Where:
Guadalupe, Arizona
Problem:
Low-income communities need affordable housing.
Solution:
RCAC provided technical assistance and loan funds to maintain an affordable housing program.
Guadalupe is a small rural community near the Phoenix Metro Area. It has the lowest income population in Maricopa County and is one of the lowest income communities in the state. Affordable housing is a high priority need for this community of 5,800 primarily Mexican Americans and Yaqui Indians.
The Town of Guadalupe had operated a USDA Mutual Self-Help Housing program since 1988. In 2014, the town government decided to stop operating the program. Rather than let the community lose vital self-help housing services, the Guadalupe Community Development Corporation (CDC) agreed to take over the program. However since the organization had never run such a program they needed help to ensure that the staff was successful in its new capacity.
In 2015 RCAC helped Guadalupe CDC to become a USDA Mutual Self-Help Housing grantee. As a result, the organization accessed its first two-year $269,009 USDA 523 grant to assist 10 families to build affordable single-family homes. RCAC staff also provided specific technical assistance to strengthen the organization’s financial record keeping system and position it to receive more funding. Guadalupe CDC is now well-equipped to serve the community’s self-help housing needs.
RCAC also previously provided the CDC a loan to construct 30 affordable single-family housing units and delivered property management training for a 72-unit Low Income Tax Credit multi-family development.
“For the Guadalupe Community Development Corporation, RCAC has been an important source of support in several of our affordable housing programs including financial support for single and multi-family acquisition and construction programs, board training, and successfully qualifying the Guadalupe Community Development Corporation as a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO),” said Gary Smith, Guadalupe CDC’s executive director. “Our most recent efforts to secure a USDA Mutual Self-Help Housing grant was made possible in large part to important technical assistance provided by RCAC staff in Arizona. Without RCAC assistance and support, navigating the application and approval process in a timely manner would have been a real challenge for our organization.”
