By Christina Cruz
Tagline Media Group

Got Junk for Jesus is a charity that collects unwanted vehicles throughout Southern Arizona, refurbishes them and provides them to families in need of transportation.  We would like to share with you the story of a remarkable organization and the remarkable people they assist.

Denise (not her real name) lost her mom when she was a mere seven years old. She grew up in foster care homes in Las Vegas. Some foster parents are not as family-oriented and loving as we might assume they are. As a result, when Denise learned that she could be declared an adult, she arranged to be “emancipated’ by the courts. This young 15 year old girl, in a spirit of hope and survival, freed herself from the far too often flawed foster care system.

Denise was easy prey, at her tender age, to the predators in the adult world. She tried to live with friends and stay safe, but soon an older man who promised security, became her “boyfriend.” Soon enough, her “boyfriend” turned into her boss. It turns out that he was really a pimp. Denise was broke, on her own, without anyone or anything except her “boyfriend.” In that same spirit of survival, she figured she really had no choices left for survival, so she went to “work” for him.

Due to her youth and inexperience Denise was naively pleased with her success and the rewards of her hard work. She went from having nothing to being able to buy anything and everything she wanted. She prostituted for about seven years, and during that time she was arrested over and over again. It got to a point where the police knew her by name, as did the casinos she frequented, which started to bar her from their premises.

During this time, with only the guidance of her “boyfriend” upon which to rely, Denis gave birth to two children. However, her core values made her realize that she did not want to raise her kids in this environment. Realizing she’d be facing years of jail time if her life went on like this, Denise started thinking to herself that there must be a better life…a better way.

During her “working” days, Denise was looking for a way out. A friend told her about an organization called Hookers for Jesus (hookersforjesus.net). There, she says, she learned that with God in her life, she wouldn’t need a pimp to protect her, or a “man” to take care of her. Denise, and other women in her position, say that the pimps brainwash them into thinking they can’t make it without them, but Hookers for Jesus showed them that God could be their “Man” – and their savior.

Denise found another Way, she found God. From that point on, she saw another way to live life. That included changing her life completely. She needed to leave Las Vegas, and her old friends. Denise had nowhere to go to get a fresh start, and no way to get there. She knew that she would have to keep “working” to raise enough money to get out of town.

The father of her children, who was also her pimp had a strong hold on her and was not inclined to let go.

One day, her pimp was arrested. Denise saw her opportunity to save her children. So, while he was in jail Denise took his car keys and left everything behind.

Denise ended up in Tucson even though that was not her plan. She was trying to make it somewhere else but the car broke down in Tucson, so she checked into a women’s shelter and ended up excelling in the shelter’s program. Denise became involved with Arizona’s Department of Economic Security, and recently, through one of their programs, obtained her GED. A job soon followed, at a local call center (where she’s been working for the last six months), and she’s almost got enough money saved to get her own apartment.

A representative from Got Junk for Jesus said, “Yeah, we’re going to give her a car, and my friend, along with his family, are going to provide Denise and her three little ones with some clothes and presents for Christmas!”

Denise is doing really well these days. She’s such a smart girl, who at the age of 24, is well kept and well spoken. No one would guess that she had anything less than a wonderful childhood. She accepts full responsibility for the decisions she’s made. She knows that she is still a work in progress, who has come of the dark, and into the light.

Got Junk for Jesus, a Non-Profit 501 3(c) charity, calls upon the community to lend a hand to this amazing young woman, as she walks the path to a productive life.

Christina Cruz, a native Tucsonan, is an advertising adviser specializing in Internet Marketing and Social Media and Public Relations for TagLine Media Group. She serves on many non-profit boards throughout the community, including the Tucson Police Foundation, Midvale Park Neighborhood Association SNAPP and several others.

By Scott Weiler

With the landing of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, many Americans are feeling a sense of loss. Some may say that the pride of the American Space Program is being packaged and mothballed to be put on display in a museum with other lost artifacts. That it has become part of our history, instead of our future. This summer, I saw things differently.

Through a program with Tucson Values Teachers and the University of Arizona, myself, along with other of Tucson’s Math and Science teachers had the privilege of being brought to Tucson’s industries to work side by side with scientists and engineers, working collaboratively, to build our future.

Who are these teachers? I have the privilege of being one.  My career is a Math and Science teacher at Presidio School, one of the fine charter schools in Tucson.

