ECAP Steering Committee
The organizing body of the Employees Care About Pima County (ECAP) program sets the direction of the appeal program, promotes its activities and administers and manages the annual employee participation drive in coordination with the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona. Members come from nearly a dozen County departments large and small. ECAP is the largest and most generous program of its kind in Southern Arizona.
Joanna Dinan, Vice Chair
Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation
Phone: 520-977-0816
Joanna.Dinan@pima.gov
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Linda Volkerink, Secretary
Information Technology
Phone: 520-724-7984
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COMMITTEE MEMBERS NOT PICTURED ARE:
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Dalila Perez
Community & Workforce Development
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Patty Short
Community & Workforce Development
724-5112
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Kate Harrison
Communications
724-3739
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Sylvia Molina
Behavioral Health
724-8211
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Ending Poverty Now
Interfaith Community Services (ICS) is a lead partner with Ending Poverty Now and receives funds from the generous contributions of Pima County employees through ECAP. EPN partners with ICS on three of those programs:
- Getting Ahead in a Just Getting By World is a 50 hour curriculum that supports people experiencing poverty to take an in-depth look at what causes poverty in their own life and in the community, and then develop a new future story themselves.
- RESET provides much longer-term wrap-around supports like classes, financial support, individual coaching
and more. RESET drew from ICS’ own programming as well as Pima County’s MAMA (Mother’s in Arizona Moving Ahead) program.
- The Bridges Financial Management Class is a 20-hour financial management class written by and for people who experience “the end of the money coming before the end of the month.” It’s an interactive, judgment free space where people can get tools to gain control of their finances and connect with financial mentors who are there to coach and share expertise.
“When people are chronically under-resourced for a long time, it often takes more than just some job leads and a resume to help someone get a job,” said Tina Bommarito, ICS’s Workforce Development Coordinator. “EPN has given us new tools we can use.”
When the pandemic hit, ICS responded quickly to the dramatic increase in basic needs, like food boxes. But they also maintained their programs focused on supporting families to get ahead and achieve self-sufficiency. To make this possible, they transformed their in-person programs to a virtual format.
“I was so impressed at ICS’s commitment to continue serving people through the pandemic,” said Bonnie Bazata, EPN program manager. “Making the shift to a virtual format is not easy – as most of us know – but ICS used it as a way to widen their reach and connect with even more people. It’s exciting to see the difference they are making.”
“Our goal is to help families move ahead with sustained support -- and these three programs are key to achieving that,” said Lauryn Valladarez, ICS’s Director of Self-Sufficiency Programs. “The EPN program supports us not just with dollars, but with trainings, curriculum support and advice. We are so grateful for this partnership and for the caring and generous Pima County employees.”