Addressing the urgent needs for quality, affordable housing

The Stardust Center for Affordable Homes and the Family, founded by philanthropist Jerry Bisgrove in 2004, was established to address the urgent needs for afforable housing in the Valley of the Sun — recognizing that affordable, quality housing is critical to healthy and sustainable communities. When Bisgrove originally funded the center, he was not thinking about real estate as much as “family and community well-being.” Bisgrove was fond of stating, “I want to give families a hand up, not a handout.” Over the years, Stardust has employed the tools of research, community engagement, education and public forums to raise awareness and build capacity to address the needs for quality, affordable homes. Offering resources for research and planning aimed at improving regional leadership on affordable-housing strategy and implementation, Stardust also acts to convene key community stakeholders. Given the ongoing housing crisis that our region faces, as well as the growing housing inequalities evidenced in our nation’s cities, Stardust hopes to augment and contribute to contemporary views on housing by bringing together communities, field experts and practitioners involved in every state — from policy to planning — of housing preservation and production. Stardust evolved from a center focused on housing research and design, offering mostly technical assistance (Stardust 1.0) to one with an educational mission (Stardust 2.0), to one that has embraced a more holistic view with the present-day Stardust 3.0. With Stardust 3.0, we seek to connect the dots among housing, health, food access and transportation to help craft regional integrated solutions leading to happy, healthy communities.

Read the Stardust Report:

Challenges and Opportunities for Affordable and Workforce Housing in Central Arizona