ElIndeNews.com

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Community gardening has taken root in South Tucson and continues to grow as various organizations collaborate to address issues of food access and security.

Communities Putting Prevention to Work has allocated money from its $15 million obesity prevention and reduction grant toward elements like gardening to spur environmental change. According to the CPPW community profile, approximately 21 percent of adults in Pima County are obese and high school students in the area are at an increased risk for obesity. The profile also says the obesity rate among Hispanics in Arizona is 31.4 percent, exceeding the national Hispanic obesity average of 28.7 percent.

“We’ve been able to plot 91 full size gardens, hundreds of container gardens, and gardens at 11 schools in high need areas off Pima County, said Don Gates, program coordinator for CPPW.  “We are trying to increase food security by creating more access to healthy food.” Ochoa Elementary School, House of Neighborly Service and The Primavera Foundation have also joined the cause and are teaming up to create the South Tucson Garden Network.

With a wide range of social services available to a growing transient population, South Tucson has become a refuge in recent years to the homeless and mentally ill.  But it’s not as bad as you might think. 

“South Tucson cares about its population,” says Nick Taras of the Primavera Foundation, “[The city] does whatever it can to have a better understanding of our mentally ill.”

Primavera caters primarily to the homeless population, offering shelter and employment assistance to those in need.  According to Taras, however, between fifty and sixty percent of Primavera’s clientele may report mental health or substance abuse issues.

“People with mental illness require as much support as possible from the community to succeed,” Taras says.

Versión Español

Hispanic populations have limited exposure to anti-tobacco use information and are the target of intensive tobacco industry marketing efforts, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Student Wellness Advocacy Teams, funded by the Pima County Health Department, is a youth coalition that is expanding its work in South Tucson to counteract this issue.

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Unemployment rates in the Latino community in Arizona are at 11.1 percent, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, but work programs in South Tucson are attempting to lower that number.

With Arizona's unemployment rate at 9.1 percent the job market is scarce for many Arizonans. However, the Southside Presbyterian Church has a program, Southside Worker Center, which formed in 2006 to help people living below the poverty level find day work. SWC officials help documented and undocumented workers find day-labor jobs throughout the South Tucson and Tucson community. Raul Alcaraz Ochoa has been working at the center as a volunteer education coordinator for the past year and a half.

Although Hope Thrift officially closed its doors Sept. 1, it will not hold back the organization from its dedication to changing lives in South Tucson.

Hope Thrift, a part of Hope Recovery Inc., found it wasn’t generating enough income to cover rent, much less contribute to the social programs it once helped serve. The South Tucson store employed those involved in their recovery program as a way to learn new skills and obtain work experience.

Hope Recovery Inc. is a non-profit Christian based organization and transitional housing program designed to help men and women recovering from life-controlling issues such as drug and alcohol abuse.

Tucson’s disadvantaged youth will benefit from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tucson’s 10th annual The Event coming up April 17.

The overcrowding of behavioral health patients in Tucson's hospitals and detention centers has resulted in two behavioral health care facilities.

The Behavioral Health Pavillion and the Crisis Response Center will be locaed at the University Physicians Healthcare Hospital, or UPH, 2800 E. Ajo Way. Construction began in October 2009 and will be completed this summer.

The fourth Buddy’s Bazaar, a program where students and families in the community receive fresh produce and healthy recipes donated by the Community Food Bank, was held at Walter Douglas Elementary School on Feb. 18.

University Physicians Healthcare now has a toxicology clinic that provides outpatient care for those who have been exposed to environmental or occupational poisons.

The UPH Toxic Exposures Clinic is located at the UPH Hospital, 2800 E. Ajo Way.