Voces de Casa Maria

Mi opinión del Covid-19 es que las personas de bajo recursos estamos batallando más por no tener el trabajo para poder llevar nuestra comida para casa. En algunas familias nomas están trabajando, mama o papa, solo una persona, y eso no alcanza para todas las necesidades. A mí me da mucha tristeza los niños cuando te piden algo y nos puedes complacerlos. Pero, si pudieras venir a Casa María todos los estamos abiertos de 8:30-11:00 A.M. Estamos para servir a todas las familias que necesitan comida. ¡Vengan por ella!

Me preocupa que las personas más vulnerables se puedan enfermar del Corona Virus por la falta de recurso y no estar bien alimentados. Es muy triste que muera la gente, especialmente por no tener seguro médico. Los hispanos y comunidades de bajo recursos somos los más vulnerables porque tenemos que trabajar porque a muchos de nosotros no nos quedan de otra. Vamos hachando le ganas con positividad y adelante que nuestro padre, Dios, nos proteja a todos. ¡Dios te ama!

Quisiera decirles a las personas que vean este mensaje que si usted tiene la oportunidad de ayudar al necesita puede hacerlo. Ay muchas maneras de ayudar al prójimo ¡Se necesita mucho de usted! Nos podemos ayudar unas ha otros, así como Casa María, estamos para servir. Tenemos que ser generosos con el prójimo, Yo pienso, ¡que el que no vive para servir no sirve para vivir!

Este artículo bilingüe fue escrito por Laura, quien ha dedicado su tiempo a los ministerios de Casa María más de 11 años. Podemos continuar sirviendo a nuestra comunidad gracias a nuestros voluntarios de buen corazón como Laura.

Let’s Move forward with Positivity!

My opinion of the Covid-19 is that low-income people are struggling more with not having enough work to be able to take food necessities. In some families, only one person is working, mom or dad, and that is not enough for all needs. It makes me really sad when children ask for something and you are not able to provide. However, if you could come to Casa María we are all open from 8:30-11:00 A.M. We are here to serve all families who need food. Come pick up!

I am concerned that the most vulnerable people may get sick from the Corona Virus due to lack of resources and not being well fed. It is very sad that people die, especially because they do not have health insurance. Hispanics and low-income communities are the most vulnerable because we have to work, many of us have no other choice. Let’s move forward with positivity and have faith that our father God, protects us all. God loves you!

I would like to tell the people who see this message that if you have the opportunity to help, you can do so. There are many ways to help others, much is needed from you! We can help each other, just as Casa María, we are here to serve. We have to be generous with our neighbor, I think that he who does not live to serve does not deserve to live!

Este artículo bilingüe fue escrito por Laura, quien ha dedicado su tiempo a los ministerios de Casa María más de 11 años. Podemos continuar sirviendo a nuestra comunidad gracias a nuestros voluntarios de buen corazón como Laura.

A STIMULUS PACKAGE ROOTED IN JUSTICE

The coronavirus has had a worldwide impact like nothing we have ever seen. However, it has also created an unprecedented opportunity for positive change, if we take action now. Decisions are being made in Washington, D.C. that will determine the course of our society for decades to come. YOU can have a direct influence on those decisions.

As the U.S. government puts together another “stimulus” package, there is a strong grassroots movement rising to demand a just and equitable package focused on the people, not just corporations. Seven congressional Democrats have joined with over five-hundred groups nationwide to let federal lawmakers know we want a People’s Bailout that prioritizes public health and economic relief for workers over corporate profits.

The proposed People’s Bailout is based on these five principles:

1. Health is the top priority, for all people, with no exceptions –

Free and widely available testing, treatment and protective equipment, paid sick leave and expanded federal funding for Medicaid.

These and other health protections cover all people, including low-wage earners, family farmers, black and Latinx communities, undocumented immigrants, indigenous peoples, the incarcerated and the homeless.

2. Provide economic relief directly to the people –

Broaden unemployment insurance, increase food aid programs, extend housing assistance, halt evictions and foreclosures.

3. Aid for rescue workers and communities –

Financial aid directed at specific industries must be channeled to workers, not shareholders or corporate executives.

4. Make a down payment on an environmentally friendly, sustainable economy and infrastructure.

In addition to short-term emergency action, a large long-term plan must be put into place. By focusing on combating the climate crisis and the unfairness built into our economic system we can create millions of good, family-sustaining jobs with high labor standards. This long-term package must include and invest in working families, communities of color and indigenous communities.

