Amphi Housing Resource Center (HRC) Design Build

Housing First Resource Center at Amphi will be an adaptive reuse of a Fire Station building known as Station Eight. The site will be a low-barrier shelter that will have approximately 50 to 100 bed spaces. The shelter will primarily serve adults, offering a safe environment, connections to housing assistance, and services to help support people experiencing homelessness. This will allow them to connect with essential support services and provide access to more stable and permanent housing options. The shelter will include both congregate shelter inside the facility and a non-congregate area that will include an enclosed, climate-controlled semi-permanent structure that will have electricity and be climate controlled. The site will have restrooms, showers, laundry, storage, , pet friendly areas, and meal preparation facilities.. The location, Amphi neighborhood, has few resources for homelessness and this site will fill a critical gap that exists for shelter and services.

The environmental review process for this project is currently underway as the City of Tucson.

Our strategy includes working with a team to design a facility that will address all major structural issues, roofing, electrical, and plumbing. The Economic Development Initiative grant will support the partial demolition and purpose driven rehabilitation of the facility. This will enable the Center to be specifically redeveloped in such a way as to maximize the space and funding to meet the needs of the community.

Sidewalk and lighting installations will be a secondary project which will allow for safe access to the site and increase lighting and safety in the neighborhood. Environmental review has been started for this project.

This project addresses the devastating impacts homelessness has on the lives and wellbeing of the individuals who experience it. This project, using a Housing First approach and low-barrier shelter is a priority for the City of Tucson that allows the critical work of moving people into permanent housing. This project will also help reduce demand on law enforcement, emergency health services, and other City services through city-wide coordination with first responders.

The primary goal of this project to address equitable access to housing and services by providing low-demand shelter for vulnerable, high-need households experiencing homelessness. This population is disproportionately unlikely to access traditional shelter or services. The project’s progressive engagement approach will focus on building rapport and trust with unsheltered individuals and then, during shelter residence, promote further engagement to reduce barriers and fears regarding transition to longer-term housing services.