Phoenix, Arizona is the fifth largest city in the nation, stretching across 517 square miles of desert with more than 1.6 million residents.
The pandemic has required the City to supercharge our efforts as never before to increase school readiness and early childhood activities in targeted communities. During the pandemic, the percentage of Phoenix students passing the third grade reading exam declined to 25 percent – the lowest score in seven years. The pandemic has led to a “COVID-19 slide” learning loss, further widening the gap between student achievement and grade level standards in literacy and math, particularly in low-income communities.
The City of Phoenix serves as the Public Housing Authority for the City and offers literacy-enriched activities for more than 35,000 residents in public housing communities, seeking to achieve the mission of fostering equity and providing quality affordable housing and a pathway to self-sufficiency to those with low to limited incomes. These programs provide safe spaces where partners can provide services to residents that support self-sufficiency, including workforce development activities, GED classes, early childhood education programs, access to healthy foods, and afterschool programs.
In July 2018, the City of Phoenix was awarded a $30 million Choice Neighborhoods Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This grant, along with $190 million in leverage, is allowing the Housing Department to work side-by-side with residents to transform the Edison-Eastlake community into a safe, healthy, learning-rich community.
More information on the programs offered by the City of Phoenix is available at the webpages below:
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