🏘️ Housing First, Ask Questions Later: Tucson's Bold Move to End Homelessness

🌡️ Desert Gardens in Crisis: Tucson's Green Thumbs Face Climate Change Head-On

Based on the 10/17/24 Buckmaster Show on KVOI-1030AM.

🙊 Notable quotes from the show

• "We went from this sort of small groups here and there to these larger encampments." - Tom Litwicki, discussing the increase in visible homelessness in Tucson

• "Housing First is exactly a nice model in the sense that the title is exactly what it is. It's housing first." - Tom Litwicki, explaining the Housing First approach

• "This is a really good time to look at plants that are not as stressed, make a note of what they are, and think about putting those in your landscape." - Deborah North, advising on climate-adaptive gardening

• "When you drove around during, after those big storms, typically you saw that the roots of those trees had not extended out to the drip line of what was growing above soil." - Deborah North, on the importance of proper tree planting

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⏮️ ICYMI: From the Last Show…

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😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾

🏠🌱 Tucson is helping people without homes by giving them houses first before fixing other problems. It's working well! 🌡️🌿 The weather is getting hotter, so people who like to grow plants are learning new ways to keep their gardens happy. They're planting veggies that like cooler weather and finding clever ways to save water. 💧🌳 They're also learning how to plant trees so they don't fall over in big storms. Everyone's working together to make Tucson a better place for people and plants! 🤗🌻

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🗝️ Takeaways

• 🏠 Housing First approach shows promising results in addressing homelessness

• 🌡️ Climate change is forcing Tucson gardeners to adapt planting practices

• 💧 Water conservation and harvesting are crucial for desert gardening

• 🌱 Fall is ideal for planting nutritious, cool-season crops in Tucson

• 🌳 Proper tree planting and care is essential for withstanding extreme weather

• 🤝 Community efforts like plant sales support local gardening education

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⏬ Jump to the 🦉 Three Sonorans Commentary based on:

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📻 What They Discussed

On October 17, 2024, the Bill Buckmaster Show, guest-hosted by Tim Steller of the Arizona Daily Star, delved into two pressing issues facing Tucson: homelessness and climate-adaptive gardening. The show featured two distinguished guests:

• Tom Litwicki, CEO of Old Pueblo Community Services, discussed the organization's new Center for Housing First and the challenges of homelessness in Tucson and

• Deborah North, a Master Gardener with Pima County Cooperative Extension, offered insights on fall gardening techniques and adapting to climate change in the region.

🏠 Tackling Homelessness: Tucson's Housing First Initiative

Tom Litwicki, CEO of Old Pueblo Community Services, painted a stark picture of the homelessness situation in Tucson. Over the past decade, the number of people experiencing homelessness has skyrocketed from around 350 to over 3,000 individuals on the streets. This dramatic increase has led to larger encampments, a significant shift from the smaller, scattered groups of the past.

Litwicki explained that the surge in homelessness is attributed to various factors, including an affordable housing crisis, untreated mental illness, substance abuse (particularly the rise of fentanyl addiction), and economic challenges affecting older adults and families facing homelessness for the first time.

Central to the discussion was the Housing First approach, which Old Pueblo Community Services champions. This evidence-based model prioritizes providing stable housing to individuals experiencing homelessness before addressing other issues, such as addiction or unemployment. Litwicki emphasized the effectiveness of this approach, citing impressive success rates: 50% of individuals in their programs move into permanent housing, and 85% remain housed after two years.

The newly opened Center for Housing First is a hub for implementing this approach, offering various services, including intake and assessment, screening services, case management, outpatient behavioral health services, employment services, and community partnerships. Litwicki stressed that while the center itself is not a shelter, it supports and coordinates with multiple locations throughout Tucson, including two new shelters set to open next year.

The discussion also touched on the concept of "compassionate shelter," which Litwicki described as a low-barrier approach that doesn't require individuals to change who they are or prove they deserve shelter and safety as long as they don't harm themselves or others.

🌱 Adapting to a Changing Climate: Tucson's Gardening Challenge

The show's second segment shifted focus to gardening, with Master Gardener Deborah North offering valuable insights on fall planting and adapting to Tucson's changing climate. The recent record-breaking heat wave, 18 record hot days out of 19 from late September to early October, has significantly impacted local gardening practices.

North emphasized the need for gardeners to observe and select resilient plants, implement efficient irrigation systems, practice water conservation techniques, and adapt planting schedules to changing weather patterns. She also highlighted the importance of passive rainwater harvesting and explained techniques for channeling and utilizing natural rainfall effectively.

