On Wednesday, March 29th, Steven Benitez, an Arizona Serve member serving with Chicanos Por La Causa working on the Cities & Counties for Citizenship mayoral initiative, received a high honor from Mayor Rothschild when he was awarded the Mayor’s National Service Award. Mayor Rothschild commended Steven for his tireless efforts to make citizenship achievable and accessible to eligible Tucson residents.
The 2017 Mayor and County Day of Recognition for National Service in Tucson was celebrated at the 29th Street Coalition Center, one of the local Pima Community College campuses. A total of 9 National Service teams were in attendance or represented by their staff, including: Arizona Conservation Corps, Arizona Serve, Northern Arizona University AmeriCorps, Northern Arizona University Foster Grandparents, Our Family Services Senior Companions, Pima Community College Adult Basic Education AmeriCorps, Pima Prevention Partnership AmeriCorps, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Wildcat Corps, State of Arizona Refugee Resettlement VISTA, and the National Civilian Community Corps team serving the Tucson Community Schools Initiative. Over 170 attendees filled the room as speeches were made from Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, Assistant Principal of TUSD Mark Alvarez, Vice President for Adult Basic Education for College and Career at Pima Community College Regina Suitt, Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias, as well as an alumna from Arizona Conservation Corps. Four Mayor’s National Service Awards were presented to each local stream of service, including VISTA, AmeriCorps State, Senior Corps, and NCCC. This event was an opportunity to celebrate the impacts our National Service programs make in this region and learn from our local elected officials how much they value and support the continuation of National Service programs in the future.
Hiring AmeriCorps VISTAs has been an effective strategy for CC4C cities and counties to address staffing and resource needs to support their naturalization efforts. CC4C joins Mayor Rothschild in congratulating Steven Benitez for his work and commitment to help the immigrant community advance in Tucson!