Arizona Housing Coalition: A Complete Guide to the State’s Largest Housing Stability Advocacy Organization Working to End Homelessness, Prevent Housing Loss, and Expand Affordable Housing Through Policy Change and Collaborative Action

1. What is Arizona Housing Coalition? (Organization Overview)

The Arizona Housing Coalition represents the largest and most comprehensive housing stability advocacy organization in Arizona, bringing together a diverse coalition of more than 350 member organizations and individual advocates united by a common mission to end homelessness and ensure that every Arizonan has access to safe, affordable housing. Unlike direct service providers that offer shelter, housing, or supportive services, AZHC operates at the systems level, focusing on policy advocacy, coordination, education, and building collective capacity to address the root causes of housing instability and homelessness.

The organization serves as the primary voice for housing stability in Arizona’s legislative and policy arenas, coordinating advocacy efforts among diverse stakeholders who might otherwise work in isolation. AZHC’s membership includes nonprofit service providers operating emergency shelters and housing programs, affordable housing developers and property managers, local and tribal governments, faith-based organizations, healthcare systems, criminal justice reform advocates, education institutions, businesses recognizing that housing stability affects workforce participation, and individuals with lived experience of homelessness who bring invaluable insights to policy discussions.

The Coalition Model: Strength Through Collaboration

AZHC’s power derives from its collaborative structure. Individual organizations and advocates might have limited influence when approaching policymakers alone, but when 350+ members speak with a unified voice, legislators and government officials must pay attention. This coalition model enables AZHC to represent diverse perspectives—from urban Phoenix to rural communities, from service providers to developers, from advocates to people directly affected by housing instability—ensuring that policy recommendations reflect ground-level realities rather than abstract theories.

The organization’s collaborative approach extends beyond advocacy. AZHC facilitates information sharing among members, ensuring that innovations developed in one community can spread to others. The coalition provides technical assistance and capacity building, helping smaller organizations access resources and expertise they couldn’t afford independently. AZHC produces research and data analysis that individual organizations lack the capacity to generate, creating shared knowledge resources that strengthen everyone’s work.

Formation Through Merger

The Arizona Housing Coalition was formally established in 2017 through the merger of two predecessor organizations that had been working on housing advocacy in Arizona. This strategic merger recognized that housing and homelessness issues are deeply interconnected and that separate organizations working in parallel were less effective than a unified coalition addressing the full spectrum of housing stability challenges. The merger brought together complementary strengths, expertise, networks, and resources, creating an organization with greater capacity and influence than either predecessor had individually.

Joan Serviss and Val Iverson were selected to serve as co-executive directors of the newly formed coalition, bringing complementary leadership skills and deep experience in housing advocacy. This co-executive director model reflects AZHC’s collaborative values and ensures diverse leadership perspectives at the highest organizational level.

AZHC’s Scope and Focus

The Arizona Housing Coalition operates statewide, engaging in both state-level policy advocacy and supporting local advocacy efforts in communities across Arizona. At the state level, AZHC develops legislative priorities, advocates for budget appropriations, testifies before legislative committees, and works with state agencies on policy implementation. At the local level, the organization provides resources and coordination support for members engaging with city councils, county boards of supervisors, and local housing authorities.

AZHC’s work addresses the full continuum of housing stability, recognizing that preventing homelessness is as important as ending it and that expanding affordable housing supply is essential to both prevention and ending efforts. The organization’s policy agenda encompasses homelessness prevention strategies that keep people housed in the first place, emergency and transitional services for people experiencing homelessness, permanent supportive housing for people with complex needs, affordable housing development to address supply shortages, tenant protections against unfair evictions and rent increases, and cross-sector coordination connecting housing with healthcare, education, and criminal justice systems.

2. Mission, Values, and DEI Commitment

Understanding the Arizona Housing Coalition’s mission, values, and commitments provides essential context for appreciating how the organization approaches its work and makes strategic decisions about priorities and tactics. AZHC operates from a clear values foundation that shapes everything from policy positions to internal organizational culture.

The Mission

The Arizona Housing Coalition’s mission is concise yet comprehensive: “End homelessness and advocate for safe, affordable housing for all Arizonans.” This mission statement contains several crucial elements that guide the organization’s work. First, the explicit goal to “end homelessness” reflects an ambitious, outcomes-focused approach. AZHC doesn’t merely seek to reduce or manage homelessness—the organization works toward the complete elimination of homelessness as a social condition, believing that with adequate resources and political will, homelessness is a solvable problem.

