Community
- The Tucson MVS house is located in a low-income neighborhood on the east side of town with easy access to a main bike path. The house has five bedrooms, three bathrooms, an outdoor shower, garden space and a chicken coop, and a great view of the mountains from the roof!
- With 360 days of sunshine a year, Tucson is the perfect location for nature lovers. Tucson is surrounded on three sides by 9,000 ft mountain ranges with plenty of opportunities for easy to strenuous hiking. The unit has commuter bikes for volunteers to use for transportation and pleasure. There are many free and low-cost activities around town, including canyon hiking, community bike rides, contra dancing, concerts, shows, and special events.
- Tucson is located close to the border and is a hub for immigrant-rights and border issues work. The unit is often involved in border issues work--participating in desert water drops along migrant trails with No More Deaths, walking the Migrant Trail, or going on a delegation with Borderlinks.
Service
Community Home Repair Projects of Arizona (CHRPA) provides emergency home repair to low-income homeowners in Pima County. Through teams of volunteers and staff, CHRPA focuses on issues that pose a health or safety problem, or that threaten the livability of the home. CHRPA does not require any previous training, construction, or home repair knowledge. Weekly CHRPA school teaches the necessary skills to all volunteers. The CHRPA week is Monday – Thursday.
Community Food Resource Center at the Community Food Bank of Southern AZ's vision is to improve community food security for the people of Pima County by promoting, demonstrating, advocating for, and cooperatively building an equitable and regional food system, which supports food production, economic development and strengthens communities. A volunteer position at the CFRC may include organic farming, working with school gardens and home gardeners, organizing farmers’ markets, developing educational materials, and organizing in the community to promote an equitable food system.
The Primavera Foundation provides pathways out of poverty through safe, affordable housing, workforce development, and neighborhood revitalization. Primavera promotes economic and social justice while working to build a future in which all people are assured basic human rights, a livable income, and safe, affordable housing. Our latest job description for Mennonite Volunteers is as a Garden Coordinator, who coordinates residents and volunteers in establishing and maintaining vegetable gardens at our homes and shelters.
The Tucson MVS unit also has volunteers at Catholic Community Services - Migrant & Refugee Services, Borderlinks, and Myers-Ganoung Elementary School.