Tucson Clean and Beautiful and Southwest Gas Plant Trees for Tucson in Support of Esperanza en Escalante

Category: Arizona

Energy provider continues its three-year, $50K commitment to Tucson environmental group

 
Tucson, AZ – In support of its Trees for Tucson program, Southwest Gas recently collaborated with Tucson Clean and Beautiful to plant more than 100 shrubs, cacti and trees at Esperanza en Escalante. On Saturday, October 28th, more than 50 volunteers from Southwest Gas’ BLUE (Building Lives Up Everywhere) employee team converged at Esparanza to plant shade trees across their campus to provide a more peaceful, connective experience for the veteran residents who reside there. Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and other volunteers were also on-hand for the morning.
 
This event was part of Southwest Gas’ three-year, $50,000 commitment to Tucson Clean and Beautiful and as part of its ongoing environmental and social sustainability initiatives. The Trees for Tucson program is a City of Tucson supported initiative that focuses on planting shade trees throughout the community with emphasis on low-income neighborhoods.
 
"Shade trees are an investment in the human and environmental well-being of our communities and create valuable spaces for passive and active recreation while significantly cooling the environment by as much as 12 degrees,” says Katie Gannon, executive director of Tucson Clean and Beautiful. “Southwest Gas’ investment in and support for critical green infrastructure for the Esperanza community will enhance their ability to serve Tucson's most heat vulnerable populations, homeless veterans, for years to come.”
 
Esperanza en Escalante is a non-profit organization that provides veterans housing, social services, programs and transportation to assist their transition into civilian life and works closely with City of Tucson, the State of Arizona and the VA to ensure the needs of this population are being met. Southwest Gas chose Esparanza for this project as the energy provider has worked with the organization in the past and provided philanthropic support through their FUEL for LIFE employee giving campaign.
 
“Trees for Tucson’s mission aligns with our corporate sustainability goals as the trees we planted today will beautify Esperanza’s campus, offer its residents more outdoor space to socialize and connect, and provide many environmental benefits in support of Mayor Romero’s initiatives to create a thriving desert city for the future,” said Dr. Laura S. Nelson, vice president of sustainability and external affairs at Southwest Gas. “We applaud Tucson Clean and Beautiful for their commitment and coordination of these efforts and we look forward to continued collaboration in creating a sustainable future for everyone.”
 
“Esperanza En Escalante is creating hope for unhoused veterans and those at risk by providing housing and wraparound services,” said Tucson Mayor Regina Romero. “The City of Tucson is proud to be partnering with Southwest Gas on this tree planting effort that is bringing more shade to the residents of Esperanza En Escalante. It is going to take all of us working together to address the challenges of unsheltered homelessness and creating more urban shade in Tucson. I am grateful to the Southwest Gas Foundation for their continued partnership in funding the Tucson Million Trees and stepping up to do their part to help cities like ours address extreme heat while continuing to identify ways to reduce carbon emissions from all our energy sources.”
 
Shade trees serve many functions beyond simple beautification helping to save on energy usage, aid in water retention and decrease erosion, absorb CO2, increase shade canopy and help reduce stress and anxiety amongst many other benefits.
 
“Renewal is he right word to describe what happens at Esperanza and these beautiful gardens and newly planted trees will offer an oasis from the grief, loss and trauma felt by veterans who come here for a fresh start,” says Suzanne Bond, CEO of Esperanza en Escalante. “This beautiful landscape will offer places where our vets can gather to talk, share experiences, plan their better futures and ultimately heal and we can’t thank Southwest Gas, Tucson Clean and Beautiful and Mayor Romero enough.”
For more information on Tucson Clean and Beautiful and their Trees for Tucson program, visit tucsoncleanandbeautiful.org and for more on Southwest Gas community and sustainability initiatives, visit swgas.com/sustainability and.swgas.com/en/community.

 
About Southwest Gas
Southwest Gas Corporation is a dynamic energy company committed to exceeding the expectations of our over two million customers throughout Arizona, California and Nevada by providing safe and reliable service while innovating sustainable energy solutions to fuel our communities’ growth. For more information about how Southwest Gas is supporting a sustainable energy future, please visit swgas.com/sustainability.
 
About Tucson Clean and Beautiful
Tucson Clean & Beautiful is a nonprofit organization, incorporated in 1985 as the flagship community-based environmental nonprofit, promoting and supporting volunteer stewardship in the Tucson metropolitan area through a range of hands-on programs addressing urban forestry, invasive species, waste reduction, land stewardship, rainwater harvesting, and beautification. Volunteer in your community, or contact us if you want to get involved. Email us at tcb@tucsoncleanandbeautiful.org, visit our website at www.tucsoncleanandbeautiful.org or call (520) 791-3109 for more information.
 
 
About Esperanza
Founded in 1989, Esperanza’s mission is to provide transitional and permanent supportive housing for Tucson’s homeless veterans and veterans’ families, as well as offer social rehabilitation in order to nurture and support the transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency.  For additional information, please contact Suzanne Bond, CEO, at sbond@eeeveterans.org or 520-514-1234
 
 
Media Contact:
Brian O’Malley
480-703-8338