$2.8 million grant through Local First Arizona will provide homes to military veterans in South Phoenix
Not many people look forward to an Arizona summer with optimism and anticipation. But Kerwin Brown, executive director at Tanner Community Development Corporation, is.
“We’re looking at this summer to put a shovel in the ground,” Brown said about the symbolic start of construction on a South Phoenix community designed to house homeless veterans. “It will be quite something when it’s complete.”
“It” is a 35-unit community that Tanner Community Development Corporation will bring to life thanks in part to the guidance it received from the Arizona Economic Recovery Center, a Local First Arizona initiative offering free grant-writing and consulting services to tribes, communities and nonprofits in rural or low-income areas.
Tribes, cities and charitable organizations in rural and low-income areas can get free grant-writing help
For Tanner Community Development Corporation, the grant writing support was critical.
“We’ve struggled to provide grant proposals for what we can do,” Brown said. “We really needed the help of a grant writer and a researcher, someone who could pull the content together and make sure we had everything we needed to tell the story and qualify for the grant.”
Since launching in 2021, Local First’s economic recovery center has helped more than 200 tribes, cities and charitable organizations secure nearly $32 million for vital community projects in every county in Arizona, many of which would never have been funded without the assistance. The center has spent roughly $400,000 on grant writers and consultants, leading to a whopping 78X return on investment.
Arizona Economic Recovery Center assistance was crucial to largest grant in nonprofit’s history
The grant Tanner Community Development Corporation received totals $2.8 million to fund the development of the new, 2.5-acre community. Each casita-style unit will provide permanent housing for previously unhoused veterans, offering residents 400-600 square feet of bedroom, bathroom and kitchen space.
The community also will include a garden, a dog run and a resource center. It might even include solar power, too.
Brown said Tanner Community Development Corporation has been involved with other federal grants before, but nothing of this size.
“It just gives you a secure feeling,” Brown said of the expertise offered by the professionals with the Arizona Economic Recovery Center.
“I’ve got a staff of 15 folks that are stretched really thin on all the different programs we offer,” he continued. “It gives you a sense of security, knowing I can call and get the help and resources from Local First to at least compete for some of these grants, where before it was like, ‘Let’s try to throw something together and see if it works.’ We have a better feeling that at least we have a chance on some of the larger grants now.”
To learn more about the Arizona Economic Recovery Center and whether your city, tribe or nonprofit organization qualifies for free grant writing, project management, budgeting, planning and facilitation, visit https://localfirstaz.com/economic-recovery-center or email Vida de Jesus Lopez at azerc@localfirstaz.com.