5. Protect our democratic process while we protect our health –

Ensure the Covid19 crisis does not prevent people from being able to exercise their right to vote by expanding vote by mail, online or automatic registration, extending voting deadlines and increasing early voting days.

This grassroots movement for a People’s Bailout is happening right now. The demand of the people is taking hold. This week, the House of Representatives passed a stimulus package directed at helping people and small businesses. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said “There will be a big, broad COVID 4. For anyone who thinks this is the last train out of the station, that is not close to the case.” So now is the time to act; Congress is debating these issues even as we speak. You can take real action to impact the course of our society toward a people-oriented, environment-oriented national community rooted in justice. In this critical situation, your voice can truly matter. Go to thepeoplesbailout.org for detailed information and an immediate, easy-to-use link to send a letter to your senators and representative. Use your voice and make it heard!

“When we are united, we are powerful. Let’s come together – black, brown, white, native and newcomer, from big cities and family farms, and demand a People’s Bailout.”

https://thepeoplesbailout.org/home/#petition

“We cannot wait any longer to deal with the structural causes of poverty, in order to heal our society from an illness that can only lead to new crises.” -Pope Francis

Submitted by Dennis Shannon, volunteer, Casa Maria

Dennis has been interested in social justice for decades

and has been a volunteer at Casa Maria Tucson for over fifteen years.

By Citlali Ramirez

The Coronavirus outbreak has exposed many flaws not only in our governmental and economic structures, but also in our societal structures and the way in which people interact with and react to the world. I have recently seen posts and tweets circulating social media claiming that the minor but noticeable improvements in the environment as evidence that “we are the virus”. This is an ecofscist narrative that perpetuates a toxic environmentalist perspective, minimizing the value of human lives for the sake of protecting the Earth’s ecosystems.

This ideology is not new and historically comes hand in hand with xenophobia and genocidic ideologies. Dating back to 1798, Malthusians believed that while the Earth’s population grows exponentially, the Earth’s resources and food supply only increase linearly, ultimately leading to shortages. Neo Malthusians and many white environmentalists in the 1960s and 70s used these false narratives to villainize African and Asian countries for being “overpopulated” despite the fact that the U.S. and other western countries consume more resources and pollute the environment significantly more. 

Instead of wrongly placing the blame on the nonwestern world and people of color, we must expose the negative effects of capitalism not only on the environment, but also on our social, political, and economic aspects of our society. The fixation with cheap and fast production of goods has led to chemical pollutants in water, increased carbon and methane emissions, inhumane treatment of workers overseas and domestically, and so much more. Overproduction creates far more of a negative impact on the Earth and its people than our inherent existence. Capitalism is the virus.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has been extremely hard for me to deal with. I struggle with depression and anxiety, being locked up in my home alone is where I sometimes want to be, but it’s not the healthiest place for me. This pandemic also hits home because my mom has respiratory issues and a weak immune system, so I really worry about her health and ability to access quality medical care if she does get sick. What I struggle with most is the complacency and apathy of many of my fellow Americans.

I know this is a scary situation, but there are even scarier things happening all around us, and if we are not careful we will see more death by famine, war, disease, climate change and the murderous disparities caused by this inhumane capitalist system that has allowed this virus to wreak havoc on our society.

Chomsky On Coronavirus: Why Neoliberalism And Big Pharma Can’t Respond

Last week I left my house and noticed my gas gauge was on E. The car had been parked for a few weeks because I was working on it. After a few seconds of pumping gas, I realized the gas wasn’t going into the tank. I pumped nearly 2 gallons of gas onto the ground. Someone cut the fuel line so they could insert a hose and siphon the gas out of my tank. I was furious, and worried. I was in real danger. There was enough gas on the ground that it rolled under my car’s engine and under the engine of the car parked at the pump next to me.

The driver of the car was paying at the pump with her card, using paper towels to push the buttons on the card reader. I kept a safe distance and said, “excuse me ma’am.” She completely ignored me. I said it louder. Nothing!

