Community Partners
Tucson Borderlands YAVs work 32-36 hours each week with a Community Partner (spending the other 4-8 work hours each week focused on intentional community). We are proud and honored to work with these partners who are doing amazing things across Tucson!
Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project
The Florence Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal service organization providing free legal services to men, women, and unaccompanied children in immigration custody in Arizona. Although the government assists indigent criminal defendants and civil litigants through public defenders and legal aid attorneys, it does not provide attorneys for people in immigration removal proceedings. As a result, an estimated 86 percent of the detained people go unrepresented due to poverty. The Florence Project strives to address this inequity both locally and nationally through direct service, partnerships with the community, and advocacy and outreach efforts. For more about the Florence Project, click here. (Spanish language skills required for placement at FIRRP.)
The Florence Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal service organization providing free legal services to men, women, and unaccompanied children in immigration custody in Arizona. Although the government assists indigent criminal defendants and civil litigants through public defenders and legal aid attorneys, it does not provide attorneys for people in immigration removal proceedings. As a result, an estimated 86 percent of the detained people go unrepresented due to poverty. The Florence Project strives to address this inequity both locally and nationally through direct service, partnerships with the community, and advocacy and outreach efforts. For more about the Florence Project, click here. (Spanish language skills required for placement at FIRRP.)
Middle Eastern Presbyterian Fellowship
The Middle Eastern Presbyterian Fellowship (MEPF) is an Arabic-speaking fellowship in Tucson, Arizona that welcomes and embraces everyone to worship together in a warm, loving, and safe community. We share our faith and the Gospel of Jesus Christ with immigrants, refugees, and asylees from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt. For ten years, MEPF has offered resettlement services such as translations, interpretations, and some family support. Through our ministry of words and deed we are bringing awareness, knowledge, and growth to our fellowship and community. For more about the Middle Eastern Presbyterian Fellowship, click here. (Arabic language skills recommended for placement at MEPF)
The Middle Eastern Presbyterian Fellowship (MEPF) is an Arabic-speaking fellowship in Tucson, Arizona that welcomes and embraces everyone to worship together in a warm, loving, and safe community. We share our faith and the Gospel of Jesus Christ with immigrants, refugees, and asylees from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt. For ten years, MEPF has offered resettlement services such as translations, interpretations, and some family support. Through our ministry of words and deed we are bringing awareness, knowledge, and growth to our fellowship and community. For more about the Middle Eastern Presbyterian Fellowship, click here. (Arabic language skills recommended for placement at MEPF)
YWCA House of Neighborly Service
The YWCA Microbusiness Advancement Center (MAC) strives to create an economy that works for everyone by addressing the diverse drivers of poverty in a holistic way. MAC is located at The House of Neighborly Service (HNS), a community hub that has a 70 year legacy in the heart of South Tucson, a community with a strong sense of resilience and history of organizing to advocate for themselves. It has long been a place for families and community members to gather. The campus is on a full city block and houses a basketball court, park & picnic area, courtyard, and event rental space. MAC programs hosted at HNS include: the Women’s Business Center (WBC), Las Comadritas Seniors Program and Corazon Incubator & Commissary Kitchen (coming soon!). Previous YAVs have explored community dynamics by participating in local meetings, planned and attended community event alongside YWCA staff, invested time towards cultivating relationships with program participants and neighbors, and provided admin support to the WBC and campus. We are looking forward to a third year of including a YAV in this important work. For more about the House of Neighborly Service click here. (Spanish language skills strongly recommended for placement at the YWCA.)
The YWCA Microbusiness Advancement Center (MAC) strives to create an economy that works for everyone by addressing the diverse drivers of poverty in a holistic way. MAC is located at The House of Neighborly Service (HNS), a community hub that has a 70 year legacy in the heart of South Tucson, a community with a strong sense of resilience and history of organizing to advocate for themselves. It has long been a place for families and community members to gather. The campus is on a full city block and houses a basketball court, park & picnic area, courtyard, and event rental space. MAC programs hosted at HNS include: the Women’s Business Center (WBC), Las Comadritas Seniors Program and Corazon Incubator & Commissary Kitchen (coming soon!). Previous YAVs have explored community dynamics by participating in local meetings, planned and attended community event alongside YWCA staff, invested time towards cultivating relationships with program participants and neighbors, and provided admin support to the WBC and campus. We are looking forward to a third year of including a YAV in this important work. For more about the House of Neighborly Service click here. (Spanish language skills strongly recommended for placement at the YWCA.)
