GETTING BY: 20% OF PIMA COUNTY RESIDENTS LIVE IN POVERTY Find out what being poor means in Southern Arizona in our week-long series
The U.S. Census Bureau has named Tucson among the most impoverished large U.S. cities, based on the number of people living in poverty.
In a week-long series, Getting By: Living Between the Poverty Lines, Arizona Public Media explores that statistic with stories about the lives of the impoverished.
The series:
Monday, July 15: AZ Illustrated Metro focuses on homelessness.
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Meet a Vietnam veteran who was homeless for decades, and the program that provided housing for him in the past year.
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A new master's degree at the University of Arizona focuses on combating poverty and hunger. The School of Geography and Development explains the education program and its effects.
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Several agencies, non-profit organizations and religious groups offer services for people who are homeless, or on the verge of homelessness, in the Tucson area. We take you to three of them.
Tuesday, July 16: AZ Illustrated Science explores the relationship between income and health.
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Find out how poverty and mental health can intersect. Access to health care is a major problem for Pima County residents living at or below the poverty line.
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Since 1976, the Mobile Health Program, part of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the UA College of Medicine, brings medical care to those who are unable to afford and access it.
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Learn about telepsychiatry's role in the lives of those who can't travel long distances for health care.
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The United Community Health Center operates a mobile dental clinic to provide dentistry to uninsured or underinsured patients at schools in rural areas. Get a glimpse of the roaming dental office and its effect on oral hygiene education.
Wednesday, July 17: AZ Illustrated Nature takes a look at programs that expose kids to parts of the world they may otherwise not see.
- Look at a program that takes teenagers from varied backgrounds, including inner city and low-income residents, to the great outdoors, where they participate in projects that teach them more about the world around them.
Thursday, July 18: AZ Illustrated Arts shows how art can play a role in a community's, and a person's, sense of worth.
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A non profit Arts organization is working in some of Tucson's most marginalized neighborhoods to create murals designed to mitigate blight such as graffiti and gang activity in communities. The projects are meant to encourage youth and their families to join their neighborhood associations and take part in beautifying & unifying the city.
Friday, July 19: Arizona Spotlight offers perspectives on issues introduced throughout the week.
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Hear about Tucson's plan to end homelessness among veterans. The federal government has targeted Tucson as one city that can accomplish that goal by 2015, and Tucson leaders think they can be a model for other communities.
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Listen to a rural hospital official describe the impact of state budget cuts in recent years on health care delivery in the parts of the states with the least access to care.
Friday, July 19: Arizona Week reports on the disproportionate growth of poverty in Tucson and Phoenix suburban areas. Watch the full episode here
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Hear about the state's poverty demographics from Arizona Indicators, a research organization tracking economic data.
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Find out how the face of poverty has changed in Tempe as a result of the state's economic downturn.
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Learn how community services have expanded to meet the demand of more suburban poverty in the Tucson metro area.
Find all the stories on the Getting By: living between the poverty lines page.
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