I noticed her back bumper was filled with humanitarian aid stickers as I started to explain to her what had happened, “I’m sorry to bother you but someone cut my gas line and I pumped a bunch of gas onto the ground before I realized it. Please don’t start your car after you’re done pumping because we could blow up!” The entire time I talked she did her best to ignore me. As she heard the last few words (because we could blow up) her face twisted into a worrisome, fearful grimace. She said, “I’m not going down with you buddy!” And quickly turned toward her car, opened the door, and was about to hop in when she stepped in the puddle of gas that had rolled under her car. At that moment everything clicked for her, she stopped and turned toward me and said, “Oh my God! I am so sorry. You’re trying to warn me to not start my car because the spark from my engine could ignite the gas you spilled. God bless you. I’m sorry for being such a b*$&h but this whole coronavirus thing has me all crazy. We can’t get close to anyone or touch anything, it’s just so insane. Here you are trying to help me and I’m totally just trying to ignore you.” I told her I was just glad she realized it when she did and I pushed the car a safe distance for her to start it so she could be on her way.

This is a perfect example of how we as a nation can be so consumed with fear that we totally ignore the clear and present dangers all around us. During this time is the perfect opportunity for rich vultures to take all they can

This Is The Largest Theft Ever In US History (Web Exclusive).

I have a lot of friends and family that are really excited about the stimulus package being passed because they are gonna see a little money in their pockets, but let’s be real, there’s WAY MORE in it for the rich. We should be angry…no we should be pissed! Small businesses are getting loans while corporations get billions in free money and real estate investors get $170 billion in tax breaks

Wealthy real estate developers like Trump score a huge tax break in the stimulus bill,

Bonanza for Rich Real Estate Investors, Tucked Into Stimulus Package.

     COVID-19 is real and we need to take precautions and care for our elders and children but we also need to stay aware and stay active. We have the capacity to communicate with people across the globe in seconds. Let’s use that to our advantage and contact our elected officials and demand they do for the people during this time of crisis, not for the corporations. We’ve gotta know the issues, stay WOKE!

by Cesar Aguirre

ON AUGUST 6 VOTE NO ON THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN PIMA COUNTY AND THE CITY OF SOUTH TUCSON.

VOTE NO ON THE GENTRIFICATION OF SOUTH TUCSON.

On May 28, the South Tucson City Council promised a complete public process on enacting a GPLET zone in South Tucson. This would enable developers to pay no property taxes on new developments for 8 years and pay reduced property taxes for 17 years after that.

3 weeks later, on June 24, the South Tucson Council, prodded by Benny Young from Pima County’s Economic Development Department, voted unanimously with 1 abstention, to move forward the GPLET program.

GPLET has been used extensively by the City of Tucson in recent years to gentrify downtown. It is now the most expensive place in the City of Tucson to rent or buy a home. Poor and working people businesses are being pushed out. The gentrification process is oozing in a southerly direction. Peach Properties and the Volk Company have been buying up properties in South Tucson.

The City of South Tucson is extremely broke and dysfunctional. We residents barely have cops and fire. Who among us has a realistic hope that the City is not quickly headed for bankruptcy and dissolution?

But the people and the barrio, known as Barrio Libre, will remain after the City goes under. We will not stand by and watch wealthy developers, aided by Pima County, come in and loot and pillage and exploit our community, before it changes into something that looks like present day downtown Tucson, with many residents and businesses being displaced by people with more money and different cultural values.

The people of South Tucson deserve transparency and full public process regarding GPLET tax breaks and how they will affect our destiny as a city and as a barrio.

Please vote NO or at least delay this vote.

Thank You

Brian Flagg

(520) 624-0312

(520) 304-8443

Thanks everybody for coming to Lonnie’s service.
This is some words from Lonnie’s mom.

‘Thank you for everything today. The service was beautiful

and perfect for Lonnie’.

                                                                       Faye Collier

Memorial Mass for Lonnie Reiger

on Monday, April 15 at Casa Maria

at 10:00 am with Fr. Jose Luis Ferroni

OCD.

Our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and co-workers.

Lonnie worked and lived at Casa Maria for more than 30 year,

He was a hard worker and a great friend.

Misa en Memoria de Lonnie Reiger el Lunes 15 de Abril

en Casa Maria a las 10:00 am, con P. José Luis Ferroni OCD.

Nuestras mas sinceras condolencias a sus familiares, amigos

y compañeros de trabajo.

Lonnie vivió y trabajo en Casa Maria por más de 30 años,

El era un gran amigo y muy trabador