< 1 min read “A well-known soup kitchen in Southern Arizona, Casa Maria, is entering the housing market. “Casa Maria launched a campaign to try to raise $7 million for 365 units of affordable housing in the city of South Tucson,” says Roxanna Valenzuela, Casa Maria’s Community Organizer. In that effort, Casa Maria purchased El Camino Motel, located off 4th Avenue and I-10 Frontage Road, with plans to turn it into an affordable housing complex.”\ From KGUN9 Article https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/casa-maria-turns-el-camino-motel-into-affordable-housing-complex

6 min read September 16th marks the anniversary of Mexico’s declaration of independence from Spain. Although many in the United States might be unfamiliar with this date, the opposite is true across the US-Mexico borderlands. Tucson, itself once a part of Mexico, has a long history of celebrating Mexican Independence Day throughout the decades with fireworks, fiestas, parades, and lots of good food and music. Tucson’s first non-native settlers were Spanish soldiers and Franciscan missionaries. Originally a presidio on the frontier of New Spain, Tucson established itself as a Mexican community before the arrival of Anglo settlers.  Soldiers, farmers, desert-dwellers, northernmost defenders of

7 min read Many cities are looking at rent control as a viable solution to the obscene cost of living and the growing wealth gap that is tormenting working-class people across the United States. Even Tucsonans are seeing rents rise all over the Old Pueblo. Up to a criminal 50% in some cases. Stories circulate of people being displaced and it’s evident on the streets. Homeless camps are emerging and spreading like wildfire.  The blatant lack of affordable housing is increasing the state’s homeless population and leaving countless unsure of how they will make ends meet in the next months. Many Arizona politicians

8 min read Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. remains one of the most prominent icons of American history. Since his death, he’s been canonized as the embodiment of justice and peace in the United States. He is taught in our schools as a leader of the Civil Rights movement and is celebrated every January with a national holiday in his name. Although this recognition is well deserved, it’s important to remember how King was actually treated while he was alive. As well as how he has been sanitized after his death to fit a national delusion of progress and “color-blindness” that works to

< 1 min read Know your rights! In Arizona, there are specific laws that provide protection for tenants. Being informed when you are a renter allows you to know your rights and stand up for yourself when necessary. Visit our website to get a detailed guideline of your rights as a tenant.

< 1 min read Dear friends of Casa Maria, Thanks for all your past and current support. Several hundred people, including many families, still come here every morning for life-sustaining food. The soup we make is especially famous on the street. We continue to struggle to defend our barrio, aka The City of South Tucson aka Barrio Libre. Gentrification has morphed into the local and national Housing Crisis. Investors are snapping up every available property turning them into rentals and raising the rents big-time. This is creating massive uncertainty, desperation and suffering for many families already on the brink of being displaced. A house

4 min read The newest worker at Casa Maria, Tanya Núñez describes what led her to become a filmmaker and the importance of building a culture of resistance in South Tucson.

3 min read To: City of Tucson Planning Commission Daniel Bursuck, Planning and Development Services Regina Romero, Mayor Lane Santa Cruz, Ward 1 Councilperson Paul Cunningham, Ward 2 Councilperson Karin Uhlich, Ward 3 Councilperson Nikki Lee, Ward 4 Councilperson Richard Fimbres, Ward 5 Councilperson Steve Kozachik, Ward 6 Councilperson Michael Ortega, City Manager   From: Barrio Neighborhood Coalition   The Barrio Neighborhood Coalition (BNC) has been working tirelessly since 2018 to stress to Mayor and Council and City Staff just how important the issues of gentrification, displacement and housing affordability are.  Through our efforts, there is now a Commission on Equitable Housing and

3 min read Everyone who is homeless or teetering on the brink of being homeless or even those in this country who have recently tried to buy a house for under $200,000 or even $300,000 knows this is true. Some are making lots of money on the housing crisis. And it amounts to no less than class warfare against the middle class and especially the poor. It’s not magic or bad luck or some invisible hand of the market at work.                 This is about global economic forces whose policies and decisions seep all the way down to my barrio, the City of