Avondale, Ariz.
The newly redeveloped Madison Heights in Avondale, Ariz., is the first successful public housing transformation completed in the state under the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rental Assistance Demonstration program and one of the first in the United States to involve the transfer of assistance of three dilapidated public housing sites into one new location.
The redeveloped site provides on-site resident services, along with accessible features for the disabled and a permanent supportive housing environment for chronically homeless families, individuals, seniors, and veterans within walking distance to grocery stores and shopping, employment, schools, parks, and public transit.
The project includes a 5,248-square-foot community center that includes a leasing office and multipurpose facility for an on-site before-and-after school educational assistance program, a computer lab and training center for computer training and job placement services, a fitness center, and meeting rooms for small group and individual counseling and case management.
Madison Heights also includes a playground, two ramadas, a walking path, picnic tables and grills, a basketball court, a tetherball station, a splash pad, a community garden, and six outdoor exercise stations along a walking path.