Cohort Will Boost Supportive Housing in Arizona Communities

The Arizona Supportive Housing Institute (“the Institute) launched in January with support from community and philanthropic partners. The Institute, a Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) signature initiative, is an interactive training program designed to ensure high-quality supportive housing production. Supportive housing is a person-centered growth, recovery and success housing model that contributes to the health and wellbeing of the entire community.

Participation in the Institute improves the process to develop affordable housing by building strong teams, with graduates experiencing an 80% success rate in bringing projects into operation. The Institute will provide targeted training and technical assistance to both new and experienced development teams. Teams receive intensive training including individualized technical assistance and support to assist the participants in planning their quality projects. CSH subject matter experts from across the state and the country, in partnership with local expertise, will provide insight on coordinating services and property management, building a race equity culture, financing, funding and trauma-informed design.

Support for the Institute came from national and state funders, including the Arizona Department of Housing, the Arizona Community Foundation, Garcia Family Foundation, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Phoenix IDA, the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, Valley of the Sun United Way, and Vitalyst Health Foundation.

“CSH is excited to be working with the teams to bring these projects into communities across the state to develop new, high quality supportive and affordable housing. We are so pleased with the quality of the projects that applied to the Institute and we know these new housing opportunities will serve many individuals and families in need across the state,” said Margaret Adams, Senior Program Manager, Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH).

CSH partnered with the Arizona Housing Coalition to host an information session on the Arizona Institute and took applications from interested applicants. The selected teams include proposed projects in Flagstaff, Show Low and Maricopa County. The teams in total are proposing

• Flagstaff: hotel conversion to develop 58 Supportive Housing units.
• Show Low/Snowflake: 20 Supportive Housing units in Navajo County.
• Maricopa County (East Valley): healthcare provider plans 15 new Supportive Housing units and 55 Affordable Housing units.
• Phoenix: single site conversion of 133 Supportive Housing units prioritizing veterans exiting homelessness.
• Phoenix: integrated site proposing 68 Supportive Housing and 174 Affordable Housing units.

The total proposed for all teams: Supportive Housing 294 units; Affordable Housing 229 units.

“The Institute will allow projects to better understand the supportive housing process, successfully fund their projects, and create collaborative networks to ultimately serve Arizona’s residents,” said Suzanne Pfister, President and CEO of Vitalyst Health Foundation. “Housing is one of the most important components of healthy communities. We need the resources and understanding to best serve people experiencing homelessness.”

The selected projects will go through 12 sessions, from January 18 through April 5, and present final project presentations after session completion. Topics will range from Quality Supportive Housing to creating effective partnerships and budget preparation, among others.

“As part of our efforts to drive positive change for our community to reach Mighty Goals in Health, Housing and Homelessness, Education and Workforce Development, the Arizona Supportive Housing Institute fits perfectly into our MC2026 plan. It encourages new ways of thinking to address old barriers to affordable housing with a collaborative program model that is vital for Mighty Change. We are excited for the projects selected and to track progress on the impact that can be made in our communities,” said Carla Vargas Jasa, president and CEO, Valley of the Sun United Way.