‘Tis the season of goodwill, and local nonprofits are making it easy to pass it on to people and animals alike.
Old Pueblo Community Services offers opportunities for the public to help alleviate homelessness through both in-kind and monetary donations that promote the “housing first” model.
“This is a national model that looks rationally at people living on the streets. Most of the time they have been there for a while and have mental illness and physical addictions and medical conditions that need to be treated, but they need housing independent of everything else. First they need housing, then these other issues can be addressed,” said Tom Litwicki, chief executive officer at Old Pueblo.
Founded in 1996, the nonprofit provides not only housing, but counseling and a wide array of support services for more than 600 clients at 11 temporary housing locations and apartments in the city. Clients include veterans, those re-entering the community after incarceration or spending time in institutions, and the chronically homeless. The organization also offers housing for homeless families (including those with pets) and is filling gaps by serving homeless youth aging out of foster care and LGBTQ+ youth.
Litwicki said the model utilizes “low barrier” shelters and transitional housing to get homeless people off the streets.
“Lots of shelters require people to behave in certain ways that are outside of their mental and physical abilities. They may not be able to stay sober or abide by certain rules immediately, so they cycle in and out of shelters. We need to get them some sort of housing and then work on the other issues. They need stability so they can get healthy,” said Litwicki.
Old Pueblo is facilitating that plan with the Center for Housing First, slated to begin construction in January with a budget of $3 million. The 20,000-square-foot facility located at 2323 S. Park Ave. will provide an “epicenter for support services” to undercut the root causes of homelessness.
The center will offer outreach, case management, housing navigation, employment services, peer- and behavioral-health outpatient services and more. It will also feature collaborative efforts with Pima County One-Stop, El Rio Health and the Tucson Police Department.
A capital campaign is underway to raise $2 million still needed for the project and Litwicki is hoping for support from the community.
“This is a space where we can work together with other nonprofits using ‘housing first’ and harm reduction models. Organizationally, community-wise, we are trying to get everyone working on these evidence-based practices to solve the root causes of homelessness,” said Litwicki.
Help for furry friends
Those who want to help keep pets in their homes can consider gifting the Southern Arizona Animal Food Bank, which has seen a dramatic increase in requests for assistance over the past few weeks.
“I think now with the holidays, lots of people have had COVID or lost their jobs, even though you would think businesses would be adding people on. We have gone from 30 requests a day for assistance to 120 a day,” said Donna DeConcini, director of the nonprofit.
DeConcini said the food bank is dedicated to ensuring that people never have to choose between feeding their families and feeding their animals.
Since 2015, the all-volunteer organization has been collecting and distributing free pet food to low income, unemployed, elderly and otherwise disadvantaged residents of Southern Arizona. It also provides pet food to Sister Jose Women’s Center and Gospel Rescue Mission.
In the past two years, it has gifted almost 397,000 pounds of pet food to more than 3,000 families.
For the holidays, volunteers are compiling animal gift boxes comprised of: Three bags of dry food; one case of wet food; toys and treats (no rawhide for dogs); food and water bowls; leashes and medium collars; toys and balls; and litter box and litter for cats. Applications for pet food assistance are available online at www.saafb.org.
Cody's Friends Charity provides food and provisions to dogs and those in need. The charity has 48 drop off boxes around Southern Arizona and they are always in need of dry dog food according to volunteer Amber Allen. The non-profit is also looking for leashes, blankets and other donations year-round. For more information visit CodysFriends.org. Video by Pascal Albright / Arizona Daily Star
