Join a community. As part of the Tucson Voluntary Service unit you will share community life in a spacious house situated between Shalom Mennonite Fellowship and Community Home Repair Project of Arizona, (CHRPA, one of Tucson’s service placement opportunities). The unit has one vehicle and commuter bikes for volunteers, with easy access to a main bike path. The unit also houses backyard chickens, features an outdoor shower, and is powered by solar panels on the roof.
Tucson is a vibrant university city (University of Arizona), close to the Mexican border, and neighboring the land of the Tohono O’odham Nation. This unique placement makes Tucson a city rich with heritage and culture, and even has the distinction of being the first UNESCO City of Gastronomy in the United States! Tucson offers many free or low-cost activities including: biking, hiking, and camping in four mountain ranges that surround the city, festivals, community bike rides, concerts, museums, shows, and special events.
Join a congregation. Shalom Mennonite Fellowship, an intercultural faith community, welcomes your participation in our immigration justice work, our commitment to creation care, and our worship and community life. Shalom Mennonite Fellowship is the supporting congregation for the Tucson MVS unit. Church members are supportive and involved with a variety of local nonprofits, including a community garden, and centers for health care, homelessness, and food justice. Tucson’s location by the border makes it a hub for immigration work. You will have the opportunity to tap into a wide network of people and organizations (in which Shalom passionately participates) working toward justice and safety for migrants, as well as touring and experiencing first-hand the work on the border. Shalom invites the unit to join them in their informal and casual worship as participants and as beloved members of the community. You can learn more about the congregation on their website: www.shalommennonite.org
Join a cause. Previous participants have served with migrant and refugee services, built wheelchair ramps while doing housing and home repair, planted gardens with the community food bank, led border tours, taught with literacy and English language programs, and helped with administrative work in low income health centers. MVS participants have served in many capacities over the years and Tucson is ripe with opportunities for the future.
For more information about the Tucson unit, visit their website at www.tucsonmvs.org