The discussion covered the ideal timing for fall planting, noting that consistent nighttime temperatures of 55°F signal the transition from warm to cool-season gardening.

North emphasized the nutritional value of cool-season crops, explaining that they often have higher nutritional content than summer vegetables due to their proximity to the ground and soil nutrients. She also advised succession planting for herbs like cilantro to ensure a continuous harvest.

🌳 Rooting for Resilience: Tree Care in a Changing Climate

In light of recent storms that uprooted many trees in Tucson, North provided crucial advice on proper tree planting and care.

She stressed the importance of planting trees in native soil without amendments, watering deeply and infrequently to encourage deep root growth, and extending watering to the tree's drip line.

North also advised being mindful of tree species selection, noting that some varieties, like the Desert Museum Palo Verde, were particularly vulnerable to recent storms.

💧 Water Wisdom: Conservation in the Desert

Water conservation was a recurring theme throughout the segment. North emphasized the need for gardeners to invest in water-efficient irrigation systems and practice passive and active rainwater harvesting.

She explained the concept of passive rainwater harvesting, which involves observing property water flow and creating swales, basins, and berms to channel water to plants effectively. Active rainwater harvesting, using cisterns or barrels to collect roof runoff, was also discussed to maximize limited rainfall.

🌡️ Growing in the Heat: Climate Change and Tucson's Gardens

The impact of climate change on local gardening practices was a significant topic of discussion. North stressed the importance of flexibility and observation, encouraging gardeners to note which plants thrive in changing conditions and to consider drought-tolerant and heat-resistant plant varieties. She also touched on the potential for more erratic rainfall patterns, emphasizing the need for water conservation and harvesting techniques.

The conversation included a brief mention of a recent UA-led study charting 485 million years of Earth's average temperatures, which highlighted the unprecedented rate of current temperature increases and their potential impact on plant and animal adaptation.

🌻 Community Growth: Master Gardeners' Plant Sale

The segment concluded with information about the upcoming Master Gardeners' fall plant sale, a fundraiser offering a variety of plants, including cacti, succulents, vines, fruit trees, and herbs. This event not only supports the self-funded Master Gardener program but also provides an opportunity for community members to access plants well-suited to Tucson's changing climate.

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🦉 Three Sonorans Commentary

🌵 Unrooted: Tucson's Struggle with Homelessness and Climate Justice in the Borderlands

In the heart of the Sonoran Desert, where the legacy of settler colonialism still echoes through the land and its people, Tucson finds itself at the crossroads of two pressing crises: a surge in homelessness and the escalating impacts of climate change. The recent Buckmaster Show, featuring Tom Litwicki of Old Pueblo Community Services and Master Gardener Deborah North, scratched the surface of these intertwined issues. However, as progressive Chicano journalists, we must dig deeper into these problems' systemic roots and question the adequacy of the proposed solutions.

🏘️ Housing First: A Band-Aid on a Gaping Wound?

While the Housing First approach championed by Old Pueblo Community Services is undoubtedly a step in the right direction, we must ask: Is it enough? Tom Litwicki's statement that "Housing first is exactly a nice model in the sense that the title is exactly what it is. It's housing first" sounds promising. Still, it fails to address the underlying causes of homelessness.

The surge from 350 to over 3,000 people experiencing homelessness in Tucson is not just a local anomaly—it's a symptom of a broken system rooted in centuries of dispossession and exploitation. The affordable housing crisis, untreated mental illness, and the ravages of addiction are all products of a capitalist system that prioritizes profit over people, a system that has historically marginalized Indigenous, Chicano, and other communities of color.

While providing housing is crucial, we must also push for:

• Rent control and tenant protections, particularly in historically redlined neighborhoods

• Universal healthcare, including comprehensive mental health services and culturally competent care

• Decriminalization of drug use and investment in evidence-based addiction treatment

• Living wages and job guarantees, with a focus on green jobs and traditional ecological knowledge

Without addressing these systemic issues, we risk perpetuating a cycle of poverty and homelessness that disproportionately affects our comunidades.

🌡️ Climate Change: Garden Variety Solutions Won't Cut It

While informative, the discussion on adapting gardening practices to climate change barely scratches the surface of the environmental justice issues at play. Deborah North's advice to "look at plants that are not as stressed, make a note of what they are and think about putting those in your landscape" is well-intentioned but woefully inadequate in the face of the climate crisis.

