4 min readThis is the Advent greeting we sent out this year. We want to make sure we reach all our gente so we translated it into Spanish. ADVENT 2016 Dear Friends of Casa Maria, Thanks to the generosity of you all, four hundred to five hundred individuals and more than 150 families continue to eat here every day. Without you it would not be possible to practice these works of mercy daily. We all continue to survive but for sure the times are a changing… for the worse! We expect that low income people, especially black and brown people, will very

3 min readThursday morning, after seeing Betts Putnam-Hidalgo’s opinion article in the editorial of the Arizona Daily Star, I wrote a letter to the editor. I do not have the same privilege that Betts has, whether based on skin or big money backers that pay for full page adds like Jim Click, so you know the Star didn’t print my letter. This is the letter I sent to the editor of the Daily Star. Please share! It’s our last chance to get the word out before the elections tomorrow. Betts Putnam-Hidalgo’s guest opinion, ‘TUSD board, leader must stop leaving teachers behind’ is blatantly

2 min readDavid Safier writes a great blog on an online daily dispatch by the Tucson Weekly called The Range. by Cesar Aguirre Over the past few weeks I’ve had some interesting conversations with teachers and parents about this year’s TUSD school board elections. It seems that these conversations are usually sparked by something they have read or seen on the tv news. I don’t own a tv so I look online after finding out about the stories from others. Of course I read the paper so I see how the Daily Star loves to go after TUSD, the Board Majority , and especially the

< 1 min readThe Casa Maria Voter Project is out on the streets in Tucson’s southside to help build power in our barrio.

2 min readKeynote speakers State Sen. Steve Farley and scientist Gregg Garfin, as well as the distinguished panel, drove home the point that to raise bus fares in this era of climate change is not in the interest of increased transit ridership. Last night it was made clear that for the Council to vote for increases in September would not be wise for them or in the interest of poor people and the planet. So what’s next? This is only the beginning, we must act now to stop fare increases and fight climate change! GRACIAS A TODOS LOS QUE ASISTIERON A LA JUNTA

2 min readLooking for inspiration in the struggle against oppressors of poor people and the planet on the eve of the Bus Rider Union sponsored Climate Change Summit… This article was sent to us by long time Casa Maria supporter Paul Crowley, with a note saying, “this was the best article on Ali that I have ever read.”   Click here to check it out “‘I Just Wanted to Be Free’: The Radical Reverberations of Muhammad Ali”-by Dave Zirin   MUHAMMAD ALI…el santo guerrero, el atleta mas importante que jamas haya existido En busca de inspiración en la lucha contra los opresores de los