This year we are honoring 12 local 501(c)3 nonprofit community organizations that are working towards improving the well-being of children, youth, families, and community. These awards are to commemorate the 10th anniversary of our institute being named in honor of Frances McClelland. We will be awarding each organization a $500 grant from FMI sponsored by The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona to continue your impactful work in the community. We will also highlight each organization in our newsletter and social media outlets every month until September 2020!
2019 Frances McClelland Spirit Organizational Awardees:
November 2019 Spotlight: For many Tucson women experiencing homelessness, Sister Jose Women’s Center, (SJWC) is their only haven and the first step to recovery from homelessness. There, women receive respite – a warm shower, meal, and safe harbor from the violence and exploitation faced by homeless woman. As a low-barrier day center, SJWC provides homeless women a stable and safe environment in which to recuperate from the daily struggle of homelessness and extreme poverty. Every night 36 women find a hot meal and safe sleep. SJWC offers a unique program, CREATE, that teaches wellness, life skills, job readiness, and prepares women for their future.
To learn more about the Sister Jose Women's Center, please click here.
December 2019 Spotlight: The Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network (TIHAN) is a diverse coalition of individuals, faith communities, businesses, and nonprofit groups providing an inclusive support network that helps people with HIV to live well. Our vision is to create a community where everyone knows their HIV status, and where every person—regardless of status—is supported and affirmed to live as well as possible and stay healthy and engaged in the community.
TIHAN provides community resources and caring support so that people with HIV can live well. Through education, we work to encourage everyone to get tested, get involved, and reduce the stigma of HIV. We are a volunteer-driven, grassroots organization, receiving no government funding. For 25 years, TIHAN has been educating and activating people to reduce HIV stigma and to serve the needs of the HIV community. Everyone is needed, and everyone can help. Together, we can live well, love well, and be well.
To learn more about the Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network (TIHAN), please click here.
January 2020 Spotlight: The Primavera Foundation is a local nonprofit comprehensive community development organization whose mission is to provide pathways out of poverty through safe, affordable housing, workforce development, and neighborhood revitalization. Our vision, to promote social and economic justice while working to build a future in which all people are assured basic human rights, a livable income, and safe, affordable housing, remains a guiding principle for the organization's strategic direction.
Primavera carries out its mission through community building and education, advocacy, and organizing while providing a continuum of homeless intervention and prevention, housing, workforce development, asset building, neighborhood revitalization, and community building and engagement programs that address homelessness, persistent poverty, and neighborhood disinvestment. All of Primavera Foundation programs are focused on facilitating progress towards individual economic independence, long-term financial security, neighborhood investment, and community building and engagement.
To learn more about Primavera Foundation, please click here.
February 2020 Spotlight: The Center for Economic Integrity builds economically strong communities for all and opposes unfair corporate and government practices. The extreme economic divide in our country, and the public policy that encourages it, will not change unless and until we challenge head on those policies and the powerful industries that profit excessively on the backs of workers, consumers, children and families.
CEI leadership understands that systemic change most often occurs in increments over a long period of time. CEI identifies and commits to certain broad initiatives that are in alignment with the overarching vision and mission of the organization. These initiatives generate projects and an array of approaches that fall into the following general categories: Research, Education, Advocacy and Public Policy.
CEI is the home of The Preschool Promise Coalition (TPP). We have been leaders in advocating for high quality affordable preschool for the three and four-year old’s in our community for several years. In addition, we are home to the AZ Grandparent Ambassadors, a statewide coalition of grandparents raising grandchildren.
To learn more about Center for Economic Integrity, please click here.
March 2020 Spotlight: The YWCA of Southern Arizona is dedicated to promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. We focus on women’s needs and issues. We also recognize the important role men play in eliminating racism and empowering women. The YWCA of Southern Arizona welcomes men into membership, onto our staff and we were the first local YWCA association in the nation to elect men to our board of directors.
To learn more about the YWCA of Southern Arizona, please click here.
