Monsoon!

Not much for me to report this week, except: “What about these monsoons!”

Ward 3’s water harvesting rain basins are lush and green from the recent rains. In the photos below you can see the front of our office in early 2021, when an uneducated landscape contractor butchered the native plants in our basin area and cleaned out the understory plants and mulch. The other photos show the office today, where passively collected rainwater is stored in basins and in the soil, which makes the native plants thrive.

This is one of the reasons why I and my staff will continue to push for fully implementing water saving (and money saving) techniques for using rain where it falls - it's far better than using drinking water outdoors and it reduces flooding in our streets and neighborhoods.

- Kevin

Happy Birthday Marlene! by Katie Bolger

Thirty-seven years ago at MLK Hospital in Los Angles, Marlene Avelino popped into the world - and we’re sure glad she did! Marlene's passion and drive for social justice are seen through the lens of lived experience. She is a mother of two adorable kids and is first generation Mexican American. Marlene works with the neighborhoods on the west side of Ward 3 including (but not limited to) Amphi, Barrio Blue Moon and Keeling. Happy Birthday Marlene ?Ward 3 is lucky to have you!

Community Safety, Health and Wellness Program by Marlene Avelino 

Last week, Sarah Launius and Lee Hopkins visited the Ward 3 Office to train our staff on the referral process for the Community Safety, Health and Wellness program. Sarah Launius is Director of the program, and Lee Hopkins is the Resource Manager for the program. 

"This program aims to help residents navigate complex social service systems, advocate on their behalf, and support them to reach a greater level of stability in their lives. We are not able to provide 24-hour response or crisis services. Rather, we are here to provide support for 1-3 months (and longer on a case-by-case basis) as residents work to avoid crisis or recover from crisis," they told us. 

From left to right - Resource Manager Lee Hopkins, Care Coordinator Daniel Reyes, and Care Coordinator Susan Cota 

Currently, the program has four Care Coordinators, and Lee assigns them cases based on their specialized skill sets. Our very own Kristin Woodall, whom many of you remember from her 4 years at the Ward 3 office, is one those Care Coordinators! Since the program is still in its pilot phase with limited resources, only Ward offices and some City departments are able to refer individuals to the program. The main focus in this phase is to support frequent callers to 911 to help address underlying issues so that they no longer need to call 911.

We look forward to learning more about their efforts and outcomes!

Hedrick Acres by CJ Boyd 

Hedrick Acres stretches from East Glenn St. to East Fort Lowell Rd., and from North First Ave. to North Campbell Ave. While neighborhoods vary in size, Hedrick Acres is about twice as big as most of the surrounding neighborhoods (Mountain View, Richland Heights West, Samos, Mountain First, etc.). Founded in 1998, the Hendrick Acres Neighborhood Association is one of the more active associations in Ward 3 and keeps in regular contact with the Ward 3 office.

At the heart of Hendrick Acres is Navajo Wash Park. Like many of Tucson’s washes, Navajo Wash is dry for most of the year, with occasional flows during monsoon season. Spanning much of northern Tucson, Navajo Wash connects with Flowing Wells Wash at its western end, which in turn connects to the Santa Cruz River. On its eastern end, it connects to Wilson Avenue Wash. In the 1990s, neighbors established a pocket park along the wash in a section just south of Fort Lowell Rd. and just west of Mountain Ave.

The establishment of the park was a joint effort between the City of Tucson, the University of Arizona, and neighborhood leaders. According to Hendrick Acres resident Adrian Wurr, the creation of the park coincided with the creation of a park-and-ride lot just adjacent to it, where university staff and students could park their vehicles and take the shuttle to campus.

As Adrian wrote for a Hedrick Acres Neighborhood Association newsletter, “The arrangement tasked the neighborhood with cleanup and maintenance, the city with refuse removal, and the university with security. Over the ensuing 30 years or so, the wash has evolved—with the help of a dedicated group of neighborhood volunteers who meet regularly to pick-up trash, prune the vegetation, and maintain walkways and water berms—into a diverse desert arboretum with ground cover and tree canopy to support a variety of wildlife.”

The area around the pocket park is a hub for community activity. There is a mural on one of the walls adjacent to the parking lot thanks to a neighborhood grant from the City. Salpointe High School’s science classes and Ecology Club have studied the area intensely and reported their results in a dozen final projects. Residents have contributed artwork and an interactive message board, and a little free library is currently being developed for the site.

In the last few years, which have seen a record number of our neighbors displaced from their homes and living outdoors, Navajo Wash has also been home to some of our unsheltered neighbors, who benefit from the shade provided by its many trees. While this is not a safe place to camp during monsoon season, several neighbors have sheltered in this lush location during the dry season.

Like most neighborhoods in Tucson, the interior of Hedrick Acres is almost entirely residential, with businesses lining the thoroughfares along the exterior. Some key local businesses along the edges of the neighborhood are Rosa’s Mexican Food on Fort Lowell Rd., El Berraco (a Mexican seafood restaurant) on First Ave., Govindas Natural Foods Buffet (a vegetarian restaurant) on First Ave., Taqueria El Pueblito on Campbell Ave., and Nico’s on Campbell Ave. 

While there are no schools or churches in Hendrick Acres, Little Ranch Preschool is a day care center on Glenn St. It’s worth noting that while Navajo Wash Park is treated as a pocket park by the neighbors, it is not officially a park due to the fact that it is both a wash and technically a roadway, though driving through it would be very difficult with existing vegetation. Technically, a park cannot be in a roadway, or in an area that is often underwater during monsoon season. But during the majority of the year, housed and unhoused neighbors alike see it as a place to beat the heat and recreate.

The City of Tucson's Community Safety, Health & Wellness Program, the Department of Transportation and Mobility, and partners will present a resource fair next Wednesday, Aug. 24, from 9-11 a.m., at the Ronstadt Transit Center at Congress and 6th Avenue. Resource partners include the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, El Rio Community Health Center, Tucson Collaborative Community Care (TC3), Pima County Community Workforce Development, and the Pima County Health Department. Stop in to learn about work opportunities and how to access food, health, and basic need resources. For more information, email [email protected], or you can call (520) 837-4068. COVID-19 vaccines, bagged lunch, and Narcan will be available to all attendees.