Like good neighbors, El Rio Vecinos are there.
Like great neighbors, they are throwing Tucson’s biggest block party and you are invited.
Best of all, it’s a block party with benefits: It seeks to net at least $100,000 for El Rio Health Center Children’s Dental Program.
“Dental care is one of those great ways to spend money to prevent chronic disease. We are elated to say this is our third year of working to support and enable children to have regular dental checkups, fillings, varnishes and other dental care that children need and parents sometimes can’t afford,” said Sarah Davis, the event chair for El Rio Vecinos Bow Tie Block Party presents Yacht Rock on Sept. 24.
The Bow Tie Block Party, which changes its theme annually, has become the trademark for the El Rio Vecinos — or “neighbors” in Spanish. Formed in 2012 as the brainchild of El Rio Foundation board member Dan Chambers in an effort to engage millennials through mentoring and service, the group of young professionals adopted the motto “everyone’s neighbors with a mission to help those in need” and began providing philanthropic support to El Rio Community Health Center.
The Vecinos are comprised of 40 members ages 25 to 39 with varied backgrounds including accounting, business and marketing, education, engineering, entrepreneurs, health care, law, the nonprofit sector, real estate and technology.
Davis, a data analyst with Pima County Behavioral Health, said the group has developed a robust social and professional network that has been a huge benefit to El Rio and other local nonprofits as well.
“Because Tucson is so tight-knit, we have all been able to utilize our contacts to further our goals and contributions to the community and it has really been neat to watch that progress,” she said.
El Rio ranks among the largest federally-qualified health centers in the nation with a patient base of more than 92,000 annually and 11 medical campuses citywide including a new 54,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility at 839 W. Congress St.
El Rio offers a wide range of services for men, women and children of all ages including family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, a clinical pharmacy, behavioral health care, obstetrics-gynecology, midwifery, dental care, wellness, patient services and more.
The health center also provides preventive care and patient education as well as continuity of care for patients in need of chronic disease management with asthma, diabetes, hepatitis C, HIV/AIDS and pain management.
According to El Rio Foundation board president Matthew Gaspari, El Rio lives up to its name as a “community health center” for the entire community — those who are in need of financial assistance and those who are not.
“We always say that we don’t want to be the best kept secret in Tucson. We want everyone to know what a great job they do at El Rio whether patients have insurance or not,” Gaspari said.
Gaspari said the Congress facility, which provides comprehensive care in a convenient location for ease of transportation, is an example of El Rio’s commitment to superior care.
To date, Vecinos have raised $268,000 for El Rio.