April 2020 Spotlight: Child Health and Resilience Mastery (CHARM) is a 501(c)3 Arizona Qualifying Charitable Organization with the mission to empower children and families to strengthen their resilience in health-promoting ways. We focus on strength- and evidence-based approaches for promoting healthy outcomes and empower children and families to SPRING FORWARD after experiencing challenges. CHARM programs include Camp Druzy, Nogi Yogis, and Tapestry. We are also the proud Arizona Ambassadors of the Choose Love Movement. To learn more about Child Health and Resilience Mastery (CHARM), please visit them at charmaz.org.
June 2020 Spotlight: Camp Born This Way is a volunteer-led organization seeking to normalize and affirm individuals who identify under the broad umbrella of transgender and gender creative by providing a safe, supportive and educational summer camp experience for youth ages 5 to 17 (Kindergarten to 12th grade) and their families living in Arizona. Camp is a 4-day, 3-night residential camp. Youth engage in play‑based activities and support groups throughout the weekend. Camp activities are tracked by age group and include, for example, hiking, campfires, arts and crafts, and a talent and fashion show. Some activities are for the entire family. Others are just for the kids so that caregivers can spend time together to discuss the issues they face and share resources. Importantly, education and support are also provided to their families to give them tools and resources for supporting their child and for talking about gender and gender expression with others. In 2019, Camp served 95 family members (38 gender creative or trans youth; 13 of their siblings, and 44 caregivers); additionally, 22 transgender adults volunteered as camp counselors. Results from the 2018 survey found that at the end of Camp, all the youth reported feeling safe being themselves at Camp, and 85% of youth said they felt better about themselves knowing there were other kids like them.
To learn more about Camp Born This Way, please click here.
July 2020 Spotlight: Coyote TaskForce provides a spectrum of employment-focused services for adults recovering from mental illness in downtown Tucson, from formal work adjustment training and job placement at Café 54, to self-directed, voluntary work activities and job development in the peer-run community of Our Place Clubhouse.
To learn more about Coyote TaskForce, please click here.
August 2020 Spotlight: The Tucson Indian Center is an American Indian governed 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in the heart of downtown Tucson, Arizona at 160 North Stone Avenue. The mission of the Tucson Indian Center is to lead, serve, empower and advocate for the Tucson urban American Indian Community and others, by providing culturally appropriate wellness and social services. The history of the Tucson Indian Center builds on centuries of the indigenous peoples inhabiting the area. The Tucson area has long been the traditional site for Indian settlements. From the Archaic and Hohokam Indians, to the Tohono O'odham and Yaqui, the waters of the Santa Cruz River and the surrounding fertile land attracted desert dwelling tribes. Shortly after World War II, local Indians felt there was a need for an organization of their own to provide services for health, housing, education, counseling, and recreation. To pursue this goal a Native American Club was organized in 1957. In 1963, the Club became incorporated as the American Indian Association, doing business as the Tucson Indian Center.
For decades, the Center has offered youth and elderly programs, job services, adult and youth education programs, cultural activities, and emergency assistance.
To learn more about the Tucson Indian Center, please click here.
September 2020 Spotlight: Casa Maria’s mission, as part of the lay catholic worker movement founded in 1930 in New York City by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, is to practice daily the love and compassion of Jesus and to implement the teachings of his Gospel and the social doctrine of our church. The Sermon on the Mount and the call to solidarity with the poor are the heart of these teachings.
At Casa Maria, our Catholic Workers are devoted to acts of mercy (feeding and clothing those in need, visiting the ill, etc), voluntary poverty, pacifism, and the search of justice for the poor. In each action, they use their faith and try to revive the faith in those who have lost it, making them understand that Christ has never left their lives.
As a part of our mission, we seek new and creative ways to organize and let the talent of each one of our volunteer Catholic Workers be destined to achieve spiritual and economical transformation of our community.
“We work for liberty, social justice, and peace"
To learn more about Casa Maria, please click here.
October 2020 Spotlight: Emerge provides the opportunity to create, sustain, and celebrate a life free from abuse. Their goal is to help domestic abuse survivors to access safety, heal from their trauma, and take the first steps on their path to self-sufficiency. Emerge is the largest comprehensive domestic abuse services provider in Southern Arizona, and the only such service provider in Tucson. Emerge provides life-changing, life-saving services to survivors and their children. Last year, they served more than 5,900 survivors of domestic abuse and their children.
To learn more about Emerge, please click here.
