Just Communities Arizona

In this episode of  Nonprofit Spotlight, Stephanie Engs talks with Caroline Isaacs, the Executive Director of Just Communities Arizona, formerly part of the American Friends Service Committee. Caroline shares JCA’s unique approach to the punishment system in that “punishment doesn’t cultivate safety—relationships and human connection does. Together, we’re creating a world free of prisons and punishment, where reconciliation, truth-telling, and mutual interdependence foster healing instead of retribution.” While going in-depth on JCA’s ReFraming Justice approach. And following up on last week’s conversation with Katie Rogers from Southern Arizona Legal Aid, Caroline discusses JCA’s partnership with the Begin Again Expungement Project and their expungement campaign Reclaim Your Future. 

Caroline also discusses the root of the Tucson Community Safety Survey in partnership with the mayor’s office. The genesis of the work was a community-centered research study developed and carried out by Dr. Grace Gámez (now Assistant Director of Advocacy at The Center for Antiracist Research, Boston University) in collaboration with Flowers & Bullets (https://www.flowersandbullets.com/) in Barrio Centro, Tucson. You can read the research report here (https://afscarizona.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Barrio-Centro-Report.pdf) The survey is available to any Tucson resident of the City of Tucson. 

Tucson Community Safety Survey: Any Tucson resident can take the survey online. It’s available in both English and Spanish: https://www.tucsonaz.gov/home/announcement/take-reimagining-community-safety-survey

Upcoming Expungement Clinic: