Current Programs

Maryvale Curb Appeal Program – This program assists owner-occupied residences within Maryvale with permanent exterior improvements that can be seen from the street (curb).  Up to $500 is available toward improvements such as exterior house painting, desert landscaping, front fence repair or trees.  It does not cover anything inside the home, nor in the back yards.  Through this program we have been able to assist over 100 home owners annually. 

 

Tool Trailer & Graffiti Abatement Trailer Programs – We go out every month removing graffiti and illegal signs in the community.  In the past few years we have covered over 15,000 graffiti sites in the community and removed over 10,000 illegal signs.  We have two gas powered paint sprayers on our graffiti abatement trailer for use in removing graffiti with local groups.  We have a tool trailer stocked with tools for cleanups and landscaping, along with other projects when we partner with various groups.

 Here are pictures of our trailers_in_action.

 

Community Volunteer Programs – We work with several local groups to carry out a variety of projects.  These volunteers may be from local schools or universities, businesses, churches or youth organizations.  They perform a variety of projects such as house painting, desert landscaping, alley clean ups, graffiti paint outs and area beautification projects.  Our biggest examples are our annual Strength of Youth project each November with 500 youth from the LDS Church when 20 – 25 homes are painted or landscaped in four hours on the Saturday before Thanksgiving & our partnership with Grand Canyon University doing several projects all year long.  Other recent examples were General Electric employees putting a playground in at the Boys & Girls Club; Global Youth Service Day with youth from Maryvale & Scottsdale YMCAs, Stewart Boys & Girls Club, and Maryvale High School doing a clean up project at Desert Sky Pavilion; Catalyst Church members & Vanguard Securities employees doing house painting and desert landscaping.  There are several other groups that work with us each year as well.   We were recently featured working with volunteers on the Pay It Forward program on Channel 5 locally.  If your group is interested in doing a community service project - please contact us - no group is too big nor too small to help us make an impact. 

       Here are some of our volunteers in action!

 

Neighborhood Enhancement Projects – We partner with Phoenix Parks and Recreation to receive federal dollars to do streetscaping and parks improvements.  We write the grant applications and these partners complete the actual improvements.  Examples are ramadas and exercise equipment installed at Sueno Park along with other improvements; arterial street improvements and the 51st Avenue streetscape project where hundreds of new trees and bushes were planted prior to spring training 2010 in order to present a better image of the community to the thousands of attendees to the games.

 

The Maryvale Project: Think Twice Curfew Prediversion Program – This program is a 4 hour class for first time curfew offenders to teach the reasoning behind curfew, drug and alcohol awareness, ethics, decision making, goal setting and dealing with peer pressure.  The parents attend the last hour of the class as the youth report out on what they learned.  By taking this class, the youth do not end up going to court nor having a police record.  Since it began, in 2009 we have had over 200 youth take the class - with only one ever being picked up again.  It is our desire (and that of the Phoenix Police Department) that this program be expanded in the future to cover additional precincts in the city.  We are currently working with three local precincts.

 

The Maryvale Project: Maryvale Leadership Education Training – This monthly training started in September 2009 with 29 participants.  It is a monthly training with guest speakers aimed at helping residents learn more about leadership and what they can do in their community.  Attendees range from high school through retirement and receive training in several categories.  Some of the class topics include: servant leadership, how to run a meeting, public speaking tips, how to work with the city, planning a successful event, grant writing, working with the media, social marketing, and cultural awareness.  In September 2010 we started the second round of classes featuring not only an adult leadership class, but this fall we also started our first teen leadership class as well.

 

The Maryvale Project: Domestic Violence Education & Awareness – In partnership with Black Lama, the University of Advancing Technology and the Maryvale Partnerships In Action we have created two domestic violence education videos.  The two videos: Keeping Families Safe, for adults and service providers, and Healthy Teen Relationships, on teen dating violence awareness will be distributed initially in Maryvale.  These videos make it possible for hundreds of groups including churches, schools and youth providers to pass along the information to help address the domestic violence crisis in their areas. We began distributing free copies of the videos in August 2010.  Domestic violence in the Maryvale Precinct alone in 12 months involved approximately 750 police calls that involved youth either as a victim, assailant or witness.

