Stephen Bishop
The Community Action Human Resources Agency (CAHRA) is a nonprofit organization which has been serving the Eloy and Pinal communities for thirty-four years. It is located on Sunshine Blvd. just east of Frontier Street. The organization’s day to day activities are headed by Mary Lou Rogales. The agency provides many services to these communities including home repairs, appliance repair, rent support, weatherizing homes, assistance in fuel or electricity costs, helping people with disabilities, and supplying diapers and food for those who qualify.
The programs manager is Lucy Rangel. She has been an employee for twenty years. Working with Ms. Rangel is Josie Robles, who is the Housing Programs coordinator and heads up the diaper distribution. For the past several years, she has been assisted by Renee Kleinjan, a Robson Ranch resident.
The last of these programs (diapers and food) have been served by the Robson Ranch community for the last several years. Of the 19 volunteers who regularly work at CAHRA, 17 are Robson Ranch residents. They mainly help with food distribution, particularly with fresh produce on the second Tuesday of each month, and with the Senior Food Boxes on the third Thursday of each month. A number of these volunteers consistently work on days of food distribution on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays each week.
Many residents of Robson Ranch have been confused with how many food pantries exist in Eloy. The answer is one—Santa Cruz Food Pantry.
During the quarantine, many people became aware of the needs of food pantries nation-wide. They were experiencing difficulty in meeting the growing needs of the population, as we all experienced shortages in our grocery stores. One of our local churches, Rock Springs Church, which regularly bought large quantities for the Santa Cruz Food Pantry, found it difficult to fill the monthly requests from the pantry. Robson residents, led by George and Mary Beth Fisher, collected small donations from many residents to assist the pantry. By June, Rock Springs once again began to make larger purchases.
Over the years, Rock Springs has not only bought food items, but also has filled the pantry’s refrigerators and freezers with meat. The church has also provided Thanksgiving and Easter meals.
CAHRA has a membership with the Tucson Diaper Co-op. A truck goes to Tucson monthly to pick up a supply of diapers. The driver on these trips often is a Robson Ranch resident, either Lee Kleinjan or Ray Rameriz. To meet the needs of families with larger toddlers, Rock Springs Church holds an annual diaper drive. CAHRA is always in need of baby wipes. Last year’s drive was highly successful, and this year, the drive was held in September. If you want to donate or volunteer, you can take diapers directly to CAHRA or contact Steve Bishop at 480-861-9882.
The officials of CAHRA are very grateful for the participation of Robson Ranch with their food and diaper programs. In the words of Josie Robles, “You are a blessing.”