Maryvale Curb Appeal Program – This program is an exterior permanent improvement assistance program.  We offer the first $500 towards the improvement of the exterior of an owner occupied home within our target area.  Examples of items eligible are exterior paint, roofing, desert landscaping (rock), driveways and front yard fencing.  Air conditioners, back fences, patios, doors & windows are examples of what is not allowed under this program.  If the project costs more than $500 the home owner is responsible for the difference.  The home owner has 30 days to complete the project upon receiving the needed product for the project. Our target area is from 35th Avenue (southwest of Grand Ave) to 91^st Avenue from McDowell Road to Camelback Road within the City of Phoenix city limits. Please contact our office for further details and to verify the program is currently in affect.  There are times when the program is on hold during various funding cycles.

Minor Home Repair – This a small home repair program in the SPARC Neighborhood Association.  

Tool Trailer Neighborhood Clean Ups Program – We have an enclosed totally outfitted tool trailer to work with local community and neighborhood groups doing clean ups.  The trailer has garbage bags, wheelbarrows, paint rollers, trimmers, pruners, gloves, shovels, rakes and small hand tools.  By providing the needed tools and equipment we can partner with the community to help them have a greater impact in their efforts.  The trailer is used out in the community almost every month.

Graffiti Abatement Trailer Program – In 2006 we built our graffiti abatement trailer with a gas powered sprayer available for neighborhoods to use to clean up their areas.  We are using the trailer to assist in rapid graffiti abatement in our target area.  The trailer will be equipped not only with the sprayer but also rollers and brushes for smaller abatement sites while working in a community.  This trailer is in the community once or twice every month, in fact – in 2006 it was used to cover over 1,500 graffiti sites, in 2007 over 2,000 graffiti sites were covered.

Home Purchase, Rehab & Resale - We are currently looking for vacant homes for sale and possibly pre-foreclosure & foreclosure properties to purchase, renovate and sell to owner occupants.  While not specifically in our guidelines, preference will be given to first time and low-moderate income candidates.  If you or someone you know in our target is thinking of selling or is in jeopardy of losing their home – please have them give us a call. 

Firestar Fund Program – We are administering the Firestar Fund to focus on an area of Maryvale from 51^st Avenue to 67^th Avenue from Osborn to Indian School Road.  This program will address the physical condition of the properties along with social issues in the community including public safety pieces.  Things accomplished out of this include minor home improvements (inside & outside), pool fences installed, public safety programs, youth support programming, senior programming and others as found needed.  We work with a committee involving residents, Police, Fire, Streets, Parks, Neighborhood Services and the YMCA to plan events in this project.

Maryvale Village Block Watch Alliance Partnership – MRC has formed a partnership with this group to function as our Neighborhood Council.  This group is the neighborhood leaders of Maryvale that focus on broader scale issues throughout the entire community.  MRC speaks at the meetings to give an update on our programs and processes along with getting direct feedback from those front line neighborhood activists.  The Heatherbrae home improvement piece mentioned above was a direct result of discussions at the Maryvale Village Block Watch Alliance as was the Bank of America Tomahawk Neighborhood Curb Appeal program.

Arterial Streetscaping Program - We have received two grants, submitted in partnership with Phoenix Parks & Recreation, to address the lack of streetscaping in the Maryvale area.  Parks is responsible for the maintenance of the frontage roads.   This partnership will fix watering systems and replace missing landscaping along the frontage roads of the arterial streets in the community.  This follows our principle that first impressions are lasting impressions.  What potential new businesses or home owners see in a community are the arterial streets and those impressions affect their willingness to join our community.  This program can help lead to economic development and greater neighborhood stability.  In 2008 we will be planting over 300 trees and 150 bushes along with doing landscaping on the frontage roads of the arterial streets.

Flash Cams - In 2006 we partnered with Phoenix Neighborhood Services Department and received a grant to purchase an additional paint sprayer and a solar powered digital camera to aid in catching graffiti vandals in Maryvale.  This equipment is being used go cover graffiti along with the camera’s pictures helping police identify graffiti vandals.

Maryvale Weed & Seed - We have worked with several organizations including ASU and the City of Phoenix to submit a proposal to the Department of Justice for a federal grant - a Maryvale Weed & Seed project.  This is a wide ranging program of addressing crime issues and planting positive seeds of intervention and prevention programs in the area along with a housing restoration program.  In August 2007 we were notified we had been selected as a Weed & Seed site.  The project began in October 2007.  

Speed Hump Program - We are partnering with the City of Phoenix and the local neighborhood associations to provide approximately 50 speed humps for the residents in our target area.  This project is limited to 5 per square mile.  Please contact your neighborhood association or our office for details.  It is the responsibility of the residents to get the needed petitions completed - they will be installed at no cost to the residents. 

We are currently working on a variety of new programs and additional possibilities for the community.  One such program currently being researched is the possibility of putting together a proposal for a senior citizen home efficiency program aimed at weatherizing the home thus lowering utility costs and less home maintenance including desert landscaping.  Another possibility is a program aimed strictly at broken windows because of the stigma attached to the broken window theory.  A third program being evaluated is a public safety program of installing motion lights and possibly steel security doors for home owners to increase the family’s sense of safety.  We make use of our partnerships to identify gaps in the community that need addressed.  Our collaborations allow us to address a greater need and have a greater effectiveness in the Maryvale community.