209 West Jackson Street-Integrated Supportive Housing

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

Maricopa County received slightly less than $10,000,000 in the first round of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). The County was effective in administering the grant; but the volume of foreclosures in the jurisdiction made it impossible to significantly impact the marketplace. The innovation resulted from the use of program income generated from the homebuyer program. In partnership with the Arizona Department of Housing, the Housing Authority of Maricopa County and Arizona Housing Inc; and, with the support of the City of Phoenix, the Valley of the Sun United Way, and the local HUD Office; Maricopa County Human Services Department utilized program income from the NSP homebuyer program to purchase and rehabilitate a 300 unit, foreclosed tax-credit project to provide single room occupancy housing for low income, single adults and families and young adults with disabling conditions or significant risks of homelessness. The confluence of resources, opportunity and quick cooperation removed 300 SRO units from the foreclosure pool and made them sustainably affordable. With the absence of debt service, rents will fund supportive housing services to strengthen the region’s continuum of care. Since the private rental market does not serve this population, there are virtually no adverse impacts on the marketplace.