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Calling All Gardeners!
Our volunteers, Michelle and Mike Sheehan, recently moved to a home that has an overabundance of beautiful cacti. They have generously offered to donate many of their cactus as Michelle re-landscapes her yards. So, we are planning to hold a cactus and plant sale fundraiser in the fall. To do this, we need a team to help organize the event as well as many gardeners (and novice gardeners) to donate, pot, and propagate cacti over the summer. We really need a few people with experience with plant sales! Please get in touch with Yolanda Sethi (Yolanda.sethi@thehomingproject.org) if you would like to join the cactus/plant sale committee and/or donate plants for the sale. | | | |
We’ve already paid for the micro-shelters, the bathhouse, engineering, site work and utilities, but there are still a lot of things needed. Can you help? Needed Items Unit Cost Number Needed Outdoor covered dining area (32' by 32') for dining, socializing, and meetings: Dining table for 6 $150 each 4 Chairs for mixed-use common area $50 each 24 13' post supports for dining canopy $250 per pair 3 pairs 12” by 12” concrete tiles for patio $1.60 each 1,200
Bike rack $455 1
Household items: Twin size blankets $25 10 Standard size pillows $18 each 10 Twin size mattress covers $15 each 10 Bath soap for entire village $12/month Monthly Shampoo for entire village $15/month Monthly
Laundry: Laundry soap, biodegradable $20/resident Monthly Clothesline poles, concrete for installation, line, and clothes pins $120 1
Solar energy system: Solar panel, installed, incl. system design cost $500 30
Water conservation & reuse Rain barrels and gutters for rain harvesting $750 3 from larger buildings Gray water diversion device for laundry $800 each 2
Security
Opaque privacy fence $45/foot installed 500 ft. Overnight onsite guard $336 per 12 hr. shift 365 per year
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Night Art Market Saturday, July 26th, 2025, 6:00 to 9:00 PM, at The Coalition Space, in the Made in Tucson Market, 311 E 7th Street Summer is upon us. With temperatures soaring past 100 degrees, the days are scorching, but the Arizona heat won’t stop the dedicated volunteers of The Homing Project, who’ve teamed up with the compassionate folks at Made in Tucson to bring to you a Night Art Market. Together, they have designed a community event that fosters art, creativity, purpose, and connection. Join us Saturday, July 26th at The Coalition Space to escape the summer heat and enjoy an evening out with Tucson’s vibrant community, locally crafted art, live musicians, and street vendors. This lively event transforms a summer night in Downtown Tucson into a hub for local art with activities for everyone. Activities include (but are not limited to): ● Pay-As-You-Wish Gallery: An area stocked with handmade art, donated by Tucson-based artists, organized by suggested prices. ● Live Auction: Here, you can put your strategic thinking skills to the test by bidding on one-of-a-kind artworks and unique items. ● Card-Making Station: Get creative and craft bright, colorful welcome cards for future pod residents. ● Learn About The Homing Project: Want to know more about our work? Stop by our information booth to learn about our mission, needs, and upcoming volunteer opportunities. We are grateful to Made in Tucson, who have graciously helped coordinate this event as well as donate the use of The Coalition Space to The Homing Project. Donations like this allow The Homing Project to advance our purpose of supporting unhoused individuals of southern Arizona, to work tirelessly to change the conversation surrounding the unhoused, and to address gaps in the social and economic services available to these individuals. So, whether you come to enjoy the art, to sample the street food, to support our mission or just to have a fun evening out, this event is for you! Hope to see you on July 26th at The Coalition Space for a fun-filled night!
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El Tour De Tucson November 22nd, 2025
The Homing Project has registered as a Non-profit Partner with El Tour de Tucson!
This means we will be part of the November 22, 2025 El Tour Event, including the Zenni Expo & cycling teams! Participants can choose from a multitude of levels for fundraising: 102 mile, 62 mile, 32 mile, family fun ride, and a 5K walk/run.
Look for more information in our July newsletter on volunteer opportunities, and on signing up to ride on our team!