As temperatures soar and droughts intensify in our desert home, we must recognize that individual actions like choosing resilient plants or practicing water conservation, while important, are not enough to combat the global threat of climate change. We need to demand:

• Immediate and drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, holding corporations accountable for their outsized impact

• Investment in renewable energy infrastructure, prioritizing community-owned solar and wind projects

• Protection and restoration of native ecosystems, guided by Indigenous knowledge and stewardship

• Climate reparations for Indigenous communities and those most affected by climate change, including migrant communities forced to flee environmental devastation

Moreover, we must acknowledge the disproportionate impact of climate change on low-income communities and communities of color in Tucson and beyond. The same neighborhoods struggling with homelessness are often the most vulnerable to extreme heat, poor air quality, and limited access to green spaces. This is not a coincidence but a result of systemic environmental racism that has plagued our communities for generations.

💧 Water Justice in the Desert

The conversation about water conservation in gardening opens up a larger discussion about water rights and access in the Southwest. As we face increasing water scarcity, we must question who has access to this vital resource and who benefits from current water management practices.

Historically, Indigenous communities have been systematically denied their water rights while large agricultural corporations and suburban developments have drained our aquifers. Any discussion of water conservation must include the following:

• Restoration of water rights to Indigenous nations

• Regulation of corporate water use, particularly in water-intensive industries

• Investment in water infrastructure for underserved communities

• Promotion of traditional, water-wise agricultural practices

🌱 Decolonizing Our Gardens and Our Minds

While the Master Gardeners program provides valuable knowledge, we must also recognize and uplift the traditional ecological knowledge of Indigenous and Chicano communities that have thrived in this desert for millennia. Our ancestors developed sophisticated desert agriculture and water harvesting methods that are often overlooked in mainstream gardening discourse.

We call for:

• Integration of Indigenous and traditional knowledge into Master Gardener programs

• Support for community gardens in low-income neighborhoods, promoting food sovereignty

• Education on native plant species and their cultural significance

• Rejection of non-native, water-intensive lawns and landscapes that perpetuate colonial aesthetics

As progressive Chicano journalists, we are responsible for pushing these conversations beyond surface-level solutions and challenging the status quo. While initiatives like the Center for Housing First and adaptive gardening techniques are steps in the right direction, they must be part of a larger movement for social, economic, and environmental justice.

We must recognize that the struggles for housing rights, environmental justice, and Indigenous sovereignty are deeply interconnected. Only by addressing these issues holistically, with a clear understanding of their historical and systemic roots, can we hope to create a truly just and sustainable future for all inhabitants of the Sonoran Desert.

In the words of the great Chicana theorist Gloria Anzaldúa, "I change myself, I change the world." Let us change ourselves by decolonizing our minds and practices and, in doing so, change our world for the better. La lucha sigue, and we must continue to fight for justice on all fronts—in our homes, in our gardens, and in our communities.

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👯 People Mentioned

• Tim Steller

  • Guest host of the Buckmaster Show

  • Columnist for the Arizona Daily Star

  • No direct quotes, but led the discussions on homelessness and gardening

• Tom Litwicki

  • CEO of Old Pueblo Community Services

  • Advocate for the Housing First approach

  • Quote: "We went from this sort of small groups here and there to these larger encampments."

  • Quote: "Housing first is exactly a nice model in the sense that the title is exactly what it is. It's housing first."

• Deborah North

  • Master Gardener with Pima County Cooperative Extension

  • Expert on local gardening and climate adaptation

  • Quote: "This is a really good time to look at plants that are not as stressed, make a note of what they are and think about putting those in your landscape."

  • Quote: "When you drove around during, after those big storms, typically you saw that the roots of those trees had not extended out to the drip line of what was growing above soil."

• Bill Buckmaster

  • Regular host of the Buckmaster Show (mentioned but not present in this episode)

  • No direct quotes

• Tom Fairbranks

  • On the controls for the Buckmaster Show

  • No direct quotes

• Paul

  • Caller to the show

  • Shared memories of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

  • Quote: "My two brothers, uh, back just before the second world war, both belong to the, uh, uh, CCC boys, a federal program, and they worked in the, uh, in the mountains and national parks and so forth, building fences and roads and so forth."

• Gloria Anzaldúa

  • Not mentioned in the transcript, but referenced in the Three Sonorans Commentary

  • Chicana theorist and writer

  • Quote: "I change myself, I change the world."

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