 

Jacori Rufus Memorial College Scholarship Program – Founded in 1999 in honor of Jacori Rufus following the tragic car accident that took his life when returning home from Idaho State University, he was a 1998 Maryvale High School graduate attending college on an academic/athletic scholarship.  Jacori was a member of National Honor Society, All-State in football and track, as well as a 3 year starting point guard in basketball.  The scholarship began as one winner at $500 per year for Maryvale High School graduates, and has been expanded to cover Alhambra and Trevor Browne High Schools.  While applications are accepted from students attending all three schools, they are not guaranteed a selection.  Since its inception, the scholarship has been increased to $500 per semester, over a maximum of four years.  In 2011 we had 110 golfers are our charity event to fund the scholarships for the thirteen students in college this fall.

 

Pictures from 2011 Charity Golf Event

The 2011 Jacori Rufus Memorial College Scholarship Charity Golf Tournament will be June 18 at the Maryvale Golf Course.  More details and registration forms will be available soon!

 

MAPPs & MOTION – In 2008 MRC met with thirty different youth oriented providers in the community to discover gaps in service and how these groups might work together to cover those gaps. These providers represented schools, churches, YMCA, Boys & Girls Clubs, City of Phoenix departments, community centers, substance awareness groups and other youth organizations.   From those meetings Maryvale Adolescent Providers Partnership (MAPPs) was founded.  The group now meets monthly to share information about themselves and what is occurring in the community.  The first project undertaken was creating monthly free staff training seminars for everyone involved.  In 2009 the group expanded focus and added a subcommittee, Maryvale Youth in MOTION (Motivated, Organized Teens Impacting Our Neighborhood), which is led by youth elected from their membership.  In their first twelve months, they organized and held a community fair (attended by thousands) and a teen forum at Trevor Browne High School with over 100 youth in attendance, in 2011 about 175 teens participated.  The teen groups selected the discussion topics and had the opportunity to discuss relevant topics amongst themselves.  MAPPs also created a teen traveling basketball league in 2009, which offered a no-fee league with teams from different MAPPs organizations.  The league continued with its second season in 2010.  Also in 2010 MAPPs changed from the monthly one topic staff trainings to hold an annual, multiple topic, staff training conference so attendees could gain more knowledge in a single day.  MAPPs, its endeavors and subcommittee are considered to be highly successful community partners.

 

Maryvale Dignitary Breakfast - Every year we host the annual Maryvale Dignitary Breakfast to honor people, organizations, educators & businesses that are shining stars in the desert sky.  Awards include Proof Positive Awards, Educating Excellence Awards, John F. Long Business of the Year, Maryvale Man of the Year, Maryvale Woman of the Year, and occassionally we present a Maryvale Hero award and a Business Continuity award.  Beginning in 2010 the breakfast was moved to Desert Sky Pavilion and draws 100 - 150 attendees annually.

 

Pictures from 2011 Maryvale Dignitary Breakfast

 

Community Garden In Harmony - In 2010 in partnership with Ear Candy Charity and Pan Asian Community Center, Maryvale Revitalization Corporation hosted a multi-cultural show at Desert Sky Pavilion with several colorful entertainment acts, a large silent auction & raffle along with an amazing catered meal.  

