For tattoo Removal
L.A.
Serving South Tucsonans
Second Chance Tattoo
Removal Program / Second Chance TRP
By Loni Nannini
SPECIAL TO THE ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona Published: 10.30.2005
Carlos Martinez is no stranger to hard work. He laid brick for
more than 40 years and then worked for Sunnyside Unified School District No. 12
for almost 10 more.
When he finally retired five years ago, he was inundated with so many home
projects that he decided he needed a diversion. He found it at the House of
Neighborly Service.
"Volunteering is a break from the work at home, and in the long run I like to
help people," Martinez said. "Your health is really what counts more in the
world. Keeping people with good food and getting them medications they need and
rides to go to the doctor's office - lots of volunteers do different stuff to
help the community at the House of Neighborly Service."
The 69-year-old Tucson native does his part at the House of Neighborly Service
food pantry, where he distributes food to clients and uses his truck to
transport pantry donations. Martinez likes the fact that his efforts reach South
Tucsonans of all ages.
"They are definitely counting on the food," he said. "Some people are really
hurting, especially some of the single men who have no spouse and have to take
care of themselves. They don't cook too much, so they depend on canned food and
things they can do easily in the microwave.
"And the women with kids in school are hurting, too. Sometimes I count five or
six kids in the families, and the bag won't take care of the whole family for a
month, but it really helps them make it."
The food pantry is just one program through the House of Neighborly Service,
which has been serving South Tucson since 1946 as a mission of the Presbytery de
Cristo (Presbyterian church). The nonprofit organization is supported by several
churches, private donors and grants from Pima County, the Stocker Foundation and
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Annually, it serves more than 400 young
people through various programs including after-school tutoring, youth
mentoring, the Second Chance Tattoo
Removal program, a Native American Youth Program, a baile folklorico
group that performs nationwide and a youth basketball league. About 600 children
in Pima County benefit from a Double-Dutch jump-rope program designed to promote
fun and fitness. The organization is also a member of the South Tucson
Prevention Collaborative, which is dedicated to the prevention of HIV/AIDS and
substance abuse among Latino teens.
"In all of our youth programs, we incorporate gang or substance abuse prevention
programming, and in different programs we also incorporate life skills training:
discipline, goal-setting, rules and consequences," said Kimberly Sierra-Cajas,
director of the House of Neighborly Service. "Our goal is to keep kids healthy
and safe and help them to grow up to be responsible, successful adults."
On the other end of the spectrum, the organization runs one of the only
volunteer caregiving programs for Spanish-speaking seniors on the South Side.
More than 125 seniors receive grocery delivery through a Brown Bag program,
transportation to appointments and the grocery store and assistance with yard
work and light housekeeping. A Senior Meal Program provides lunch twice weekly;
the group also enjoys monthly field trips and lectures.
"I feel like we make a great impact on the community. We have been in South
Tucson for about 60 years and were one of the first nonprofit organizations to
serve the Mexican-American community on the South Side and have a long history
of helping meet the needs of South Tucson," said Sierra-Cajas, who is grateful
to the 284 volunteers who donated 4,183 hours of service last year.
She is working to boost the volunteer base by reaching out to former clients and
the community at large.
"There are a lot of people out there in Tucson who have a connection to the
House of Neighborly Service, and we are hoping they will come to visit and see
if they can contribute back to the agency that helped them when they were
little," Sierra-Cajas said. As for Martinez, he thinks it is a great place to
encourage the values he and his wife, Bobbie, have tried to instill in their
four children and adopted grandchildren Barbie Rodriguez and Angel Lopez. The
couple also has five other grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and a foster
child through Casey Family Programs.
"Kids need parents to take care of them and to teach them the facts of life for
health and security and make sure they get a good education. That is important,"
he said.
Martinez said though they might not be considered wealthy, they get along fine
and are rich in family.
"The family - like my wife says, 'I don't know what they will do when we leave.'
We are always trying to help ours and others and it has been a lot of fun - a
lot of experience, anyway," he said.
● Contact freelance writer Loni Nannini at
ninch@comcast.net.
