In this month’s newsletter, catch up on our Zoning 101 presentation, updates from our focus teams, eviction prevention work, and more.

United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona's Financial Wellness Partnership envisions a community where every person and family is financially well - asking five questions:

• Can a household cover their basic needs?

• Do they have savings for emergencies, retirement, and education?

• Can they make informed financial decisions for themselves and their families by using financial skills?

• Can they pursue wealth-building opportunities such as homeownership, entrepreneurship, or further education?

• Do they have a voice in civic and community resource decisions, particularly funding and policies?

Network Meeting - October 2022

At our October Network meeting, we hosted staff from City of Tucson Planning and Development Services for a fantastic presentation about zoning and how it impacts the housing conversation. If you didn’t have a chance to join, here are a few highlights:

• 76% of land in Tucson zoned for residential use is limited to detached single-family homes – making it difficult to develop multi-family units and middle housing. Notably, middle housing – duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, and cottage courts – is often misunderstood and/or missing from conversations about increasing housing supply.
• Many zoning policies and plans, including neighborhood plans, have not been updated in many years. Tucson’s original plan was developed in the 1940s, and many neighborhood plans have not changed since the 1980s – despite many changes to our needs and priorities since then.
• Individuals can get involved in City zoning conversations by participating in Infill Incentive District (IID) public hearings in November/December, code update public hearings in early 2023, and General Plan community engagement sessions starting in January 2023 (more info about Planning Initiatives here). Contacting Ward offices, Mayor & Council (including Call to Audience), and Neighborhood Associations are also avenues for participation. 

(If you are interested in slides and notes, we're happy to pass them along via email! The file was too large to include here.)

Our Public Policy group met for coffee last week to catch up on projects and opportunities happening around the community. The conversation covered a range of topics, including how the Pima County Board of Supervisors recently moved forward with establishing a Regional Affordable Housing Commission and their consideration of future funding conversations related to affordable housing and high-quality preschool programs. The group also looks forward to following and engaging with the new Regional Prosperity Task Force, which will explore policy ideas in conjunction with local government leaders, experts, and community members.

We are happy to introduce this group under its new name: the Financial Empowerment Collaborative! At the October meeting, members also offered up a new group statement to guide their work:

The Financial Empowerment Collaborative is focused on elevating the quality and reach of financial education, coaching, and literacy programs in Southern Arizona. By identifying barriers and disparities, learning together, and sharing tools and resources, we commit to centering equity and improving financial wellness outcomes for those in our programs and across the community. 

Our meeting conversation centered on collaboration and partnership with employers - both to share more about the financial empowerment services we offer/engage their employees but also to open up larger conversations about employee needs and systems shifts related to benefits and wages. The group started discussing potential ideas or projects to take on together as a collaborative, including educating with one shared voice, using panels and events to highlight the issue and our resources, collecting and sharing data about employee needs, and collecting and sharing “audit” data with employer partners about their benefits (what’s available and who is using their benefits). 

Our Eviction Prevention Case Management group is set to kick off this week! The idea for this group was sparked by conversations with eviction prevention case management and emergency assistance staff at YWCA, FHR, Our Family, Primavera, Sunnyside Foundation, ICS, City of Tucson, and Pima County who were interested in space to connect, share resources and contacts, and build relationships between their organizations. This group aims to bring together staff and teams working on eviction prevention cases day-to-day, with initial interest in highlighting specific resources, sharing best practices, identifying common barriers, troubleshooting complicated situations, and hosting guest speakers. At the kickoff meeting, we plan to talk through specific priorities and potential activities. 

Since 2013, United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona has partnered with the Siemer Institute for Family Stability to provide funding and support to families with school-aged children at risk of eviction. Our eviction prevention work with Siemer helped 101 local families maintain their housing and increase their income last year. In October, staff from two of our Siemer partner organizations – Stephanie Thrasher from Our Family Services and Kathia Santamaria from Primavera Foundation – joined United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona’s President and CEO, Tony Penn, and Senior Director of Financial Wellness, Lisa Floran, at the annual Siemer Summit in Dallas. The Summit brought together more than 300 practitioners working on family eviction prevention across the country to share ideas around programs, policies, and innovations. We look forward to using the lessons learned to reach more families with these critical services!

We are excited to share that Nogales Community Development and the International Sonoran Desert Alliance will be joining United Way of Tucson's network of supported VITA programs for the upcoming tax season, further expanding the accessibility and impact of VITA in rural areas throughout Southern Arizona. If you know someone who lives in the Nogales or Ajo areas, we encourage you to let them know! And if you missed it, the Volunteer Interest Form has been open for a little over a month, with more than 120 volunteers already signed on for next season. If you would like to learn more about volunteering, fill out the Interest Form or visit our newly redesigned VITA Volunteer webpage for more information.

United Way Tucson Financial Wellness Resource List: Find programmatic and 1:1 opportunities for financial coaching/education, tax assistance, workforce development, and more on this list developed by United Way of Tucson and Southern AZ partners. If you are involved with a program, service, or other resource supporting financial wellness in Southern Arizona, we would love to add you to the list. Want to add or update your program's entry? Use this form.

Youth on the Rise Re-Engagement App: A new resource guide to help youth 16-24 navigate services, resources, and systems in Pima County