Second, the mission’s emphasis on “safe, affordable housing” recognizes that ending homelessness requires more than simply getting people off the streets. Housing must be safe—free from hazards, located in communities with access to services and opportunities, and secure from displacement. Housing must be affordable—costing no more than 30% of household income so families can afford other necessities like food, healthcare, and transportation. AZHC’s advocacy addresses both safety and affordability dimensions, recognizing that housing which lacks either characteristic doesn’t solve the problem.

Third, the phrase “for all Arizonans” underscores AZHC’s commitment to universal housing access as a right rather than a privilege reserved for those who can afford market-rate housing. This inclusive framing drives AZHC’s focus on policy solutions that benefit everyone experiencing housing instability, regardless of demographics, geography, or specific circumstances leading to housing challenges.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The Arizona Housing Coalition has articulated a comprehensive commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) that recognizes housing instability is not randomly distributed but reflects historic inequities and ongoing structural racism embedded in social policies. AZHC’s DEI statement acknowledges what data clearly shows: Black, Indigenous, and People of Color are significantly more likely to experience housing instability and homelessness as a direct result of discriminatory policies including redlining, exclusionary zoning, predatory lending, criminal justice policies that disproportionately impact communities of color, and economic systems that have systematically denied wealth-building opportunities to people of color.

AZHC also recognizes that inequities in housing access affect other marginalized populations including LGBTQ+ individuals who face housing discrimination and family rejection, people with disabilities who need accessible housing and face discrimination from landlords, older adults living on fixed incomes, veterans experiencing service-connected disabilities and trauma, immigrants and refugees navigating complex systems while facing language barriers and discrimination, and young people aging out of foster care without family support networks.

The organization understands that housing outcomes are interconnected with various social structures including criminal justice systems that create barriers to housing through records and fees, healthcare systems where medical debt drives housing instability, economic systems where wage stagnation makes housing unaffordable, employment systems where discrimination limits job opportunities, and education systems where housing instability disrupts children’s schooling.

Putting DEI into Practice

AZHC’s DEI commitment isn’t merely aspirational language—the organization actively works to advance equity through its operations and advocacy. The coalition’s staff, board of directors, and members advocate, educate, and coordinate to address disparities within Arizona’s homelessness response and housing systems. This includes analyzing proposed policies through a racial equity lens, asking how legislation would affect communities of color differently than white communities, elevating voices of people most affected by housing instability in policy discussions, producing research that disaggregates data by race and ethnicity to make disparities visible, and supporting efforts by communities of color to develop culturally specific housing and services.

AZHC works to deepen understanding of how inequitable policies across sectors impact housing outcomes. For example, the organization has highlighted how Arizona’s criminal justice policies create housing barriers, how healthcare access affects housing stability, how education funding inequities perpetuate poverty that leads to housing instability, and how transportation infrastructure decisions affect access to jobs and services.

Core Organizational Values

Beyond its DEI commitment, AZHC operates according to core values that shape how the organization conducts its work. The coalition values collaboration over competition, recognizing that housing challenges are too large for any single organization to solve. AZHC values data-driven advocacy, grounding policy recommendations in research and evidence rather than ideology or anecdote. The organization values lived experience, believing that people who have experienced homelessness or housing instability possess expertise that professionals often lack. AZHC values long-term systems change over short-term fixes, focusing on addressing root causes rather than merely treating symptoms.

3. Understanding Arizona’s Housing and Homelessness Crisis

Arizona faces a severe and worsening housing affordability crisis that affects hundreds of thousands of residents across the state. Understanding the scope and nature of this crisis is essential for appreciating why the Arizona Housing Coalition’s work matters and why systemic policy solutions are necessary. The crisis manifests in multiple interconnected ways—insufficient affordable housing supply, rapidly rising rents and home prices, record eviction numbers, and growing homelessness—each exacerbating the others in a destructive cycle.

The Housing Shortage: Numbers That Tell the Story

Arizona faces what experts call a severe housing shortage affecting both supply and affordability. According to the Common Sense Institute, Arizona faces a cumulative housing shortage of 121,334 units through 2024, with an immediate “instantaneous” deficit of approximately 52,846 to 56,047 units as of 2025. This shortage means that even if every existing housing unit in Arizona were occupied, tens of thousands of households would still lack housing.

The shortage is particularly acute for affordable housing serving extremely low-income households. The National Low Income Housing Coalition reports that Arizona needs to create approximately 138,000 more homes affordable to extremely low-income households—those earning at or below 30% of area median income or the federal poverty level. Currently, for every 100 extremely low-income renter households in Arizona, only a fraction of affordable and available units exist, forcing these households to either pay more than they can afford or double up in overcrowded conditions.

