Tucson/Pima County
Community Development Block Grant Celebration

Nogales promotora (lay health worker) describes local health education programs

Assistant Secretary Peoples keynotes CDBG Celebration

Assistant Secretary Peoples meets with rural health clinic director and staff

Assistant Secretary Peoples rieviews local fair housing promotion materials

On April 25th, Assistant Secretary Carolyn Peoples visited Tucson, Arizona, to speak at the Tucson/Pima County Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Celebration and to tour colonia communities. The CDBG celebration was held at the Robles Ranch Community Center, located in the designated colonia of Three Points. The Assistant Secretary spoke about the block grant program and fair housing issues. Sharon Bronson, Chair of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, and Richard Elias, Member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, joined Assistant Secretary Peoples on stage.

The Assistant Secretary also visited the Three Points Clinic, a medical facility serving the needs of the residents of this 25-mile unincorporated colonia. Here, the Assistant Secretary met with the director of the clinic who described the various heath services that are provided to this isolated community. The clinic was built in 1992 and has a CDBG investment of $150,000 in the $350,000 facility.

Next the Assistant Secretary visited a colonia near Old Nogales Highway where she met with local residents who expressed their concerns with the lack of infrastructure and other resources. Some of the residents, whose primary language is Spanish, offered copies of contracts for deed (in English) for the lots they had purchased. Many owners were unaware at the time of closing that their lots had ingress/egress limitations and that some of the lots are in a flood plain. Numerous suggestions were offered to help them get organized, so that they can successfully compete for federal benefits in the future. The infrastructure needs they described and the land title problems they faced are typical in most of the colonias that Secretary Martinez seeks to assist through his Southwest Border Region, Colonias, and Migrant/Farm Worker Communities initiative.

The tour ended in the border city of Nogales, Arizona, where the group met with Manuel Ruiz, District 1 Chairman, Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, at the office of Platicamos Salud (Let's Talk Health). Here, this grassroots nonprofit organization explained how it works successfully in the community using promotoras (volunteer lay health workers) to address local health needs and conduct community education.

Representatives of the Southwest Fair Housing Council, Pima County, State of Arizona, and HUD officials, including the Los Angeles/Santa Ana FHEO Program Center Director and the Tucson Field Office Director accompanied the Assistant Secretary on her daylong journey in southern Arizona.