Researchers from the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute and the Arizona State University Center for Latina/os and American Politics Research found that community based organizations in predominantly Latino neighborhoods in Arizona, better supported community needs more than services offered by the federal government during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The researchers released two reports that highlighted community-driven strategies in South Tucson and South Phoenix to help identify economic investment opportunities beyond times of crises.
“It insists that if we’re going to be serious about planning economic development that’s inclusive, we have to start from a point that acknowledges this rich tapestry in the history and the cultural legacy that exists in these places,” said co-author Francisco Pedraza, associate director of the ASU CLAPR.
He said researchers wanted to understand who assumed leadership roles in Latino communities and to what extent of Latino-led initiatives and efforts improved the quality of life in these neighborhoods.
“What we find is that there [is] in fact rich civic infrastructure through community organizations,” Pedraza said.
In Tucson, researchers looked at the 12th Avenue Corridor known as La Doce, which is a predominantly Latino neighborhood that has experienced historic disinvestment.
About one in four residents lives below the poverty line, despite a high home-ownership rate of 62%.
During the pandemic, researchers found that COVID-19 case rates were nearly double that of Pima County’s due to limited access to health care: 43,800 per 100,000 vs. 28,600 per 100,000. Death rates were twice as high: 800 per 100,000 vs. 400 countywide.
The South Central Corridor Transit-Oriented Community, a historically Latino neighborhood in South Phoenix also experienced also higher COVID-19-related case rates: 39,000 per 100,000 compared to the rest of Maricopa County 33,800 with death rates at 454 per 100,000 vs. 413 countywide also due to barriers to accessing healthcare.
The South Tucson community also received limited federal relief for small businesses compared to count averages: $1,600 per job and $500 per resident vs. $3,793 per job and $1,344 per resident due to language barriers and documentation requirements.
Between 2019 and 2023, there was one fifth as much net business growth, 2% vs 10% countywide but a lower turnover rate, 49% vs. 59%.
In response to existing challenges, community-based organizations like the Southwest Folklife Alliance and Regeneración mobilized and offered financial support and cash grants as well as personal protective equipment to neighborhoods that got less support.
“They were a crucial link in stitching together the investments that the federal government was trying to make to help the United States weather through this storm and really getting it to the people that needed it most on the ground,” Pedraza said.
Whereas in South Phoenix, from 2019 to 2023, businesses experienced a 1% decline compared to a 9% growth throughout Maricopa county. Researchers found that local businesses received just over half of funds from the Paycheck Protection Program per job than businesses countywide, $2,400 vs $4,400.
Organizations like Chicanos Por La Causa and the South Central Collaborative provided mutual aid and technical assistance for entrepreneurs excluded from traditional relief programs as well as input towards shaping transit-oriented development.
“It was striking that one of the things that I gleaned from diving into both the South Phoenix and the Tucson reports was how important local leaders and community organizers in particular were for filling gaps in governance and service delivery during the COVID pandemic,” Pedraza said.
Researchers from ASU and UCLA also found that community-led organizations in the San Ysidro and Fruitvale neighborhoods in California also stepped in with financial aid, stimulated business activity and vaccination rates during the pandemic.
