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PHOENIX

Turning Neighborhoods Around

Phoenix’s CDCs have been particularly effective on the neighborhood level. In partnership with the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Services Department, entrepreneurs and citizens have worked together since 1992 to make communities more livable. Since its founding LISC Phoenix has helped CDCs build 1,645 homes and nearly 90,000 square feet of community office/facility space—an investment of $37.4 million in Phoenix's low-income communities.

Chicanos Find a Voice

In South Phoenix and other neighborhoods, Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) has been representing Phoenix’s large Latino population since 1969. It was founded by students and community activists to draw attention to unfair treatment of Chicano students in Phoenix’s public school system; since then it has transformed itself into one of the largest CDCs in the nation, with a staff of over 600 that serves more than 65,000 people annually statewide. CPLC builds homes and commercial properties, manages more than 3,600 housing units, and provides a range of social services, including its Arizona Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Program. It has also become a vehicle for addressing political issues in Phoenix’s rapidly expanding Latino community.

Bringing Business Back to Central Phoenix

As Phoenix expanded rapidly outwards, some of the city center’s historic districts suffered. The Capitol Mall Association has been dedicated to revitalizing the area immediately adjacent to the state capitol, both by encouraging small businesses to return to the city center and by developing programs that offer counseling and support to lower-income home purchasers. Capital Mall Association has also worked to preserve the landscape and restore historic houses in the area.

Housing Support for Sunnyslope phoenix

In the Sunnyslope area, CDCs have joined forces with a local health facility and other nonprofits to develop the neighborhood’s vacant properties. LISC has supported Sunnyslope Revitalization Project, the neighborhood's largest CDC, in bringing a supermarket and new businesses to Sunnyslope, creating a home rehabilitation program, and working alongside the City of Phoenix to create an in-fill housing program.