Skyrocketing Costs: When Housing Becomes Unaffordable

Arizona has experienced dramatic housing cost increases that have far outpaced income growth, making housing increasingly unaffordable for working families. Rent prices in Arizona increased by 72% from 2010 to 2022, while median incomes grew much more slowly. More recently, monthly rents rose 23% between 2019 and 2024, while household incomes increased only 4% during the same period. This widening gap between housing costs and incomes has pushed housing beyond reach for an growing share of Arizona residents.

By March 2024, the typical home price in Arizona reached $427,272, while median rent hit $1,600 per month. To afford median rent without being cost-burdened (spending more than 30% of income on housing), a household would need to earn approximately $64,000 annually. However, hundreds of thousands of Arizona households earn substantially less than this amount, creating a fundamental affordability crisis.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition calculated that Arizona’s “housing wage”—the hourly wage a full-time worker must earn to afford a modest two-bedroom rental home at fair market rent—is $34.18 per hour, ranking Arizona as the 13th most expensive state for renters. This means a full-time minimum wage worker in Arizona would need to work multiple jobs just to afford basic housing.

The Eviction Crisis: Record Numbers Losing Housing

The affordability crisis manifests most dramatically in Arizona’s record eviction numbers. In 2024, Arizona courts processed 106,587 eviction filings—the highest number on record. These evictions don’t merely represent housing transitions; each eviction typically triggers a cascade of negative outcomes including job loss due to the disruption, children’s education suffering from school changes, credit damage making it harder to secure future housing, family separation and trauma, and increased likelihood of falling into homelessness.

Eviction data reveals significant racial disparities. Research shows that Black and Latino renters face eviction at disproportionately high rates compared to white renters even when controlling for income, reflecting both historic wealth gaps and ongoing discrimination in rental markets. Women, particularly women of color, are disproportionately represented among eviction cases, often related to domestic violence situations or discrimination against families with children.

Homelessness: The Visible Face of Housing Crisis

Arizona’s homelessness numbers reflect the housing crisis’s most severe manifestation. The 2024 Point-in-Time count captured over 14,000 individuals experiencing homelessness across Arizona—a number that has remained persistently high despite ongoing efforts. In Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and surrounding communities, the crisis is particularly acute. In Pima County, which includes Tucson, the 2024 count identified 1,281 unsheltered individuals, down from 1,501 the previous year but still representing significant human suffering.

Unsheltered homelessness—people living on the streets, in vehicles, in parks, or in other places not meant for human habitation—increased dramatically in Arizona between 2018 and 2024, rising 87% according to some analyses. Between 2019 and 2020 alone, unsheltered homelessness in Tucson increased 300%, reflecting how quickly housing instability can escalate to street homelessness when affordable housing supply is insufficient.

Cost-Burdened Renters: The Hidden Crisis

Beyond people experiencing literal homelessness, Arizona has hundreds of thousands of households on the edge of housing crisis. Nearly half of Arizona renters are cost-burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on housing according to National Low Income Housing Coalition data from 2023. Many of these households are severely cost-burdened, spending more than 50% of income on housing, leaving little for food, healthcare, transportation, or emergency expenses.

Cost burden affects working families across occupations. Teachers, healthcare workers, retail employees, restaurant workers, childcare providers, and other essential workers often cannot afford housing near their workplaces, forcing long commutes that consume time and money. This reality challenges the common misconception that housing crisis affects only “those people”—in fact, it affects working families throughout Arizona’s economy.

Cost of Living Milestone: Arizona Exceeds National Average

In 2025, Arizona’s cost of living exceeded the national average for the first time in decades, driven primarily by housing costs. For years, Arizona had attracted residents and businesses with its relatively affordable cost of living compared to neighboring California. That competitive advantage has eroded as housing costs have risen faster than the national average, creating challenges for both longtime residents seeing their costs rise and newcomers discovering that Arizona is no longer the affordable alternative it once was.

4. 2026 Legislative Priorities and Advocacy

Each legislative session, the Arizona Housing Coalition develops a strategic agenda identifying priority policies that would meaningfully address Arizona’s housing and homelessness crisis. The organization’s 2026 legislative priorities reflect a comprehensive approach recognizing that the crisis requires action across multiple fronts simultaneously. AZHC’s 2026 agenda focuses on three interconnected pillars: preventing housing loss, strengthening the homelessness response, and expanding and preserving affordable housing—recognizing that progress requires action across all three, not one at the expense of others.

