Marana participated in two regional efforts to address the poverty and affordable housing crises across southern Arizona.
Lisa Schaefer, the town’s director of community development and neighborhood services, invited officials from the Pima County Regional Affordable Housing Committee and its affiliated Prosperity Initiative Working Group to the Marana City Council regular meeting on June 6. and provided updates on their efforts.
“Both of these groups are countywide regional initiatives,” Schaefer said. “They are made up of different members of the community as well as members of each Pima County jurisdiction.”
Mr. Schaefer was appointed to the Pima County Regional Affordable Housing Commission in December 2022 and shortly thereafter joined the Prosperity Initiative Working Group and served Marana on behalf of the county.
The Local Affordable Housing Board, represented at the conference by Karla Blackwell, guides the County Board of Supervisors in building safe, affordable, long-term housing. The commission was authorized by the Oversight Board in October 2022 to assist Pima County in the nationwide affordable housing crisis.
“The oversight board had set aside $5 million to fund the efforts coming out of the board, so we needed to get up and running quickly,” Blackwell said. rice field.
Using funds from Pima County’s recent General Fund, the commission recommended specific allocations based on two goals. The first is to build more housing to meet the continuing needs of the public. The second is improving access to affordable housing and related services.
“The Commission adopted a number of ad hoc Commission action items that were recommended to achieve[these]two goals,” Mr Blackwell said. “It’s not just about affordable housing, it’s about how we can bring more housing inventory into the area.”
Regional Affordable Housing Commission recommends allocating $5 million to four main groups: gap funding, county surplus land, housing market research, online dashboards, and pre-approved home design models bottom.
$4 million was used for gap funding and requests for proposals. Gap Funding provides loans to bridge the time, negotiation and financing gaps in affordable housing development. A request for proposal is a formal process for notifying and soliciting potential site developers.
“Funding … will roll over and we will be submitting these RFPs[requests for proposals]repeatedly,” Blackwell said. reply. “
The commission also reviews unused county land for potential projects and funds long-term research programs. In addition to rollover funds, Pima County has allocated an additional $5 million for next year’s fees.
The Prosperity Initiative Working Group, chaired at the meeting by Bonnie Bazata, was launched to reduce poverty with long-term and short-term strategies.
“Poverty rates in Marana are not as high as in other regions because the distribution of poverty varies within the county,” Bazata said. “Nevertheless, the poverty rate in Marana is about 5.6%, reaching about 6% for children.”
Like the Commission, this group will also be established in 2022 and will include staff representatives from each incorporated municipality and the Tucson Indian Center. The first phase of the Prosperity Initiative will focus on policy development through September, after a second phase operational review in early 2024.
The goal is to develop and review 5-10 policies in categories such as housing, early childcare and education, economic empowerment, and workforce support for possible adoption. Each jurisdiction that works with the county can decide which policies to adopt.
While primarily focused on short-term solutions, the Prosperity Initiative Working Group seeks to prevent poverty, address community structures and support economic stability towards longer-term reductions.
“Many of our communities are focused on reducing suffering,” Bazata said. “We’re handing out food crates to people, we’re giving them diapers and clothes and a lot of important resources. But if you really want to make a difference, go upstream and the other he’s three We know we need to look in the field.”
The City of Marana, through Schaefer, will support both organizations in formulating policies for 2023. After Pima County considers and adopts the proposed actions, Marana City will decide which policies to implement within its jurisdiction.
Throughout the next year, the Regional Affordable Housing Commission and Prosperity Initiative Working Group will work to address key issues of poverty and affordable housing in Marana and other towns and tribes in Pima County.
