Habitat Asks You to Say
‘Yes In My Back Yard’ (YIMBY)

The Problem

19,000 Tucson area households are considered by various governmental and non-governmental agencies including Habitat Tucson, to be severely substandard, cost-burdened, and over-crowded. This means that too many people are living in too small a space; that one or more major systems in the house does not work or is unsafe at any given time and that families are paying too high a cost (many over 50% of their monthly income!) to live in unsatisfactory, unhealthy conditions.

Click here to read Improving The Availability And Quality Of Housing For All Arizonans a report from the Arizona Town Hall.

The Solution
1. Habitat for Humanity Tucson offers an innovative solution to the crisis of poverty housing by giving a hand up, not a hand out. We work to end poverty housing by creating opportunities for homeownership in partnership with low-income families, and by making safe, decent, affordable shelter a matter of community conscience and action.

The presence of Habitat homes makes neighborhoods stronger. Habitat families show great success in breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Homebuyers repay their mortgage loans into a fund that makes more homes possible and, by doing so, they become involved in returning the generosity they receive back to others in need.

2. The City of Tucson recently launched an affordable Housing Trust Fund to help improve and increase both the rental and homeownership housing opportunities in our community. The Tucson Housing Trust Fund is envisioned as an efficient, long-term initiative to support Tucson’s housing needs. The Fund will be used to increase homeownership, help upgrade existing housing, and provide additional affordable rental housing for low- and moderate-income residents.

Habitat Tucson is proud to have made one of the first gifts to this fund to help raise awareness about its existence.

This initiative requires the entire community to come together. Tucson’s Mayor and Council and the Tucson Metropolitan Housing Commission are working with the community to establish long-term revenue sources. A variety of funding sources, especially those that are dedicated and recurring are needed to make the Trust Fund an ongoing reality.

In addition to this Trust Fund, the City is preparing to launch a community-wide land trust, which is a shared-equity tool used in many other U.S. communities that keeps homes in permanent affordability for future generations. Habitat Tucson has been instrumental in helping to launch both the Trust Fund and the Land Trust.

For more information about the Tucson Housing Trust Fund and the Pima County Land Trust visit the City of Tucson’s website.

3. Pima County’s General Obligation Bond program invests in the creation and improvement of affordable housing throughout Pima County. This program has also been historically under-capitalized to meet the true housing needs of our community. In order to continue the bonds’ track record of investment in the community, it is critical that the next Bond package be passed by the voters (anticipated for fall 2009). For more information about this bond and future bond initiatives, please visit the Pima County Bonds website.

Click here to learn how YIMBY is making a difference!

Yes, I Want to Make a Difference

Register with Habitat for Humanity as an advocate to help resolve Tucson’s housing challenges by filling out the form below. Receive regular updates on local initiatives that aim to help improve our community’s substandard housing.