Pillar 1: Preventing Housing Loss

AZHC recognizes that Arizona’s housing and homelessness challenges don’t start at the street—they start much earlier when families face eviction, young people age out of foster care without support, people leave treatment facilities or correctional institutions without housing plans, or other systems discharge people into homelessness. Preventing housing loss requires intervening before crises escalate to homelessness.

A central prevention priority is eviction prevention and diversion. AZHC advocates for policies including expanded emergency rental assistance funding, legal representation for tenants facing eviction (recognizing that most landlords have attorneys while most tenants don’t), longer notice periods before eviction proceedings begin, mediation programs that help landlords and tenants resolve disputes without court, and data collection on eviction patterns to identify systemic problems. Research consistently shows that preventing evictions costs far less than addressing homelessness after eviction occurs, making prevention both humane and fiscally responsible.

AZHC also prioritizes housing support for people leaving systems. Young people aging out of foster care need housing assistance and life skills support to avoid homelessness. People leaving incarceration need housing to successfully reintegrate and avoid recidivism. People completing substance use treatment need stable housing to maintain recovery. Veterans transitioning from military service need support navigating civilian housing markets. AZHC advocates for policies ensuring these transitions include housing plans rather than discharging people to homelessness.

Pillar 2: Strengthening the Homelessness Response

For people already experiencing homelessness, Arizona needs a stronger, more effective response system. AZHC’s 2026 priorities include protecting and expanding the Arizona Department of Housing (ADOH), which serves as the backbone of Arizona’s fight against homelessness by coordinating federal grants, partnering with developers and service providers, and managing programs that keep roofs over people’s heads. ADOH requires periodic legislative renewal, and AZHC makes this renewal a top priority given the agency’s central role.

The coalition advocates for adequate funding for homeless services including emergency shelters that provide immediate safety, transitional housing programs that help people stabilize, outreach teams that connect with unsheltered individuals, rapid re-housing programs that quickly move people into permanent housing with time-limited support, and permanent supportive housing for people with complex needs requiring ongoing services.

AZHC also prioritizes data systems and coordination infrastructure. Effective homeless response requires knowing who needs help, what services they’ve accessed, what’s worked and what hasn’t, and ensuring coordination among providers so people don’t fall through cracks between programs. The coalition supports investment in Homeless Management Information Systems, Coordinated Entry processes, and backbone organizations that facilitate coordination.

Pillar 3: Expanding and Preserving Affordable Housing

Ultimately, ending homelessness and ensuring housing stability for all Arizonans requires dramatically expanding Arizona’s affordable housing supply. AZHC’s third pillar focuses on policies that increase the supply and preservation of affordable housing across Arizona, with emphasis on long-term stability and efficient use of public resources.

A critical priority is robust funding for Arizona’s Housing Trust Fund. The Housing Trust Fund finances affordable housing development through grants and loans to developers who commit to keeping units affordable for specified periods. The fund has experienced dramatic fluctuations—receiving $60 million in 2023, a historic high of $150 million in 2024, then dropping to only $15 million in 2025. AZHC advocates for consistent, adequate funding levels that allow developers to plan long-term projects rather than scrambling for unpredictable annual appropriations.

The coalition supports regulatory reforms that reduce barriers to affordable housing development including streamlined permitting processes, reduced parking requirements that make urban housing more expensive, inclusionary zoning policies requiring or incentivizing affordable units in new developments, and removal of local barriers like exclusionary zoning that prevents affordable housing in high-opportunity neighborhoods.

AZHC also advocates for preserving existing affordable housing. Many existing affordable housing properties face expiring affordability restrictions, allowing owners to convert them to market-rate housing. Preservation policies including funding to purchase properties and extend affordability, tax incentives for maintaining affordability, tenant rights of first refusal to purchase their properties, and proactive identification of at-risk properties can prevent the loss of existing affordable units, which is far cheaper than building new ones.

The Interconnected Approach

AZHC’s three-pillar approach recognizes that these strategies are deeply interconnected. Expanding affordable housing supply reduces pressure on the homelessness response system because fewer people fall into homelessness. Strengthening homelessness services makes prevention efforts more effective because people know help is available if they do lose housing. Prevention reduces demand on both homelessness services and affordable housing development. Progress requires simultaneous action across all three areas rather than choosing one approach at the expense of others.

5. Policy Advocacy and Systems Change

The Arizona Housing Coalition’s policy advocacy work represents the organization’s core function—translating Arizona’s housing and homelessness crisis into concrete policy solutions and building the political will necessary to implement those solutions. AZHC operates at both state and local levels, recognizing that meaningful change requires action across multiple governmental jurisdictions and policy domains.

