In 2012, a group of grassroots Vail residents, saw a need for community services in the Greater Vail Community and approached IMPACT of Southern Arizona to see if we would be willing to expand our programs into their community.
They didn’t want to start a new non-profit from scratch and knew Impact had been successfully providing a wide variety of social service programs to people of all ages in NW Tucson since 2000.
The board was preparing to work on a new strategic plan and asked the Impact staff to do a community needs assessment and hold stakeholder meetings. This was done in collaboration with the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. They encouraged Impact to take on the challenge to meet the needs of 660 different Vail area families traveling North 30 miles roundtrip for a few days of food assistance. Pima Council on Aging was also excited to have IMPACT expand into SE Pima County. Local businesses, clubs, fire department, law enforcement agencies and the school district also embraced the opportunity.
The Vail program office was opened in April of 2013 in the Old Vail Station Shopping Center, and recently celebrated three full years of service to the Greater Vail Community. In the first month of operation six families came in for help. Since then 875 different households have been provided with supplemental groceries and toiletries, many returning monthly. IMPACT has been providing 150 Thanksgiving Dinner kits to low income families each year, with the support of American Legion Riders. Grace Fellowship Church, Vail Chamber of Commerce, IMPACT volunteers and school counselors, continue to work together to ensure that thirty-five to fifty highly food insecure students take home packs of meals and snacks each weekend. Ten to fifteen homebound seniors receive five frozen meals each week, thanks to a corps of volunteer delivery drivers. Volunteers also drive seniors to their doctor appointments.
Other programs and services that have been established through IMPACT’s collaborative initiatives include the following:
- Dozens of children have the opportunity to select a brand new pair of shoes for back to school IMPACT of Southern Arizona |Payless Shoe Source | Rincon Optimist Club
- Esmond Station School K-8 community garden project, feeding children and the community through the food bank. IMPACT of Southern Arizona | Vail Preservation Society | Vail School District and JTED
- Expansion of the Angel Tree Holiday Gift project to include a wider range of low income students and their pre-k siblings. IMPACT of Southern Arizona |Vail School District |local Churches | Greater Vail Chamber of Commerce
- Adults and children in our service area have access to free diapers and incontinence supplies. IMPACT of Southern Arizona |Diaper Bank of Southern Arizona
- Beginning ESL classes starting this coming school year. IMPACT of Southern Arizona |local Volunteers | Literacy Connects
The success and growth of the Vail programs has been in large part due to the rich collaboration of many groups, including: local area businesses, schools, social service clubs, churches, and corporate employees. Other factors that have played a significant role include IMPACT’s financial investment and the tireless commitment of more than 100 generous community members who have regularly given their time, energy and passion to the mission, and most importantly, Karen McNinch, our IMPACT staff member. As Vail Program Manager she does a great job rallying support and awareness for the Vail programs and relies heavily on the assistance of the sixty-five current volunteers.
Vail has shown tremendous growth and now a group of local residents have expressed a desire to manage and expand Vail community social services on their own. To do this they are establishing a new non-profit called Greater Vail Community Resources or GVCR. IMPACT’s board representatives from Vail will join the GVCR board to lend their expertise in order to make the transition as smooth as possible. In order to give GVCR time to become established IMPACT will remain in Vail through December 31, 2016, at which time they will turn over those operations to the new organization.
IMPACT and GVCR appreciates the opportunity to work with the Vail community and improve the lives of its residents.
