4Tucson Inc

-the second city issue we are working on is economic opportunity and development. We ran a faith and finances class that is aimed at helping low-income families learn budgeting, banking, and saving. We had 7 participants take the class and we learned how we can improve the course for the future. Then, to encourage local entrepreneurship, we hosted our 3rd amphi market day in the amphi neighborhood. 46 local businessowners participated in the artisan fair that allowed them to showcase their products to those in the amphi neighborhood, and to build relationships with local business community.

-one of the four main city issues we are working on is poverty reduction, which encompasses several projects and programs. In 2023, 26 participants from local service agencies went through the cost of poverty experience (cope), which is simulation that illustrates how difficult it can be to live in poverty. This helped build empathy in participants. Additionally, we organized six market on the move food distributions in the amphi neighborhood to bring fresh produce and grocery boxes at little to no cost. Then, we focused on citywide poverty reduction collaborations by supporting churches who implemented the raising highly capable kids parenting classes and raising awareness of the program among other churches and ministries. We also identified a gap in mentoring services for young adults ages 18-25, who are struggling with the transition to adulthood following the upheaval caused by the covid pandemic. In collaboration with 3 other ministries, we located a curriculum designed for young adult mentoring and raised awareness among the southern arizona mentoring coalition about the program and its benefits.

4tucson tuesdays, connections caf, and 4tucson's women's leadership gatherings collectively brought 72 nonprofit and faith leaders together to get to know one another and learn about 4tucson's current initiatives. Additionally, 4tucson started a faith leader's gathering in the amphi neighborhood that met once a month to build relationship and spark collaboration. This has grown community trust among the faith-based nonprofits and churches in amphi. Finally, our building a lasting legacy event had 42 participants listen to financial planning advice from speakers from the national christian foundation and then hear from 6 local ministries about how they serve their community. This allowed believers of means to connect with ministries that address concerns they care about and to meet their leadership teams. -along with these activities, we also engaged the christian community with programs surrounding biblical civic responsibility. We hosted 369 participants at 10 breakfasts that featured nonprofits and civil servants in different arenas of government such as law enforcement, arizona's esa program, and policy analysis. Participants heard speakers discuss their areas of expertise and then had the chance to network with other participants and the speakers. We also hosted our annual blessings breakfast to pray a blessing over first responders and elected officials at the start of the year. 137 people attended the blessings breakfast in 2023. Additionally, we hosted several classes regarding the foundation of our government, constitution studies, and the prolife movement. 53 people attended those courses in total. Finally, we hosted two events to pray specifically for our government and nation. In january, we joined pastor pat mcclanahan's one cry tucson event by providing promotional support, and allocating staff and volunteers to join in. 31 people joined us at arizona's capitol to bless the elected officials for the year and pray for wisdom in decision making. In may, 39 people attended our national day of prayer event to pray for our country as a whole. -the third city issue we are working on is education. In spring of 2023, we gathered 14 local christian authors to participate in tucson's festival of books to promote their educational materials and novels to the tucson community. In addition, we began brainstorming how the christian community might better support education efforts in tucson. In collaboration with other ministries and volunteers, we identified a teacher support group curriculum that will help strengthen teacher's classroom management skills while also giving them a supportive environment to speak about difficulties in their classrooms. Once the curriculum was identified, we worked to raise awareness of the program among churches and ministries in town who would be able to start a support group of their own. -the fourth city issue we are working to address is housing. Out of our 2023 movement day event, we made several meaningful connections with ministries, government agencies, and local businesses who are working to address tucson's housing shortage and homelessness crisis. From those connections, we invited 8 different church, nonprofit, and government leaders to join us on a delegation trip to austin, texas where we visited the community first village. Participants were able to see how the tiny home village is helping to address homelessness in austin in a creative way. Participants also learned what it might take to build a similar tiny home village in tucson. The trip resulted in lasting collaborations between the faith community and the city of tucson's housing first program, and continued discussion on potential tiny home models that can be built in tucson.