State-Level Legislative Advocacy

At the state level, AZHC engages throughout Arizona’s annual legislative session, which typically runs from January through late spring. The coalition’s state advocacy includes monitoring hundreds of bills that could affect housing stability, analyzing proposed legislation for potential impacts, testifying before legislative committees, meeting with individual legislators to educate them about housing issues, mobilizing members to contact their representatives, coordinating with partner organizations on shared priorities, and producing policy briefs and fact sheets for legislators and media.

AZHC also engages in budget advocacy, recognizing that appropriations decisions often matter more than statutory changes. The coalition analyzes the governor’s proposed budget, advocates for adequate funding for housing and homelessness programs, testifies during budget hearings, and works with legislative leadership and appropriations committee members to secure funding commitments. Recent budget battles have centered on Arizona’s Housing Trust Fund funding levels, ADOH operational budgets, and rental assistance programs.

Local Advocacy Support

While AZHC focuses primarily on state policy, the organization provides crucial support for members engaging in local advocacy. Many housing and homelessness policies are set at city and county levels, including zoning regulations that determine where and what types of housing can be built, local housing trust funds and tenant protection ordinances, emergency shelter siting and regulations, and funding for local homeless services. AZHC provides resources for local advocacy including model ordinances and policy language, research on what’s worked in other jurisdictions, data and talking points tailored to local contexts, and coordination support for local coalitions.

The coalition has developed specific resources for local advocacy campaigns, recognizing that members need practical tools for engaging city councils and county boards. These resources include guides to navigating local government processes, sample testimony and public comment scripts, media engagement strategies for local campaigns, and coalition building techniques for assembling diverse local support.

Tribal Housing Advocacy

Recognizing the unique housing challenges facing Arizona’s tribal communities, AZHC has developed specific initiatives to support tribal housing advocacy. In 2025, the coalition hosted its first-ever Tribal Housing Symposium on May 6th at the Phoenix Convention Center. This historic event provided an opportunity for tribal leaders, housing authorities, and advocates to convene, share concerns about housing challenges specific to tribal lands, explore solutions that respect tribal sovereignty and cultural contexts, and connect with state resources and funding opportunities.

Tribal housing faces distinct challenges including complex land ownership and jurisdictional issues, limited access to conventional financing on trust lands, infrastructure deficits in many tribal communities, insufficient federal funding for tribal housing programs, and cultural considerations that generic housing models don’t address. AZHC works to elevate these issues in state policy discussions and connect tribal communities with resources and partners.

Cross-Sector Policy Coordination

AZHC recognizes that housing stability intersects with virtually every other policy domain, requiring coordination across traditional policy silos. The coalition engages in cross-sector advocacy connecting housing policy with healthcare (recognizing that medical costs drive housing instability while homelessness creates health crises), criminal justice (understanding that incarceration creates housing barriers while homelessness increases justice system involvement), education (knowing that housing instability disrupts children’s schooling while schools can be early intervention points), workforce development (connecting affordable housing to job location and economic opportunity), and transportation (ensuring housing and transit investments are coordinated).

This cross-sector approach leads AZHC to partner with organizations outside the traditional housing sector—healthcare coalitions concerned about social determinants of health, criminal justice reform organizations addressing reentry challenges, education advocates addressing student homelessness, economic development groups concerned about workforce housing, and environmental organizations addressing climate-resilient housing development.

Recent Advocacy Victories and Setbacks

AZHC’s advocacy work produces both victories and setbacks, with the organization maintaining transparency about both. Following the 2025 legislative session, the coalition claimed partial victories while acknowledging missed opportunities and ongoing challenges. Victories included securing ADOH’s renewal, maintaining some housing funding despite budget pressures, and advancing conversations about eviction prevention. However, the coalition also acknowledged setbacks including dramatic cuts to Housing Trust Fund appropriations (from $150 million in 2024 to $15 million in 2025), failure to advance tenant protection legislation, and insufficient investment in homelessness prevention despite advocacy efforts.

These mixed results reflect the political realities of housing advocacy. Housing stability competes with many other priorities for limited state resources and must navigate ideological divisions about government’s role in housing markets. AZHC’s approach combines celebrating incremental progress while maintaining pressure for more comprehensive solutions, building relationships with legislators across the political spectrum, and sustaining advocacy efforts across multiple legislative sessions to achieve major policy changes.