Primavera Foundation
Volunteers have worked in a variety of positions, from resource specialist to financial education advocate. Primavera 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. For more about Primavera, click here.
The Inn Project
The Inn Project is a short-term hospitality ministry established in December 2016 that hosts asylum seekers en route to their sponsors around the United States. Most guests are single parents with children who have recently entered the U.S. to make their asylum petitions. Housed in the basement of First United Methodist Church, the Inn offers a safe place to rest while people arrange their travel to their final destination. In 2017, the Inn hosted 687 families, most who stayed 1-3 days at the Inn. Volunteers at the Inn Project will respond to the needs of each day, cooking meals, making beds, doing laundry, completing registration paperwork with new guests, and (most importantly) offering a listening ear and compassionate presence to our neighbors on the road. For more about The Inn Project, click here.
The Inn Project is a short-term hospitality ministry established in December 2016 that hosts asylum seekers en route to their sponsors around the United States. Most guests are single parents with children who have recently entered the U.S. to make their asylum petitions. Housed in the basement of First United Methodist Church, the Inn offers a safe place to rest while people arrange their travel to their final destination. In 2017, the Inn hosted 687 families, most who stayed 1-3 days at the Inn. Volunteers at the Inn Project will respond to the needs of each day, cooking meals, making beds, doing laundry, completing registration paperwork with new guests, and (most importantly) offering a listening ear and compassionate presence to our neighbors on the road. For more about The Inn Project, click here.
Community Home Repair Projects of Arizona (CHRPA)
Volunteers work closely with a wide variety of local and national volunteers and staff to provide free home repair to low income and working poor residents of the Tucson valley. Volunteers receive training and provide direct home repair services to a diverse community. For more about CHRPA, click here.
Volunteers work closely with a wide variety of local and national volunteers and staff to provide free home repair to low income and working poor residents of the Tucson valley. Volunteers receive training and provide direct home repair services to a diverse community. For more about CHRPA, click here.
Keep Tucson Together
Keep Tucson Together is a volunteer-run, free immigration legal clinic. We believe that families deserve to remain together, and that all people deserve legal representation in immigration court. Our volunteer lawyers represent anyone from Pima County who lands in immigration court. Our non-lawyer volunteers work directly with clients, prepare bonds, asylum petitions, and other defenses against deportation. KTT volunteers learn about immigration law and have a huge impact in our community. A YAV at Keep Tucson Together will be able to visit clients in detention, help fill out immigration paperwork, and practice flexibility in responding to community needs as they arise. Join us! For more about Keep Tucson Together, click here.
Keep Tucson Together is a volunteer-run, free immigration legal clinic. We believe that families deserve to remain together, and that all people deserve legal representation in immigration court. Our volunteer lawyers represent anyone from Pima County who lands in immigration court. Our non-lawyer volunteers work directly with clients, prepare bonds, asylum petitions, and other defenses against deportation. KTT volunteers learn about immigration law and have a huge impact in our community. A YAV at Keep Tucson Together will be able to visit clients in detention, help fill out immigration paperwork, and practice flexibility in responding to community needs as they arise. Join us! For more about Keep Tucson Together, click here.
Frontera de Cristo
Note: YAVs placed with Frontera de Cristo live in Agua Prieta. Contact the Site Coordinator for more information on this international opportunity.
Volunteers live in Agua Prieta Mexico and work extensively with Protestants, Catholics and people of good will in the United States and Mexico to provide direct humanitarian assistance to deportees returned to Mexico by the Border Patrol. Frontera de Cristo is a Presbyterian border ministry located in the sister cities of Agua Prieta, Sonora and Douglas, Arizona. For more about Frontera de Cristo, click here. (Spanish language skills required for placement at Frontera de Cristo.)
Note: YAVs placed with Frontera de Cristo live in Agua Prieta. Contact the Site Coordinator for more information on this international opportunity.
Volunteers live in Agua Prieta Mexico and work extensively with Protestants, Catholics and people of good will in the United States and Mexico to provide direct humanitarian assistance to deportees returned to Mexico by the Border Patrol. Frontera de Cristo is a Presbyterian border ministry located in the sister cities of Agua Prieta, Sonora and Douglas, Arizona. For more about Frontera de Cristo, click here. (Spanish language skills required for placement at Frontera de Cristo.)
Interested in partnering with the Tucson Borderlands YAV site? Email the Site Coordinator to find out more and fill out an application!
