Pro Neighborhoods: organizing the community one grant at a time

It’s time for PRO Neighborhood’s annual Community Organizing Course, starting September 7. The course fee has been lowered to $25.

This course is geared toward neighborhood residents, non-profit staff responsible for community involvement, social services or social work students, and others interested in mobilizing neighborhood residents around their passions and skills.

Successful completion of the course requirements will result in three credits through Pima Community College and/or a Community Organizer Certificate from PRO Neighborhoods

The course consists of fifteen classes starting September 7 and ending November 30. Classes are held on Wednesday evenings and some Saturdays. Location of classes to be announced.

For more information and to register, call (520) 882-5885 or send an email to info@proneighborhoods.org.

Lisa Torres
Community Organizer
PRO Neighborhoods, www.proneighborhoods.org

738 N. 5th Ave, Suite 101
Tucson, AZ 85705

(520) 882-5885 work
(520) 207-8654 fax

For more info on Pro Neighborhoods (and the great work they do with small neighborhood grants, click here for a recent KUAT Channel 6 show highlighting a community mural project in Barrio Centro.) I’m a volunteer grant reviewer for Pro Neighborhoods and have helped select worthy and creative neighborhood projects over the years.

PRO Neighborhoods was created in 1994 by a collaboration of four entities. Current collaborative partners include City of Tucson, Pima County, Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, and United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona.

Wanted: Connectors

PRO Neighborhoods is looking for connectors! What/who is a connector? Read on (especially if you care about obesity).

PRO Neighborhoods is seeking 20-25 neighborhood “connectors” to be part of a network of “diverse individuals who are committed to mobilizing resources, strengthening the environment, and supporting the well-being of their neighborhoods. Ideal connectors are currently using an asset-based approach in their neighborhood work.”

Connectors encourage “genuine intergenerational participation. Using tools and resources provided by PRO Neighborhoods and the network, each connector will collaborate with neighbors, schools, businesses and institutions to:

–Build relationships among stakeholders
–Lead an assessment of the community’s health and wellness with an eye to reducing obesity
–Guide a community visioning process to propose solutions to issues revealed in the assessment.”

Those selected will make a 20-month commitment and receive a monthly stipend of $250. Grant funding and technical support will be available to help realize the action projects.

This sounds like a great goal & project, especially to combat obesity in Arizona, and to include inter-generational components, such as wise elders as well as young teens, also prone to obesity. And there’s even a monthly stipend!

If interested send a letter of interest to connectors@proneighborhoods.org by July 9.
For more information, contact Judith Anderson at (520) 882-5885 or at the same email aforementioned.

They are also once again offering their 3 month Community Organizing class, which I blogged about last summer (click here).

Pro Neighborhoods is moving in July to the Historic Y, 738 N. Fifth Avenue, Suite 101 Tucson, AZ 85701. Their phone number will remain the same, 520- 882-5885.

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