6. Annual Conference and Events

The Arizona Housing Coalition’s Annual Conference represents the premier education and networking event for Arizona’s housing and homelessness sector, bringing together hundreds of leaders, service providers, advocates, policymakers, developers, researchers, and people with lived experience for multiple days of learning, collaboration, and community building. The conference serves as both a professional development opportunity and a movement-building event that strengthens Arizona’s collective capacity to address housing challenges.

The 30th Annual Conference: “The Road to Home”

In 2025, AZHC hosted its milestone 30th Annual Conference themed “The Road to Home” on May 7-8 at the Phoenix Convention Center. The conference attracted nearly 700 participants from across Arizona, representing the event’s growth and the housing sector’s recognition of the conference as an essential annual gathering. The 30th anniversary marked three decades of AZHC and its predecessor organizations convening Arizona’s housing community, building on a legacy of sustained advocacy and collaboration.

The conference featured dozens of workshop sessions covering the full spectrum of housing and homelessness topics including evidence-based practices in homeless services, affordable housing finance and development strategies, racial equity and housing justice, policy updates and legislative recaps, data systems and performance measurement, trauma-informed and culturally responsive approaches, cross-sector collaboration strategies, and emerging innovations in housing and services.

Conference Structure and Format

AZHC’s Annual Conference typically spans two full days plus optional pre-conference events. The format includes plenary sessions featuring keynote speakers who address the entire assembly, often bringing national perspectives on housing issues or inspirational messages about the importance of housing stability work. Breakout workshop sessions allow participants to dive deep into specific topics relevant to their work, with multiple concurrent sessions offering choices based on interests and expertise levels. Panel discussions bring together diverse perspectives on complex issues, facilitating dialogue among people with different roles and viewpoints.

The conference also provides extensive networking opportunities through structured networking sessions, exhibit halls where organizations showcase their work and resources, meal functions that facilitate informal conversations, and social events that build community beyond formal sessions. Many participants report that informal conversations during breaks and meals generate insights and connections as valuable as formal sessions.

The 2025 Tribal Housing Symposium

As mentioned earlier, AZHC’s 2025 conference included a historic first—the Tribal Housing Symposium held on May 6th, the day before the main conference began. This inaugural symposium provided dedicated space for Arizona’s tribal communities to address housing challenges specific to tribal lands and sovereignty, share successful strategies and models from different tribes, connect with federal and state resources, and build relationships among tribal housing professionals and advocates.

The Tribal Symposium reflected AZHC’s commitment to addressing the unique housing needs of Indigenous communities and recognizing that mainstream housing conferences often don’t adequately address tribal contexts. By creating dedicated space within the broader conference structure, AZHC honored tribal housing issues’ distinctiveness while also connecting tribal leaders with the broader housing community.

Looking Ahead: 2026 Annual Conference

The Arizona Housing Coalition has already announced its 2026 Annual Conference themed “There’s No Place Like Home”, scheduled for May 2026 at the Phoenix Convention Center. The Wizard of Oz-inspired theme speaks to the fundamental human need for home and the journey required to achieve housing stability for all Arizonans. Early announcements encourage participants to mark their calendars and plan to attend, recognizing that the conference sells out as Arizona’s housing sector has come to view annual conference attendance as essential professional development.

Additional AZHC Events and Training

Beyond the annual conference, AZHC hosts year-round events and workshops including webinars on specific topics like housing policy updates or program models, regional peer exchanges where providers from different communities share strategies, advocacy trainings teaching effective legislative engagement, data and research presentations sharing new findings, and committee meetings where members can engage in ongoing coalition work.

AZHC members receive reduced rates on events, making membership valuable not just for advocacy influence but also for access to professional development at affordable prices. The coalition recognizes that many housing and homelessness organizations operate on tight budgets and structures event pricing to maximize accessibility while covering costs.

7. Research, Data, and Educational Resources

The Arizona Housing Coalition produces and curates research, data, and educational resources that serve as essential tools for advocates, policymakers, media, researchers, and the general public seeking to understand Arizona’s housing and homelessness crisis and evidence-based solutions. AZHC’s research function reflects the organization’s commitment to data-driven advocacy—grounding policy recommendations in solid evidence rather than ideology or anecdote.

Original Research and Reports

AZHC produces original research reports analyzing various aspects of Arizona’s housing crisis and evaluating potential policy solutions. Recent reports have examined topics including Arizona’s eviction crisis—tracking eviction numbers, identifying geographic and demographic patterns, and analyzing the economic impact of evictions on communities; affordable housing development barriers—documenting regulatory, financing, and community acceptance challenges that prevent adequate affordable housing construction; racial disparities in housing outcomes—revealing how housing instability disproportionately affects communities of color; and cost-benefit analyses of housing interventions—demonstrating that prevention and housing-focused approaches often cost less than emergency services.

