TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — When law enforcement responds to a domestic incident or a car crash, sometimes they encounter children caught in the middle of a scene, experiencing what could be a traumatic situation.
Nonprofit Southern Arizona Book Heroes has spent six years trying to comfort those kids by giving them a distraction.
In March 2024, Southern Arizona Book Heroes Founder Jennifer Turner-Jones ran the nonprofit out of her home and her family's trophy shop, Saguaro Trophy in Midtown.
A year later, she's moved the nonprofit into a space its own and is continuing to expand back where Turner-Jones's story started.
Once upon a time, Turner-Jones was one of those kids who needed help.
“I personally was taken away when I was young," she said. "I was put into a shelter. There were bookshelves upon bookshelves and I’d just lose myself in books.”
As an adult, she began collecting books for local law enforcement to give to kids, starting with the Tucson Police Department.
Lieutenant Jason Bredehoft works for TPD on Tucson's Eastside.
“Our patrol officers come across kids in crisis and traumatic experiences all the time," he said. "I’d say on a near daily basis.”
He said handing out a toy or a book to a child they encounter “helps bridge the gap between the uniform and the children who are having these traumatic experiences.”
Six years into Southern Arizona Book Heroes story, they've expanded to 32 different departments from up in Prescott Valley to Nogales with nearly 2,000 books waiting in the new office to be bagged and brought out on patrol.
Turner-Jones says they're launching a Junior Ambassador program for teenagers to get volunteer hours while helping the cause and adding ten more departments to their distribution list, including Flagstaff police department.
“The abuse and everything happened in Flagstaff," I’ve been avoiding them like the plague, but its time to face the demons, and in all reality, they’re the ones who saved me.”
Even though Southern Arizona Book Heroes is returning to help where its story started, Turner-Jones says it isn't the end.
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Alex Dowd is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9, where her work combines her two favorite hobbies: talking to new people and learning about the community around her. Her goal is to eventually meet every single person in Tucson. Share your story ideas with Alex via email, alex.dowd@kgun9.com, or connecting on Instagram or X.
