Southwest Folklife Alliance: Vitalyst Health awarded Southwest Folklife Alliance a Spark Grant of $20,000. Folklife Alliance is an affiliate nonprofit organization of the University of Arizona that focuses on building more equitable and vibrant communities by celebrating everyday expressions of culture, heritage and diversity in the greater Southwest. It plans to use the $20,000 grant to support planning, community design and advocacy strategies that will engage residents, grassroots organizers and youth living on Tucsonβs south side. The organization will focus on issues associated with health and wellness as they relate to gentrification, historic racism and economic resiliency and support the development of a new City of Tucson Community Land Trust Policy in partnership with Regeneracion (previously Tierra Y Libertad) and the city of Tucson.
Oro Valley: The Arizona Chapter of the American Public Works Association has named Oro Valley winner of the 2021 Project of the Year for Transportation Projects $5-$25 million for its project, La Cholla Boulevard: Overton Road to Tangerine Road. The La Cholla project is one of the approved projects in the 2006 Regional Transportation Authority plan to widen La Cholla Boulevard from Magee Road to Tangerine Road. Phase I, Magee Road to Overton Road, was completed and managed by Pima County. Phase II, Overton Road to Tangerine Road, was managed by the Town of Oro Valley. Throughout the design and construction, the Town of Oro Valley partnered with Pima County and the RTA. These partnerships allowed the town and county to pull assets and expertise together to form an excellent project team.
