Where Neighbors Become Family: A Reawakening in Downtown Tucson

At La Frontera Arizona’s West Point II, ACF and its community of donors are helping older Tucsonans find safe, affordable homes and a community that feels like family.

For three months, Terry Kendall has been rediscovering what it feels like to belong. At his last apartment, the days blurred together in front of the television. At West Point II, La Frontera Arizona’s newest affordable housing community in downtown Tucson, he plays foosball, lifts a few weights in the air-conditioned exercise room, sits and talks with neighbors about where they are from. He calls it a reawakening. 

“At my other apartment, I was just watching TV. Here, I have met people, found common ground and become part of a community.”

— Terry Kendall, resident, West Point II 

That transformation is by design. West Point II offers 85 affordable apartments for adults 55 and older, with modern, accessible homes and shared spaces built to bring neighbors together. For many residents, some of whom once experienced homelessness, it is the nicest place they have ever lived. 

The community is the work of La Frontera Arizona, a nonprofit that began more than 50 years ago in behavioral health and now describes itself as a team of community problem solvers, strengthened by a long partnership with the Arizona Community Foundation. 

“West Point II is designed to form a community,” said Dan Ranieri, president and CEO of La Frontera Arizona. “We provide shared spaces and activities that reduce isolation and encourage residents to look out for one another.” 

The need is urgent. Housing in Tucson has grown increasingly expensive, and many older adults can no longer afford the neighborhoods where they spent their lives. Meeting that need is one of the defining opportunities of this moment, and it is one Arizona can rise ogether. 

For residents, the key to staying housed is the support that comes with the keys. La Frontera builds supportive services right into the property: a food pantry, transportation, financial guidance, health promotion, and an on-site housing coordinator who steps in when a utility bill, a landlord notice, or an unexpected expense threatens someone’s stability. 

“Sometimes people need somebody to talk for them,” said Guillermo Andrade, La Frontera’s Director of Supportive Services. “We help mitigate the situation and help them maintain their housing.” 

“The change is almost immediate. They have a safe, secure place to stay, and then they can start working on their health and making their appointments.” 

— Guillermo Andrade, Director of Supportive Services, La Frontera Arizona 

That everyday support is what keeps a temporary hardship from becoming another housing crisis. Once residents are stably housed, the ripple effects are immediate. They can keep medical appointments, receive medications at a reliable address, and welcome family who no longer have to worry about where they are. Even the food pantry doubles as a place to check in, a chance to ask how someone is doing and whether they need a little more help. 

This is where the Arizona Community Foundation and its community of donors have made the difference. Affordable housing is expensive to build, and the hardest dollars to find are often the earliest ones, the money a nonprofit needs before an award arrives and before construction financing begins to flow. Organizations like La Frontera run on thin margins and cannot redirect reserves meant for behavioral health care to cover those upfront costs. 

Through ACF, donor-supported predevelopment funds bridge that gap. They help La Frontera move a project from concept toward construction, and they provide flexibility when the unexpected arises. At West Point II, that flexibility helped cover the cost of burying nearby power lines, an expense that was not in the original plan. Early, flexible support like this is often what allows a community to get built at all. 

“The pre-development funds have been a wonderful way to bridge the period before cash begins to flow and allow us to pursue projects we might not otherwise be able to start.” 

— Dan Ranieri, President and CEO, La Frontera Arizona 

“You cannot have a project unless you can begin at the beginning,” Ranieri said. The reward, he says, is visible on move-in day, when residents step into a home nicer than any they have known and begin to imagine a future they had not dared to picture. 

The path forward is clear, and it is hopeful. Since 2008, La Frontera has built more than 1,000 affordable homes across Arizona, most of them for older adults, and the need keeps growing. The opportunity now is to build more, so more Arizonans can age with stability, dignity, and connection. 

At the Arizona Community Foundation, community is our middle name, and it is also our strategy. When donors invest in strategic focus areas like housing, alongside education and the environment, they invest in the people, partnerships, and places that make Arizona stronger for everyone. 

To the donors who have already stepped forward, thank you. Your generosity is the reason a community like West Point II exists, and the reason neighbors like Terry have a place to call home. 

Learn more about the work of La Frontera Arizona across Arizona at lafronteraaz.org. 

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