The Valley Interfaith Project, a coalition of religious organizations and nonprofits, has stepped in to help fight opposition to Phoenix-area affordable housing developments.
Neighborhood opposition, including in the form of highly organized groups, routinely emerges to oppose multifamily developments, particularly when those developments have any type of affordable designation attached to them. Opponents regularly cite worries about height, density and the potential draw of lower-income people to the neighborhoods around the planned locations.
VIP is working to counter those claims in an attempt to increase affordable housing options and shelter space in the Phoenix area. Homelessness has increased by nearly 30% around the state in recent years, due in part to an undersupply of approximately 120,000 housing units.
While VIP has previously undertaken some social issue advocacy efforts, members in the East Valley decided last year to take up housing affordability as a cause after hearing from parishioners about struggles to afford rent and other living expenses. The group has been working to educate its members and the public on the benefits of housing supply increases in the overall community.
VIP encouraged members living in the city and addressed Mesa City Council to counter local opposition that was trying to stop the City’s purchase of the Grand Hotel for conversion into a facility for domestic abuse survivors, seniors and families experiencing homelessness. Council eventually voted 4-3 in favor of the project.
The group is now working to drum up support for Dominium’s plan to build a senior and affordable housing development on a Maricopa County island in Chandler. (Source)