Happy October! We hope that you are enjoying the cooler weather inArizona. We have been busier than ever at Compass Affordable Housing. So much so that we fell behind a bit with our newsletter, now slated for November and our Annual Program Data Report.

Please refer to https://compassaffordablehousing.org/impact/#Annual-Report on this website to view the report.

You will see in the report that we delivered over nine tons of food to low-income households living in CAH-owned properties and to people in the larger community. We call it Your Healthy Home Market (YHHM). This innovative program started several years ago at the urging of volunteers and staff wanting to find other ways to help people with fixed and little or no income afford to eat healthier, improve their diets and improve their health. There are no fees to tenants who shop for free. There has never been government funding or grants funding this effort.

We rely upon donations from people like you to help keep YHHM operating every year.

The market is set up and taken down at our apartment communities by tenant volunteers and then we deliver to local non-profits and shelters that serve women, families and youth. We also have our own gardens. One is at Alvord Court (photo above) and Downtown Motor Apartments. Both of those gardens provide fresh produce for tenants residing at each property.

The Market is an expansion of our Tenant Services program. It addresses the effects of food poverty by helping low-income households increase food security, access nutritious food, improve diets and learn about dietary habits that affect their wellbeing.

For questions about donating to Compass Affordable Housing, please call 520-627-1956.

Compass Affordable Housing has a comprehensive Tenant Services division that delivers much needed support at the properties we own. Among them is a project called “Your Healthy Home Market” (YHHM).

YHHM addresses the effects of food poverty experienced by the households we serve and those from the surrounding communities. It is a volunteer run market staffed by tenants and community members. The market enables low-income households to increase food security, access nutritious food, improve diets, and learn about dietary habits that affect their wellbeing. Three times each month Your Healthy Home Market delivers 600-1500 pounds of fresh food (each time) that includes proteins, vegetables, grains, fruits, breads, plants and herbs, and harvested produce from the Alvord Court Community Garden. Local partners provide educational sessions that range from learning about produce, budgeting for food, food and health, cooking techniques, etc. After the class tenants and community members “shop” for food at no cost to them.

The Market is supported by tenant volunteers, vegetables grown in the Alvord Court Community Garden, and collaborating partners such as Gap Ministries, the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Program and professionals from the community. Community education sessions include information about the produce on hand, budgeting, food and health, and cooking techniques. Here are some pictures of our most recent Your Healthy Home Market being set up to serve our tenants at Tucson House and Glenstone. We love what we do at Compass Affordable Housing!

For questions about donating to Compass Affordable Housing, please call 520-627-1956.

On May 24th, Compass Affordable Housing hosted 19 women from Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Columbia, the Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica.

Sponsored by the University of Arizona’s Center for Latin American Studies these young women are enrolled through the Study of US Institutes (SUSI).

The SUSI grant for Indigenous and Afro-Descendent Women Leaders hosts 40 university student women leaders from Latin America every year. These young women are students of medicine, architecture, engineering, law, etc.

They were serenaded by a mariachi band of students from Tucson and spent the morning with us.

We discussed leadership, social services, poverty, food, housing issues in all of the countries and how activism can make a difference. It was an inspiring and heartwarming event for everyone.

Thank you SUSI for the opportunity!