Dec. 12, 2024
U of A poverty project to host annual community forum
- What: Poverty in Tucson Community Forum
- When: Tuesday, Dec. 17, 9-11 a.m.
- Where: Habitat for Humanity Tucson, 3501 N. Mountain Ave.
- Registration: Open to the public. Registration required.
TUCSON, Ariz. — A University of Arizona project focused on poverty in Tucson will host its eighth annual Poverty in Tucson Community Forum to shed light on challenges to prosperity in the Tucson community.
The Poverty in Tucson Field Workshop is a student-driven project that aims to enhance the understanding of poverty and poverty reduction initiatives in Pima County.
This year, the partnership between the U of A project and the City of Tucson is focused on helping with a recent grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Choice Neighborhoods program. The grant supports Tucson's 29th Street Thrive Zone – the area between Alvernon Way and Craycroft Road and 22nd Street and Golf Links Road.
Survey data collected by students in the Poverty in Tucson Field Workshop will help the city better understand the needs and challenges of residents of the 29th Street Thrive Zone, as well as residents across Tucson.
During the community forum, students will share poster presentations on topics related to meeting the needs of Tucson's most vulnerable residents. Those topics include affordable housing, food insecurity, mental health, parenting, transportation, employment, access to services and more.
Findings from the Poverty in Tucson Field Workshop survey suggest that rates of housing cost overburden are high across the Tucson area, especially for the 29th Street Thrive Zone, where 52% of residents surveyed reported being severely cost-burdened by spending more than half of their income on rent and utilities. In addition, 44% of renters surveyed throughout Tucson said they felt pressured to move out due to increasing rents, unhealthy living conditions and threats from their landlords.
"I think the high costs of housing and utilities are impacting a larger segment of the population, from renters to home buyers and even folks owning their home outright but struggling to keep up with inflation," said Brian Mayer, a professor of sociology in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences who directs the Poverty in Tucson Field Workshop. "And we are seeing the impact of these costs on residents' well-being – from food insecurity to mental health distress. I hope that data we share with our partners like the City of Tucson can help generate solutions to improve the lives of everyone in Tucson."
The drop-in event will feature brief remarks from Mayer starting at 9:30 a.m.
Since 2015, the Poverty in Tucson Field Workshop has collaborated with the City of Tucson, Pima County and local nonprofits, including Habitat for Humanity Tucson. Its focus is to gain insight into how low-income residents navigate challenges and sustain themselves in the Tucson metro area.
The community forum is free and open to the public.
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Researcher contact:
Brian Mayer
School of Sociology
520-626-2190
brianmayer@arizona.edu
Media contact:
Laurie Galbraith
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
520-626-1219
lgalbraith@arizona.edu
The University of Arizona, a land-grant institution with two independently accredited medical schools, ranks among the nation's top universities, according to U.S. News & World Report. Established in 1885, the university is widely recognized as student-centric and has been designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. As a leading Research 1 institution, the University of Arizona ranks in the top 20 among all public universities with $955 million in annual research expenditures according to the National Science Foundation. The university advances the frontiers of interdisciplinary scholarship and entrepreneurial partnerships as a member of the Association of American Universities, the 71 leading public and private research universities in the U.S. and Canada. It benefits the state of Arizona with an estimated economic impact of $4.1 billion annually.