previous experience doing construction, assembling, or manufacturing that is going to be a plus."

There are safety measures in place for workers, like temperature screenings, masks, staggered break times and social distancing. They have a virtual job fair in the works but they are hiring immediately.

Visit

Silent-Aire




for a look at open positions.

KNXV's Allison Rodriguez first reported this story.

PHOENIX — PHOENIX (KNXV) - An Arizona mother is facing a first-degree murder charge after shooting her two children, a boy and a girl, at a home in Phoenix.

Police say during the course of their investigation, they learned the children's mother, Esther Callejas, called her husband and another family member to tell them that she had just killed the kids.

Authorities say Callejas was detained at the home by officers and treated for an apparent gunshot to her hand.

During an interview with police Tuesday, officials say she admitted to shooting both of her children because she wanted them to go to heaven. She reportedly told detectives she planned on killing herself after, but she was unable to reload the gun.

Police said the children's father is cooperating with authorities, who are still investigating the entire case.

Late Tuesday, Phoenix police confirmed that officers were previously called to the home on Sept. 14 to conduct a welfare check after the father expressed concern about the well-being of his wife and children.

However, they were not at home. Police went to a family member's home, but they were not there either. Police eventually reached the mom by phone, who said she and the kids were OK.

This story was first reported on ABC15.com.

PHOENIX, Ariz. — Body camera video shows a Phoenix police officer helping a family escape a large house fire over the weekend.

Firefighters say the incident happened Saturday near 67th Avenue and McDowell Road, on the city's west side.

Ruby Johnson-Smith said she and her family were home when the fire broke out.

"My daughter and the kids were in the backyard, they were playing, and she ran in and said, 'mom, get out, it's a fire,’" Johnson-Smith said. "I'm like, fire? I started to go to the back porch and then I saw that the fire was coming, so I just ran in my room and grabbed my purse and ran out."

A neighbor next door was then alerted to the kids who were still close to the flames.

"She kept saying that her kids were in the backyard and I thought they were by themselves," said neighbor Josie Aragon. "I'm like, 'oh my God, they need to get those kids out of there.’"

Aragon said a couple of police officers happened to see the flames from across the street.

"Thank God there was these officers coming out of these apartments across the street," Aragon said.

Body camera video from one of the officers shows him rushing toward the house, busting down a side gate, and gaining access to the backyard, where some of the family members were located. The officer and other neighbors helped the family members over the wall with the use of a ladder.

"The officer was brave," said neighbor Annette Castillo. "The fire, that's where it started right there, he still went in, broke down that fence, and saved the family."

Johnson-Smith said all things considered, she and her family are doing well and are currently staying at a motel. She credits her neighbors for helping during the fire as well as the responding officers.

"I appreciate them so much," Johnson-Smith said of the officers. "God is going to crown them for the help that they did for us."

No injuries were reported in the incident. The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation.

This story was originally published by staff at KNXV.