These research reports serve multiple purposes. They educate policymakers about issues and solutions, provide media with reliable information for news coverage, equip advocates with evidence to support their positions, and contribute to broader knowledge about effective housing strategies. AZHC makes its research publicly available on its website, recognizing that widespread information access strengthens the entire housing stability movement.

Policy Briefs and Fact Sheets

For audiences needing concise information, AZHC produces policy briefs and fact sheets distilling complex topics into accessible formats. These resources typically run 1-4 pages and include background on an issue, key statistics and data points, analysis of policy options, recommendations for action, and citations to additional resources for readers seeking more detail.

Recent fact sheets have addressed the Arizona Housing Trust Fund—explaining how it works, documenting its funding history, and making the case for adequate appropriations; eviction prevention strategies—outlining evidence-based interventions and their cost-effectiveness; affordable housing myths—debunking common misconceptions that create political barriers to solutions; and Housing First approaches—explaining the evidence supporting housing-focused models for people experiencing chronic homelessness.

Data Dashboards and Visualizations

AZHC curates and presents housing and homelessness data in accessible formats including maps showing geographic distribution of housing challenges, charts tracking trends over time in housing costs and homelessness, infographics communicating key statistics visually, and interactive dashboards allowing users to explore data by region or demographic group. These visualizations make data more accessible to non-technical audiences while maintaining analytical rigor.

Educational Toolkits and Guides

AZHC produces practical toolkits and guides helping advocates and practitioners implement best practices. The organization’s Best Practice Toolkit for Increasing Affordable Housing Supply provides comprehensive guidance for communities seeking to expand affordable housing including strategies for engaging community stakeholders, navigating zoning and regulatory processes, identifying financing sources, and overcoming NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) opposition.

Other educational resources include advocacy guides teaching effective legislative engagement, media engagement toolkits for communicating about housing issues, storytelling guides helping people with lived experience share their stories powerfully, and coalition building resources for forming and maintaining effective local collaborations.

Blog and Commentary

AZHC maintains an active blog featuring commentary and analysis from coalition staff and partners. Recent blog posts have included “Arizona’s Housing Crisis Isn’t About ‘Those People'”—challenging stigmatizing narratives and emphasizing that housing challenges affect working families across Arizona; “Following the Money”—tracking Arizona’s housing funding to reveal gaps between rhetoric and actual investment; and “What Arizona’s Housing Funding Actually Looks Like”—providing transparent analysis of state housing budgets to inform advocacy.

These blog posts serve both educational and advocacy functions, making complex policy and budget topics accessible while also making the case for specific policy changes. The blog provides a platform for timely commentary on breaking news and legislative developments, complementing AZHC’s more formal research reports.

Partnership with National Organizations

AZHC partners with national organizations including the National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Alliance to End Homelessness, and others to bring national research and best practices to Arizona while also contributing Arizona-specific knowledge to national conversations. These partnerships enable AZHC to access research expertise and resources beyond what a state-level organization could produce independently.

8. Membership Benefits and Engagement

Membership in the Arizona Housing Coalition provides both tangible benefits and the opportunity to be part of Arizona’s largest and most influential housing stability advocacy organization. With more than 350 organizational and individual members, AZHC represents a diverse coalition united by shared commitment to ending homelessness and ensuring affordable housing for all Arizonans.

Types of Membership

AZHC offers both organizational membership for nonprofits, businesses, government agencies, and other entities working on housing issues, and individual membership for advocates, professionals, researchers, and anyone passionate about housing stability. Membership categories are designed to be inclusive and accessible, recognizing that the coalition’s strength comes from diverse participation across sectors and perspectives.

Organizational members include nonprofit service providers operating shelters and housing programs, affordable housing developers and property management companies, local governments and housing authorities, healthcare organizations addressing social determinants of health, educational institutions, faith-based organizations, businesses recognizing housing as workforce issue, and advocacy organizations focused on related issues like criminal justice reform or healthcare access.

Individual members include frontline practitioners in housing and homeless services, policy advocates and organizers, researchers and academics studying housing issues, people with lived experience of homelessness or housing instability, elected officials and government staff, concerned citizens committed to housing justice, and students preparing for careers in housing and social services.

Member Benefits

AZHC membership provides numerous concrete benefits. Members receive reduced rates on events, with significant discounts on annual conference registration, workshop fees, and other AZHC events. Given that conference attendance alone can cost hundreds of dollars for non-members, the event discounts often more than cover membership costs for organizations that send multiple staff to events.

