 On a recent tour of More Than a Bed (MTaB), I had the opportunity to walk through its three warehouses—and I can confidently say this nonprofit is living up to its name. What sets MTaB apart is its inclusive approach. While many similar organizations serve only one group, MTaB welcomes all three—foster, kinship, and adoptive families. This broad outreach draws families from seven different counties who come to access a wide range of children’s essentials like clothes, shoes, hygiene products, toys, and more.
 From left to right: Cathy Lolwing, MTaB Manager of Development, Ward 3 Council Aide Naomi Lee, and Grace Stocksdale, MTaB Founder and Executive Director.
Grace Stocksdale, founder and current Executive Director, began in 2014 working out of her garage serving 5 families. With support from a generous donor, Grace expanded the organization in response to increasing community needs. In the most recent fiscal year, MTaB served 2,970 children—853 of them new to the program.
 Some of the employees who work in the retail portion of the warehouse. They said they always try to remember the kids’ names to make the environment feel more like home.
The heart of MTaB’s mission lies in serving children with care and respect. Staff and volunteers meticulously sift through donations daily to ensure quality. The warehouse is thoughtfully designed to feel like a retail store, creating a heartening experience for families. They even have a dedicated “cobbler shop” to clean and restore donated shoes to near-new condition.
 Staff members Becky and Linette in the cobbler shop with two pairs of freshly cleaned boots.
Each child is allowed to select any necessities they need, one new toy each month (two during their birthday month), and an additional selection from gently used toys. When the warehouse receives more than it can distribute, MTaB shares donations with local schools and partner organizations—their only condition is nothing is ever turned around to be resold.
Looking ahead, MTaB is continuing to evolve. Currently, they are building an Enrichment Center to “provide an empowering space for the kids to think about the future and not have to focus on the past.” as Grace described. The Enrichment Center’s programming will be led by trauma informed teachers and will include classes in dance, theater, martial arts, painting, career planning, and financial literacy.
 A portion of one of MTaB’s warehouses. More is beyond the south and west walls!
More Than a Bed welcomes volunteers and donations of new and gently used clothes, diapers, toys, shoes, school supplies, hygiene, and household items. Currently, the most needed donations are boy clothes, infant/toddler socks, and items for teens. Donations can be dropped off at 3637 N 1st Ave from 8:30am-1:30pm, Wednesday-Friday and the first and third Saturday of the month.
We met with the Storm to Shade crew and folks from the Water Conservation program last week to meet their new members, discuss commercial conservation projects, and get updates on current S2S projects in Ward 3. It’s always great to have their whole team come in for an update!
 From left to right, top row: Birthday Boy Jon Choi, Brooke Bushman, Conservation Program Superintendent Candice Rupprecht, Katie Bolger, Council Member Kevin Dahl, S2S Program Director Blue Baldwin, Administrator of the Conservation and Stormwater Resources Division James MacAdam, and Cody Wooden. Second row: Shannon Jenkins, Marlene Avelino, Melinda Pittman, and Xochitl Coronado-Vargas.
Storm to Shade (S2S) is the City’s Green Stormwater Infrastructure program and is funded by a fee added to Tucson Water bills. S2S installs new Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) on public property throughout the City of Tucson and maintains new and (select) existing GSI. GSI features are generally defined as vegetated areas of stormwater retention and detention that collect runoff from surrounding hardscapes. In general, their work is to get rain water off our streets and use it to support trees and plants!
We were able to meet one of S2S's two new members, Melinda Pittman - she's a landscape architect taking on a project manager role and providing support to the team. We weren’t able to meet Caleb Ortega, but he holds a masters in GSI and is currently creating a master database of all City managed irrigation systems. Cody Wooden is the newest addition to the Conservation program - he most recently managed Scottsdale’s HOA turf removal program and is now heading up our commercial turf removal program.
 The Storm to Shade crew, Ward 3 staff, and neighbors celebrating the completion of the 11th and Flores project last October.
 Neighbors enjoying a game of basketball during the completion of the project at the 11th and Flores intersection in October.
The Commercial Turf Removal Project is a grant funded program that supports commercial properties in removing ornamental turf and replacing it with desert hearty landscaping. Since landscape design is part of the original permitting process, swapping out grass for a desert willow does require an update to that information in Planning and Development Services. Cody supports individuals with going through the permit application with the City and the rebate program. We have two properties here in Ward 3 currently underway, First Interstate Bank on Campbell and Blacklidge and Northminster Presbyterian Church on Fort Lowell and Tucson Blvd.
Ward 3 has two completed GSI projects in Bronx Park, 11th and Flores and 9th Ave Bike Blvd. Combined, these two projects removed 16,361 sq ft of asphalt, added 75 new trees, and have the capacity to capture 219,826 gallons of rainwater. We also have two projects in construction; the parking lot at Jacobs Park will receive some GSI and the Wildcat Inn is adding a play area for the kids to enjoy that will include some water harvesting.
Thank you to the whole Storm to Shade crew and the
Tucson Water Conservation Program for taking the time!
The Amphi Women and Girls Union was formed in March of this year. This group speaks 8 languages, is 20 members strong, and growing! The women and girls all live in the Amphi neighborhood and meet once a month. Their meetings have a paid Dari translator, who has helped them communicate what their daily lives are like in Amphi to Ward 3 Council Aide Naomi Lee (April's meeting) and to get library cards for the first time in their lives at Woods Memorial (March's meeting). The head librarian, Chinyere, even met the union!
 A few AWGU participants from April's meeting.
During April's meeting, the union articulated a strong desire to learn how to swim. For many of the Afghan members, learning skills like this were completely banned in their lives a mere year ago, when they were living under Taliban rule. The AWGU is partnering with Building Bridges and the YWCA to make swim lessons happen this summer for an 8 week session! We are soliciting donations to make this dream come true. We also need drivers (preferably women that live in Amphi, to foster the neighborhood bond!) to help with transport, since most AWGU members don't have vehicles or know how to drive yet.
- Swim goggles for children and adults
- Pool towels - gently used are ok!
- Reusable water bottles
- Swim caps for children and adults
- Full coverage swimwear - leggings that go all the way to the ankle
- Sizes for swimwear:
childrens size 8, 10, 12, 14 (or everything from S-L) - 5 sets of each
adults sizes S, M, L and XL - also around 5 of each
If you would like to drop off some donations feel free to bring them by the Ward 3 office at 1510 E. Grant Rd., Monday through Friday 9 am - 1 pm.
If you have questions or want to join the union, please email amphiunion@gmail.com!
 AWGU's child participants painting at their resource table during the Amphi Neighborhood Resource Fair.
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