Magnolia Gardens

Magnolia Gardens is the first transitional housing facility for families with children in Flushing, Queens. The new building includes 90 apartments fully equipped with kitchens and bathrooms and offers robust social services to help families experiencing housing instability get back on their feet. Magnolia Gardens was co-developed by Asian Americans for Equality and Urban Resource Institute (URI).  URI is the service provider.

Designed to reflect and serve one of the most diverse communities in New York City, Magnolia Gardens offers culturally responsive services and multilingual staff who provide 24-hour family-centered support including case management, housing navigation, job readiness training, financial coaching, and therapeutic care to help families transition to permanent housing.

How We’re Helping Families Access Magnolia Gardens

To be eligible for Magnolia Gardens, families must have a child under the age of 21.  Placement for transitional housing is  prioritized based on the child’s school and/or previous residence in Queens Community District 7.  When ready, counselors will work with each family to secure a rental voucher and obtain permanent housing. 

In order to be placed at Magnolia Gardens, families must apply in person at the PATH (Prevention Assistance and Temporary Housing) Intake Center in the Bronx, which is run by the NYC Department of Homeless Services. AAFE is helping families through the application process – assisting in the preparation of all required documents, providing transportation to the PATH Center and escorting families through the intake process. 

About Our Community Partnerships

AAFE is leading a Housing Services Collaborative, with membership from many Flushing-area non-profit organizations, to ensure that families in the community have equitable access to Magnolia Gardens. Collaborative members refer families to AAFE for navigation assistance. Organizations in the Collaborative include: Chinese-American Planning Council, Korean American Family Service Center, Garden of Hope, Womankind, Korean Community Services, Child Center of NY,  South Asian Council for Social Services, Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, YMCA-Flushing and YWCA-Flushing. 

About the Building

Magnolia Gardens was featured in the 2023 Community Impact Competition exhibition sponsored by the New York Housing Conference. It was also a winner of the 2023 “Buildings of Excellence Competition” from New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). It is the first transitional housing building to meet Passive House design standards, the world’s leading standard in energy efficient construction.

In the new 7-story building, each family apartment is fully equipped with kitchens and bathrooms.  The building incorporates the principles of Feng Shui: orientation, space planning, directional energy and the influence of the five-elements (earth, metal, water, wood, and fire) and colors to the building design. Urban Architectural Initiatives (UAI) designed the building, guided by the consultants at Bright Power to meet Passive House design standards. The general contractor was Archstone Builders.