The University of Arizona does recruitment and evaluation processes to get teachers into businesses whose success depends on science and engineering. Many companies, such as Raytheon and Tucson Electric, stepped up to include teachers in what they do. I was selected to work with Paragon Space Development Corporation. It is a locally owned small business that provides environmental controls for extreme and hazardous environments, such as space.

Companies like Paragon could have easily had us come in a few days over the summer to shadow an engineer or two, but the program was designed to have us not only spend our entire summer involved with the company, but doing real tasks—collaborator ting with engineers and not just watching passively.

Working with Paragon, allowed me to do real rocket science with real rocket scientists. Paragon is a hard charging company with an adventuresome spirit that was formed by Biospherians and Space scientists and engineers who wanted to change the future by creating life support that would allow humans to expand beyond their limits. They are working with other companies on making the American space program thrive again. Like Paragon, like the rest of the companies that were involved in this summer internship, also know that the future needs scientifically minded and mathematically oriented work force to continue on their path. As teachers, we know that students in the classrooms today are the scientists, engineers, and astronauts of tomorrow.

Many schools start in the coming weeks, so I will be switching back to my teacher hat. But I will have a newer and more exciting approach to teaching my students. I will not only bring my teaching experience to the classroom, but also that of a scientist and engineer. I know my students will benefit from really using the math, science, and technology that will be important in the future.

Students are coming into a world that asks more from them in the fields of Science and Math than ever before. The real opportunities for personal success are going to be areas where they create, discover and invent the future. By using skills more geared toward this century, students get glimpses of the future. My hope is that now they will be a little more aware and mindful of how they can fit into that future.

Scott Weiler is a math & science teacher at Presidio School and has six years experience teaching, including a year in South Korea. He is a gradute of University High School, and has a B.A. from Lousiana State University. He got his teaching certificate from Pima Community College.

By Dr. Barbara Warren
Physicians for Social Responsibility

Dr. Barbara Warren, Physicians for Social Responsibility

Arizona is burning.  We are amidst a severe drought, a climate growing hotter and our water resources are shrinking.  Without adequate rainfall, forests will become tinderboxes and fires will rage.  Was this expected?  Yes!  Climate scientists have been warning us for years that this is the future for the Southwest with the scenario of climate change.

And yet many of us we still behave as if there is nothing happening out there on our planet and in our own environment.  We have been told how to make the necessary changes in our lives for a long time now.  Read Lester Brown’s book, “Plan B” or a whole host of other writers.  It is late, but there is still time to make very significant adjustments to the way we live and to dramatically reduce the rising carbon levels that are the cause of these changes.

We all work to try to make the future for our children and our grandchildren and other family members’ futures on this planet a better one.  And yet we are ignoring the obvious, the 1,000-pound gorilla in the room.  What will their lives really be like if we continue on this path?  See Thomas Friedman’s  Opinion piece from 4/8/11.

In the Southwest, we are fortunate to have ready access to a large and plentiful and renewable energy source.  We all value our sunshine and our desert climate.  And yet many of us seem blind to the opportunity it presents to capture the sun as energy. We can each do our part in helping to reverse the trend of global warming. And yet the majority of us do not act.  It is puzzling indeed.  It is especially ironic to listen to the many who say:  “I cannot afford to put solar energy on my house because I am renovating my kitchen… or bathroom… or buying a new car.”   Most often that new car is not a hybrid or electric vehicle. Our choices are backwards, short sighted and certainly not in the best interests of our children’s future on this planet.

There are a number of very helpful incentives to get on with choosing solar electricity and solar hot water and many other energy conserving options for our homes.  The State and the Nation allow us tax credits for each of many items.  The Federal government provides a 30% tax credit for solar installations.  And our utility companies offer generous subsidies that reduce the costs of solar energy choices for our homes by an average of 40%. Must it be free for us to care enough for our children’s future?

It is time to get our priorities straight and to do the right thing for our families and this planet. We can do it!  We can also find ways to help those who truly do not have any funds to go solar and make this happen. Let’s all compete for the best solar arrays and not the fanciest bathrooms and kitchens!  And kudos to all of you who have “gotten it” and have those panels on your roofs, those hybrid and electric vehicles, that water harvesting, those bicycles and so on! Thank you for doing your part!

About the Author:
Barbara H. Warren, MD, MPH is a retired physician who is the Arizona coordinator for Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) and a Southwest Director on the National Board of Directors of PSR, Washington, DC.  She also is the coordinator of the Issue Team on Global Warming and the Environment for the Pima County Chapter of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA).