A South Tucson lot that once housed a Budget Inn Hotel has become the new headquarters of Barrio Restoration, a community cleanup organization that has spent seven years transforming neglected neighborhoods one block at a time.

Barrio Restoration's new location sits just below a sign welcoming visitors to South Tucson at South Sixth Avenue and East Benson Highway.

At a recent opening celebration, volunteers filled garden tubs with dirt, painted Super Mario Bros. characters on a storage box and marked their cleanup efforts on Sixth Avenue with music and handmade burritos.

"I saw a need in the neighborhood," said founder and CEO David Garcia. "It's been seven years since we first got on our bike and started cleaning up the hood, and in those seven years we've cleaned up in numerous neighborhoods."

Barrio Restoration's first major cleanup was near Ajo Way and Sixth Avenue, with Garcia saying the city was not maintaining the area as often as it should. After cleaning up the Fairgrounds neighborhood, he began networking with volunteers at Casa Maria, eventually establishing a connection with the City of South Tucson.

From the beginning, Garcia said, the work has always been about collaboration.

"People often call me, 'Hey, can you clean up this spot for me?' And I go check it out, and I'm like, 'It's not what we do. Can we clean it up together?' I want to see what we can do together," Garcia said.

Garcia and volunteers with Barrio Keepers, a related volunteer program that works alongside Barrio Restoration to clean South Tucson streets, have completed more than 150 cleanups over the past year.

"We want to make an impact. We want to be positive reinforcements … and really support our neighbors, support businesses, support the people in the hood, because we all live here and we all need a clean and respectful place," Garcia said.

South Tucson Mayor Roxanna Valenzuela told attendees how the partnership began.

"I met David about four years ago. He started volunteering at Casa Maria, and he saw the need. He stuck around and he helped us block by block, week after week, cleaning the streets with our Barrio Keepers," Valenzuela said.

Valenzuela spoke about some of the challenges the city is facing, including increased crime, houselessness and an opioid epidemic, saying partnerships with groups like Barrio Restoration are crucial for building community.

Barrio Restoration collaborated with Casa Maria last year on a month-long campaign called "Defend Nuestro Barrio" where volunteers cleaned up the neighborhood while also watching out for ICE activity and connecting members of the community with support and resources for substance use issues.

"We need partners like Barrio Restoration, we need people like you to come out and show support, and that just brings me back to how we need to lift each other up," Valenzuela said.

Leonor Salazar Garcia, David Garcia's partner in life and business, spoke about how Barrio Restoration got started seven years ago.

"(David) started cleaning up in our neighborhood, and he started helping elderly people that needed help that couldn't do a lot in their yard, and he still does," Leonor Salazar Garcia said. "They were really, really shocked, because they're like, 'Well, I don't have money for that,' and he said, 'It's okay, it's a need … I'm not doing it to get something right now, we just need to do this together.' We went full throttle … and we started just cleaning."

Leonor Salazar Garcia said Garcia extended his beautification efforts to neighbors, sharing extra materials from his trailer to improve their front yards. If they had something to offer, she said, they shared it.

Others also recognize the importance of Barrio Restoration's work.

Pima County Attorney Laura Conover has been volunteering with Barrio Restoration since 2022 and has seen firsthand how impactful their work is.

"It was the height of COVID, and I got introduced to David Garcia, so I could go out on Saturday mornings picking up trash," Conover said. "That's how we began to explain that public beautification and public health and public safety is all one thing."

U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva grew up down the street from the property in a home on Ninth Street, attending Wakefield Middle School as a child. She said she has witnessed the lack of attention the neighborhood has experienced and how Barrio Restoration has changed that.

"David's created a space where it's going to be a resource for the community … he is creating a resource where none existed, and it's really amazing," Grijalva said.

Grijalva said she holds up Garcia's work as an example for community members looking for inspiration to get involved.

"It's the impact of one person, one family that has caused this ripple effect. When people say, 'Well, what can I do?' I point to David and say, 'You can do that!' You can decide to get out of your house and say, 'I'm going to do something about it,'" Grijalva said.

Other community members talked about how they have also been inspired by Garcia's work.

Fernando Leon owns Eleon Services LLC, a local home renovation company that sponsors Barrio Restoration's work and calls for community members to get involved and make a difference.

"Whether it's just in your little neighborhood, it doesn't necessarily have to be hard labor, maybe you can make some food, buy some food, you got extra money, do what you can with it to help some people out, put yourself in other people's shoes," Leon said.

The Garcias want the lot to serve as a green community hub open Monday through Saturday, offering resources, orientation and mentorship to community members regardless of age or socioeconomic background.

"Cleaning up in the City of South Tucson, you get to know people, and a lot of people. Today, a few of those individuals showed up," David Garcia said. "When we go out there (and) we clean up with these folks, we're doing something for them. Somebody's believing in them, somebody's guiding them, (it) gives people a sense of purpose. (If) our role is to take care of the hood, I guarantee you, in exchange, the hood will take care of you."

David Garcia said the work is about more than clean streets.

"Consistency is key," David Garcia said. "If we're all in it together, I guarantee you that people are gonna get the message."

Topacio “Topaz” Servellon is a reporter with Tucson Spotlight. Contact them at topacioserve@gmail.com.

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