Proposed/Enhanced Programs:

 

The Maryvale Project: Neighborhood Education and Training Program - will provide a series of community education and awareness classes to residents, young and old, in three main categories: Health, Finance and Employment.  There will be at least five different training classes under each main category along with a few others that are needed in the community.  One of the objectives is to provide needed employment skills to first time workers along with giving additional skills to those looking for better opportunities.  Another objective is to increase health awareness, especially about some medical conditions prevalent in the community such as obesity, diabetes and asthma.  There is a need to do basic banking instruction, along with education in identity theft that applies to everyone.  By educating the community on these topics, we are preparing our residents for a healthier, better prepared future.  Some numbers related to the Maryvale Village of west Phoenix include that it is the most populated village in the city with over 200,000 residents - 40% of which are under the age of 19.  Additionally, the Stewart Boys & Girls Club, with whom we are partnering, has researched its attendees. Sixty percent (60%) of the youth attending the facility come from single mom households.  A lot of these young mothers have entry level jobs, mainly because they are lacking confidence in themselves as well as job skills such as basic computer knowledge.  By creating a better prepared and healthier work force, we increase the image of the valley along with creating more stable households - both which benefit the Valley of the Sun. The project obviously addresses education of both adults and children/teens in a community of at hope citizens.  ASU conducted a study two years ago calling Maryvale - "A Community on the Edge" - that documented the need for employment education, along with youth direction, as two of the greatest needs in the community.  The Program will address needs of the community relating to health, employment and finance - three topics needed for a higher quality of life.  The health focus will be twofold in addressing how to deal with various ailments such as diabetes, and with prevention topics including nutrition and fitness. Employment topics will include basic computer skills, resume writing, interviewing skills and employer expectations, to name a few.  Finance will deal with basic banking, identity theft, budgeting and general financial literacy.  These topics cover the basics in quality of life and can help provide a foundation for a successful and sustainable future for those involved.  Additional training will include two Maryvale Revitalization domestic violence awareness trainings: Healthy Teen Dating Relationships, and Keeping Families Safe.  Additional training may include parenting skills, basic tutoring for youth and citizenship assistance for legal immigrants.  A healthier, better prepared workforce will be a great benefit for the entire Valley, making the area more attractive for businesses to locate here.The project will be a series of 2 hour training classes every month.  There will be two classes per week - four sets of classes (8 total) per month.  These will take place at the host sites of the two lead partners in the project.  Funds are needed to cover additional utility and related expenses for the facilities to be open additional hours, in addition to staffing for child care supervision, site coordination, classroom instructors, and program administration.  Additional expenses will include printing, classroom supplies and handouts.  We are proposing 48 weeks of trainings with two trainings per week at 2 hours each.  Breakdowns of the expenses include facility usage at the Stewart Boys & Girls Club (including the gym, computer room, art room and classrooms).  There would be an on site coordinator, along with two child care supervisors. The 96 classes are budgeted for paid instructors, but we will look for qualified volunteer instructors.  There will be informational flyers distributed weekly regarding upcoming classes along with handout information provided in each of the classes.  Maryvale Revitalization will pay a staff person to handle coordination, outreach, attendance, evaluation for possible class repetition and researching requested future classes.This project helps plant the seeds of a better prepared and healthier workforce in the future for Phoenix and surrounding cities.  It works at the basic level to help youth get a better foundation to build their future on, while helping others increase their abilities to provide for their families.  It will provide health education that allows for healthier, more aware families, which means youth miss less school due to illness while learning more; and employees are more productive in the workplace, creating stronger businesses in the community.  Financial education leads to families being more stable and better prepared to handle needs such as housing, food and other basic family needs.  As the program continues, we will be looking for additional support from other organizations to provide classes at more locations.  Your support plants the seeds to help this expand in the future and reach more and more individuals and families.  We will reach out to other possible partners to help provide only the best and widest range of needed trainings, all will focus on increasing the quality of life in our community.

 

The Maryvale Project: Mini Chambers of Commerce 

 

The  Maryvale Project: Creating an educational/awareness video on Graffiti

 

The Maryvale Project: Faith-Based Alliance with Maryvale Assoc. of Churches

 

Here are some links to you tube for 2 videos on Maryvale.

The first was done by Maryvale UNITE and their work led to the creation of Maryvale Revitalization.  It is in three parts:

 

UNITE Part 1

UNITE Part 2

UNITE Part 3

 

The following four links are to a video done by Maryvale graduate Chris Wooley telling some of the history of the community:

 

Maryvale Part 1

Maryvale Part 2

Maryvale Part 3

Maryvale Part 4