Members receive priority access to resources and information including early notification of funding opportunities, first access to AZHC research and reports, regular legislative and policy updates during sessions, and networking directories connecting members across the state. Members also get advocacy support and coordination through action alerts on timely advocacy opportunities, talking points and testimony guidance for legislative engagement, coordination support for local advocacy campaigns, and connections to coalition partners working on related issues.

Perhaps most importantly, membership provides voice in coalition priorities. AZHC’s policy agenda reflects member input through surveys, committee participation, and strategic planning processes. Members help shape what the coalition advocates for and how it conducts its work.

Committee Engagement

AZHC maintains several committees where members can engage in ongoing coalition work between annual conferences. Committees focus on specific issues or functions and meet regularly (typically monthly or quarterly) to advance specific aspects of AZHC’s agenda. Committee participation allows members to dive deeper into issues they care about, build relationships with colleagues working on similar issues, and directly influence AZHC’s strategies and positions.

Committees provide opportunities to participate in policy development—helping research issues and draft policy recommendations, coordinate advocacy campaigns—planning and executing strategic advocacy efforts, plan events and content—shaping conference programming and workshop topics, and advance equity initiatives—ensuring AZHC’s work centers racial and social justice.

Member Spotlights and Recognition

AZHC regularly features member organizations and individuals through spotlights on its website and social media, showcasing innovative programs and effective approaches, highlighting advocacy victories and leadership, and sharing stories of impact and transformation. These spotlights not only recognize excellent work but also facilitate knowledge sharing across Arizona’s housing community.

The Value Proposition

For organizations and individuals considering membership, AZHC’s value proposition is clear. Membership provides access to Arizona’s premier housing advocacy organization, event discounts that often exceed membership costs, resources and information not available elsewhere, networking and partnership opportunities, voice in shaping statewide housing advocacy, and contribution to collective power that achieves policy changes individual organizations couldn’t accomplish alone.

9. How to Get Involved and Support the Work

There are numerous ways for individuals and organizations to get involved with the Arizona Housing Coalition and contribute to ending homelessness and expanding affordable housing in Arizona. Whether you can commit substantial time and resources or simply want to support the work in smaller ways, there are meaningful opportunities to participate.

Become a Member

The most direct way to support AZHC is to become a member. Membership information and applications are available on the coalition’s website at azhousingcoalition.org. Membership dues are structured to be affordable for organizations of different sizes and for individuals, recognizing that the coalition’s strength comes from broad participation rather than high barriers to entry.

Attend Events and Training

Participating in AZHC events provides professional development, networking opportunities, and connection to the broader housing stability movement. Mark your calendar for the 2026 Annual Conference “There’s No Place Like Home” in May, watch for announcements about webinars and workshops throughout the year, attend local peer exchanges and regional events, and participate in advocacy days at the state capitol.

Engage in Advocacy

AZHC provides opportunities for members and supporters to engage in direct advocacy. Sign up for action alerts notifying you when legislators need to hear from constituents, respond to action alerts by contacting your legislators via phone, email, or in-person meetings, share your story if you’ve experienced housing instability—personal stories are powerful advocacy tools, testify at legislative hearings or city council meetings, and participate in advocacy days and coordinated campaigns.

Join a Committee

As mentioned earlier, AZHC maintains committees focused on specific issues and functions. Committee participation allows deeper engagement in coalition work and direct influence on AZHC’s strategies. Contact AZHC to learn about current committees and how to join based on your interests and expertise.

Share and Amplify

Even if you can’t commit substantial time, you can support AZHC’s work by sharing coalition content on social media, forwarding action alerts to your networks, talking with friends and family about housing issues, writing letters to the editor supporting housing policies, and challenging stigmatizing narratives about homelessness in community conversations.

Financial Support

As a nonprofit organization, AZHC relies on membership dues, foundation grants, and individual donations to support its work. Financial contributions help fund staff capacity for advocacy and coordination, research and data analysis, conference and event costs, educational resource development, and coalition infrastructure. Donations can be made through AZHC’s website, with various giving levels available.

Partner and Collaborate

Organizations can partner with AZHC in various ways including co-sponsoring events or research projects, sharing expertise and resources, coordinating advocacy campaigns, and participating in cross-sector initiatives connecting housing with other issues.

Stay Informed

Sometimes the first step is simply staying informed about housing issues. Follow AZHC on social media platforms, subscribe to the coalition’s newsletter for regular updates, read AZHC research and blog posts, and share reliable information with others to counter misinformation.

10. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)