TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Community on Wheels provides resources for Tucson's unhoused population every Saturday at Santa Rita Park. Following last week's closure, a member of the community group talked with KGUN 9 about what's next.
RELATED STORY | City of Tucson clearing out Santa Rita Park Wednesday morning
"We need to talk about why people are not accepting the resources. We need to talk about why the narrative is 'they don't want help'," said Victoria Devasto.
She and other members of the group have consistently advocated for unhoused people, and witnessed the clearing of Santa Rita Park last week.
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Devasto said she's unsure of when the park will still be cleared despite how closely she's followed the City of Tucson's progress on the planned renovations. The renovations have been a concern for Community on Wheels because of the large unhoused population at the park.
While the City of Tucson has cited resources for the people who have set up camp at the park, City of South Tucson Police Commander Raul Navarro saw an influx of "new faces" in the 1.2 square mile city. He told KGUN 9 he didn't know about last week's clear-out until it was already happening.
"We weren't given any notification about that, we had heard rumors that it was closing the day before," said Navarro. "It does affect us all, we are a small tight-fit community. So having knowledge beforehand, other than rumors, would've been helpful. But they're not required to do that."
RELATED STORY | Neighbors concerned multi-million dollar park renovations overlook safety issues
The City of Tucson told KGUN 9 earlier this year the renovations were expected to begin in the fall. Now, that's expected to begin in January 2025.
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Reyna Preciado is a reporter for KGUN 9, she joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2022 after graduating Arizona State University. Share your story ideas with Reyna by emailing reyna.preciado@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, or Twitter.