ABOUT US
IMPACT of Southern Arizona is a Social Service Nonprofit
Providing emergency services
Stretching household budgets
Moving people out of poverty
Improving Lives - Inspiring Futures
To empower Southern Arizonans with the resources required to pursue a stabilized and enhanced quality of life.
With less than a dozen staff members, but more than 170 volunteer shifts every week and a large number of community partners, IMPACT of Southern Arizona invests more than $3 million dollars into the community every year,
helping thousands of low to moderate income families and individuals!
IMPACT of Southern Arizona was originally formed in 2000 as a 501c3 called Catalina Community Resource Center and collaborated with several groups working together to provide emergency services to rural Catalina residents, including Amphi PAT, AZYP, Pima County Health Dept., Golder Ranch Fire District. Start up funds were provided by area residents, help from the Catalina Village Council, and a Community Grant from Pima County. We moved into a small slump block house on an AZ State Land Trust property lease, where partner offices were housed in old bedrooms, our bookkeeper's desk was located in a bi-fold closet, and the gutted master bedroom and bathroom housed our food bank, where food was passed out of a sliding window to clients outside. Soon after, a clothing bank was added, and housed in an ocean cargo container on the lot. After adding a senior meals program and location a few years later, our organization changed its name to Catalina Community Services, and continued to partner with organizations to serve the Catalina area.
In 2003 we partnered with another local nonprofit, SaddleBrooke Community Outreach, which provides children's services in Pinal County, to establish the Golden Goose Thrift Shop in Catalina. It was jointly created by the two organizations as a Membership Nonprofit, of which the two organizations are the only members. Each organization elects half the Golden Goose Board Members, and the net proceeds are distributed equally between the two of us, funding our budgets so we may continue to invest in our communities.
This amazingly successful thrift shop, thanks to the dedication of an incredible staff and hundreds of volunteers, boasts more than one million dollars in profit each year! We are all very appreciative of the Golden Goose, and all who support it with donations, time, and energy. Because of it, both IMPACT of Southern Arizona and SaddleBrooke Community Outreach are able to continue to grow and make significant improvements in our communities.
Our Goose distributions cover more than half of our cash budget, including all our administrative costs. The great news is that means every donor dollar funds programs 100%!
You can see why The Golden Goose Thrift Shop is our favorite Shop for a Cause merchant! With more than 17,000 square feet of shopping and sorting floors, there are always wonderful treasures to be found on any day! People come from all over the basin to find great deals on incredible merchandise. Check out their website at GoldenGooseAZ.org. They offer a coupon on a regular basis, which can be printed from their website.
In the summer of 2010, thanks to the financial support of many generous donors and funders, and our continued partnership with Pima County, we were able to move into a beautiful new facility on Hawser Street. Many locals recognize this location as the original Golder Ranch Fire District Office. The building is owned by the County, but our investment in it's construction has been applied towards 25 years of prepaid rent. We still spend thousands of dollars a year in maintenance on the building, but this partnership has made it possible for us to operate in an updated professional facility, and invest our dollars in community programs to meet the needs of our surrounding communities as they arise.
It was not long after, that we again updated our name, to reflect the growing types of programs and our expanding service areas. We are now known as IMPACT of Southern Arizona.
Our organization expanded into neighboring areas of SE Pinal County and Oro Valley. Then in 2011 a group of Vail AZ residents approached us and asked if we would open an office in their rural community. After a ten month long study, the decision was made to support that community SE of Tucson as well, and we opened an office there in early 2012. In 2016, as we were outgrowing our space and our lease was ending, the community decided they were ready to start their own local nonprofit and offered to manage things moving forward, hiring our wonderful Program Coordinator, and signing on the many trained volunteers who had worked with us for so many years. We transitioned out at the end of 2016, having enjoyed the opportunity to meet and help hundreds of residents in the greater Vail area.
This transition, has allowed us the opportunity to expand our services to a greater part of of the NW Tucson area, and deeper into Pinal County. We now serve residents who live north of River Road, from Sabino Canyon, out to Marana, and up through the Copper Corridor of Pinal to the town of Mammoth. This includes the towns of San Manuel, and Oracle as well as communities along the edge of the Pima-Pinal border just past the Park Link area.
Not only has our region expanded, but we have also put added focus on giving people access to skills and resources that can help them move out of poverty. The addition of a Job Resource program, a case worker staff position, and more workshops and community education opportunities is giving people in our community more hope that they can move forward to permanent self-sufficiency.
All that we have become, and that we do today,
is because of the amazing support of community partners like you.
Whether you are a donor, a program partner,
an event sponsor, or a volunteer,
we thank you for joining us in our mission
to improve lives and inspire the futures of our neighbors.
It's you who truly makes the difference!