The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona approved planning grants of up to $5,000 each to assist four groups in developing their implementation plans and expanding their collaborations. The Planning Grants will provide funding for facilitation, administrative expenses, and other expenses necessary to developing a comprehensive implementation plan. CFSA will provide, with the help of Wholonomy, two workshops for the Teams over the summer – Collaboration for Systems Change and Systems Change Evaluation Think Tank.

AJO FOOD PARTNERSHIP

Lead Organization: International Sonoran Desert Alliance (ISDA)

Ajo is currently defined as a “food desert.” Fresh fruits and vegetables are not grown locally and must be brought in from Phoenix. There is a severe problem of obesity and diabetes in the nearby western communities of the Tohono O'odham Nation that was nonexistent in the 1960’s when the local diet was based on traditional locally grown foods. And economic development in Ajo has been limited since the mine closed. The Ajo Food Partnership, through a diverse collaboration of groups, intends to address these issues resulting in a sustainable local food system, new community awareness and engagement in making healthy food choices, restoring their rich cultural foods heritage, and developing new food-based economic opportunities for community residents. Other organizations already involved in the collaboration include the Hia C-ed O’odham Alliance, Desert Senita Community Health Center, Ajo Unified School District, Ajo Community Food Bank, Ajo Community Garden Group, and Ajo Community Supported Agriculture.

NEIGHBORHOOD STABILIZATION IN THE CITY OF SOUTH TUCSON

Lead Organization: The Primavera Foundation

The City of South Tucson has a rich culture and close-knit multigenerational families but also many challenges. It is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Tucson. Primavera has been working with the local government to address the poor quality of housing stock in the community and involved a group of local teens from the John Valenzuela Youth Center to carry out a South Tucson Neighborhood Revitalization Survey. With the involvement of other organizations working in the community, such as the South Tucson Prevention Coalition, PRO Neighborhoods, Arizona Children’s Association, House of Neighborly Service, the schools, and the City, this project plans to increase resident satisfaction with the neighborhood, increase neighborhood security and stability, reduce crime, and create a more positive perception of the neighborhood by the larger community.

PARTNERSHIP FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS

Lead Organization: YWCA Tucson

The YWCA Tucson, Sahuaro Girl Scout Council and Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse came together in 2008 to maximize resources through a continuum of services to meet the compelling needs of women and girls in Southern Arizona. Focusing on their individual organizational strengths, they have developed ways of providing services to each other’s constituents that have expanded the services to all of their constituents. These programs and services reach over 60,000 women and girls each year. The three partners want to expand their collaboration beyond the current program sharing to improve access to programs and services for women and girls, identify unmet needs, establish an effective public policy voice for women and girls, identify perceptions and systemic barriers that lead to marginalizing and disempowering women and girls, and engage the broader community to raise the awareness of and seek opportunities to improve the status of women and girls.

THE E.L.D.E.R. PROJECT: EMPOWERED LEADERS DIRECTING ELDER RESOURCES

Lead Organization: United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona

Tucson’s elders are clear—they want to remain attached to their communities—contributing as they are able and successfully aging in place. In response, United Way, Jewish Family and Children’s Services, Caregiver Training Institute, St. Luke’s Home, Pima Council on Aging, Interfaith Community Services, and the University of Arizona Center on Aging will join with other partners to challenge the current paradigm by creating a vision of community revitalization and elder empowerment. By identifying aging resources, expanding partnerships and building aging advocacy we will co-create a replicable neighborhood-based pilot project. We will know that we have succeeded when older adults are empowered leaders, working in partnership with city and county leaders, service providers, and the business and academic communities, and shaping their ability to successfully age in place through: consumer choice in aging services and support, affordable and diverse housing options, transportation and mobility, and community self-care support. The results will be better quality of life and improved health and wellness for older adults, and social cohesion for our community as a whole, achieving a “community for all ages.”