What was once an overgrown alley in Tucson’s Arroyo Chico neighborhood is now What was once an overgrown alley in Tucson’s Arroyo Chico neighborhood is now a colorful pollinator garden, where native plants and community volunteers have transformed the pathway into a shared space for neighbors, wildlife and walkers alike.

The garden was planted in the same alleyway where neighbors worked with artist Carila Ibarra to paint a mural last year.

Arroyo Chico’s neighborhood association joined forces with Barrio Restoration and the Watershed Management Group for the Feb. 21 restoration day.

“The community met out here a while ago, about a year ago, and we did the same project where we cleaned up the alleyway and we also got funds to add this mural,” said Ibarra, who has been painting murals for the last 10 years. “I've always wanted to add a mural in the neighborhood … so that was like the perfect opportunity.”

Ibarra stressed the importance of keeping the alleyway accessible to the community.

“Watershed was the one who organized this recent cleanup for the walkway because we like to keep it pretty tidy for the community,” Ibarra said. “There are a lot of people that walk through with their dogs and stuff. We're cleaning up all the weeds, all the overgrown stuff, and then we'll be planting stuff. And all the … neighbors brought some plants.”

Watershed Management Group is a Tucson-based nonprofit that seeks to foster mutually beneficial relationships between the community and the environment.

Desert Rivers Restoration Manager Jace Lankow is a resident of Arroyo Chico. When he noticed the alley needed tending, he drew inspiration from Barrio Restoration’s past cleanup efforts in the same area, contacting the group and the neighborhood association president to organize a similar event.

“Barrio did this a couple winters ago and I've been in the neighborhood since last summer now,” Lankow told Tucson Spotlight. “Watershed Management Group is just so … plugged into wanting to be … helping.”

Barrio Restoration owner David Garcia said efforts like the cleanup are about neighbors taking pride in and responsibility for their community.

“Represent your neighborhood, right? And how do you do that? Cleaning up, taking ownership … and creating respect, but also a safe environment for the neighbors,” he said. “It's really about bringing people together … and preaching and inspiring others to kind of like get on board with … making an impact,”

Maintaining native plant life that naturally thrives in the hot desert and attracts pollinators such as bees and butterflies benefits both the environment and people.

“Anything introduced is not going to serve our native populations. They’re going to take more resources, it's going to take more effort to grow those sorts of plants and things that are native,” said Watershed Management River Restoration Apprentice Lizbeth Perez. “They work well with the landscape and they provide for the wildlife that lives around here. So all the fruits, all the services that our native plants provide, there's an animal, an insect, even people who can rely on those and it's not going to be costly to maintain those plants.”

Resident Lara Ruggles said small community efforts like these carry more weight than people often think.

“People feel like they have to do something really giant to make change and the thing people don't realize is … things like this that are … a small effort contained on one day are … how all the change gets made,” she said.

Ward 6 City Councilwoman Miranda Schubert echoed these sentiments.

“We really need to get together right now and build more connections with each other,” she said. “People are feeling scared and isolated and uncertain and one thing I know we can always depend on is each other, the power of community, and knowing our neighbors and taking care of each other.”

Schubert encouraged community members to look for ways to get involved.

“Reach out to your council office. See if there's a neighborhood association or a group that's doing community work in your area, but we're always happy to point people in the right direction,” she said. “We try to put things in our newsletter as well. Making connections right now is so important. It's part of how we're going to make it through and survive and thrive.”

Nya Belcastro is a University of Arizona student and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact her at nya2005@arizona.edu.

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