The Care1st Avondale Resource and Housing Center is a unique partnership between the City of Avondale and Care1st Health Plan Arizona.  This collaboration enables the City of Avondale to offer critical social services to area residents and simultaneously put a vacant City building to good use at no direct cost to the taxpayers.  The Center offers residents of the historically under-served Southwest Valley a wide variety of services in the 6,000 square-foot facility.  This former library has been transformed into a diversified human services clearinghouse and non-profit incubator.  This innovative partnership has  provided much-needed services to area residents and is a model for duplication by other communities.  In fact, the success of the Resource Center has resulted in Care1st working with another jurisdiction to duplicate the model. 

The City’s intent for this partnership was to address the lack of human services non-profit organizations in the southwestern part of Maricopa County.  The Resource Center provides office space, conference rooms, phones, copiers and internet access free of charge to non-profit organizations.  Care1st Health Plan Arizona underwrites the staff and operating costs and also paid for improvements to the building, and the City of Avondale operates the Resource Center.  Total investment by Care1st Health Plan Arizona is $393.473 for a two-year period.  In return, the Care1st name is on the building, and the company has the opportunity to increase its name recognition.  As an Arizona medicare provider, Care1st is not allowed to advertise and seeks to grow its business in the southwestern part of Maricopa County.  The collaboration is a win-win for both the City of Avondale and for Care1st Health Plan Arizona.