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On May 21st a group of The Homing Project volunteers gathered at Cathey's Sewing Down the Block to sew 60 curtains for the new micro-shelters. These curtains will provide privacy for our residents and help create warm, welcoming spaces. A big Thank You to Cathey’s Vacuum and Sewing, 5701 E. Speedway Blvd., for donating the time, space, and use of your machines so our volunteers could make curtains for the micro-shelters. Thank you! | | | |
Nanci Priest and Kristin Davis, Board of Directors Members, reviewed When We Walk By, by Kevin F. Adler and Donald W. Burnes
The Homing Project was honored to have Co-author Kevin F. Adler of WHEN WE WALK BY: Forgotten Humanity, Broken Systems, And The Role We Can Each Play In Ending Homelessness In America at our Tucson Festival of Books booth to sell and sign his book for interested Readers - Thank you Kevin! Tony Messenger, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Profit and Punishment, said “In a book that explores our national failures and points to common sense fixes, the authors challenge us to see the humanity of our neighbors and care more deeply about the societal failures that lead to too many people ending up on the streets when alternatives, safer options exist. This book should guide policymakers, and quickly, as they seek a cure to what ails our nation.” Chapter by chapter, Adler and Burnes provide sobering statistics regarding our nation’s social, economic and political forces, but lifts up personal experiences regarding relational poverty with the hope of redeeming fixes through Miracle Messages and the possibility of Miracle Money. Each chapter concludes with a helpful recap and the end of the book with Recommended Media — Books, Documentaries and Videos. Specifically, Adler adds a whole complimentary vocabulary to our understanding of the homelessness crisis: relational poverty is the isolation, loneliness, anxiety, and shame the homeless experience . The unhoused are the homeless; forgotten humanity is “walking by” without looking. The issues span the lack of homes, health, criminal justice, family welfare, and humanity. The failures are our basic humanity, our service system and our reactive detachment.
The stigma is the perceived character flaws, rather than circumstances and we become paternalistic in our thinking—“what is good for me is good for them.” We treat them with contempt, exclusion and discrimination. Options for them are shelters and tent cities. About half of the unhoused have jobs, but not a living wage. Housing is a health care issue and its absence is a death sentence. There is a revolving door between the unhoused and the criminal justice system: jail, shelters, and the street. One third of foster children become 'unhoused' [Ed.] and a quarter of the unhoused are under 25
Homelessness cannot be solved from a distance. A well researched, well documented worthy read on the topic of those who are unhoused -“ a deeply humanizing analysis that will change the way you think about poverty and homelessness.”
| | | | | | | | | | Help the Cause -- Buy some Raffle Tickets! | |
Jim Click Raffle 2025. Enter to win a 2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid SX PrestigeTickets are $25 each or 5 for $100. Every dollar of our raffle ticket sales goes to The Homing Project! Purchase raffle tickets on the project website. | | | | | | Volunteer Meeting Location Change
Beginning in May, The Homing Project's monthly volunteer meetings have moved to a new location: the City of Tucson Ward 3 meeting room, located at 1510 E. Grant Rd. City Council Member Kevin Dahl and his Ward 3 staff have been dedicated supporters of our efforts since SALT made their site available for THP's village, and we appreciate their ongoing partnership in helping us establish our first village.
Meetings will continue to be held from 10 AM to 12 PM on the last Saturday of each month. The board and volunteer meeting dates are found in a schedule included below.
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The Homing Project Board Meeting and Volunteer Meeting Dates
Month Board Mtg Volunteers Mtg
June 2025 Wed. 25th Sat. 28th
July 2025 Wed. 23rd Sat. 26th
August 2025 Wed. 27th Sat. 30th
September 2025 Wed. 24th Sat. 27th
October 2025 Wed. 22nd Sat. 25th
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Board Meetings convene at Kris Olson’s home at 5:30 PM. Volunteers are welcome to attend.
Volunteer Meetings are now being held at 10 AM on last Saturdays, as shown above, at City of Tucson Ward 3 meeting room, 1510 E. Grant Rd. Join us to plan new events and to discuss past ones. |
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Thank you for choosing to serve our community with us, from the Board and Newsletter Staff of The Homing Project!
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The Homing Project Newsletter Joe Vaughan produced this month’s newsletter with assistance from Lisa Ann Landy. Email suggestions of items for inclusion to: newsletter@thehomingproject.org | | | | | | | | | | | |
