El Independiente

              E1nc(e
By Ginger Bevilacqua
Tim Booker, former alcohol and
herione addict, was unsuccessful in
his search for a drug recovery pro-gram
that worked for him until he
tried a rehabilitation center with a
religious focus.
"t was struggling, shooting dope
and not working," said Booker, who
is now a pastor at Church on the
Street, located at 2111 5. Sixth Ave.
The difference between tradi-tional
drug addiction programs and
the Church on the Street is that the
relationship with God helps to pro-vide
the confidence to change,
Booker said.
"I've been in drug abuse pro-grams
all my life," he said. "You
start talking about Jesus and it's a
different story."
He talks about Jesns a lot these
days.
After going through the program
of the Church on the Street in
Phoenix, Booker recovered from
his addictions. He went on to start
anew Church on the Street in South
Tucson.
Por LnMonica Everett-Hnynes
Traducido por Maria de Lourden
Encinas
Las negociaciones políticas entre el
Presidente George Bush y el Presidente
Vicente Fox de México en cuanto a la legal-ización
de 3 millones de trabajadores mexi-canos
indocumentados han captado la aten-ción
de varios ciudadanos de South Tucson.
Bush y Fox se reunieron durante la
primera parte del mes en curso para discutir
reformas a la inmigración entre EE.UU. y
México. De acuerdo al "Los Angeles
Times', Fox dijo que podría tomar hasta seis
años para concedérseles la residencia a inmi-grantes.
South Tucson's
POWER OF PRAYER
Church on the Street helps local residents who seek shelter and guidance
The Church on the Street is a
nationwide ministry that reaches
out to drug addicts and the home-less.
The Phoenix outreach was start-ed
24 years ago by Walter Rattray.
John Bagnoll, the youth minister
in Phoenix, said Rnttray "started
Out (ministering) with a portable
PA (system), working out of the
back of a milk truck in a park."
Rattray's vision, Bagnoll said,
remains the same today: "winning
and building men."
Over the years, the Church on
the Street in Phoenix has grown
significantly. At first they just fed a
few men a night who gathered to'
hear the street preaching. They
now feed over 1.000 men a day.
When Booker started helping in
the ministry in Phoenix a few years
back he loved it. He started as a
manager there and stayed for about
a year and a half. Then the leaders
at the church asked if he wanted to
go to Prescott to be the assistant
pastor.
A year and a half ago, Booker
Mientras algunos dicen que Bush se
demora demasiado con las negociaciones,
otros residentes de South Tucson creen que
él y Fox deben abandonar por completo las
negociaciones.
El Director Municipal Femando Castro
dijo que el asunto de inmigración es impor-tante.
La población mexicoamericana es
bastante atta y por lo tanto South Tucson es
un enclave social y cultural para los mexi-canos.
"Alrededor del 80 por ciento son his-panohablantes,"
dijo Castro.
También dijo Castro que sería dificil
determinar cuantos indocumentados viven
en South Tucson o cuantas personas tienen
parientes que fueron o que aún son indocu-
On the road again
'"9$
ihiIiIsss mumí
WWjljji
With Sun Tran on a reduced schedule due to a strike, Maria Babuca and her grand-daughters
had a longer wait for the bus on South Sixth Avenue Sept. 14.
Employees signed a settlement agreement Sept. 16.
encßente English-Spanish Newspaper
moved to Tucson to Start his own
church.
"When I started the ministry, it
was just me and my car payments,"
he said.
From then on "the Lord just
made it happen," Booker said. He
received funds to buy all the build-ings
the ministry now uses from
several area churches and private
donations.
Today the ministry in South
Tucson has several ways it reaches
Out to the local homeless and suf-fering
drug addicts.
The mission is a program where
men can stay for six days, receiving
dinner, breakfast and a place to
sleep. After 30 days they are
allowed to come back for another
six days if they still have not gotten
themselves afloat financially.
For men coming off the street
who have found a job and need a
place to stay, there is a work pro-gram
that costs $50 a week.
During the day intany of these
see CHURCH page 6
Photo by Ginger neobeeqon
Ed Kempton (right) and Ron Callinon (left) help with a car wash
at Church on the Street. The car wash takes place euery week-day
afternoon and given men a chance to help raise money.
Reformas a las leyes de inmigración podrían afectar a South Tucson
mentados.
La proximidad de South Tucson con la
frontera México-
EE.UU. y la predomi-nancia
de la población
mexicoamericana crean
una zona que acoge a los inmigrantes y les
hace sentirse bievenidos.
"Existe un alto nivel de familiaridad",
dijo Castro. "No recibimos un gran número
de quejas generadas por residentes en cuan-to
a personas indocumentadas. Esto puede
deberse a que las personas conviven bien,
especialmente si tienen familia y pueden
quedarse aqui."
Algunos residentes de South Tucson no
estén a favor de los esfuerzos de los dos pres-traducción
By LaMonica Everett-Haynes
Political negotiations between President George Bush and Mexico's President
Vicente Fox regarding the legalization of 3 million undocumented Mexican workers
have grabbed the attention of many South Tucson citizens.
Bush and Fox met early this month to discuss U.S-Mexico immigration reform.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Fox said it coutd take up to six years to grant
residency to the immigrants.
While some said Bush is moving too slowly with negotiations, other South Tucson
residents believe he.and Fox should drop negotiations entirely.
City Manager Femando Castro said that while the city govemment has not been direct-ly
involved with the issue of immigration, the issue is important because the Mexican pop-ulation
is fairly high. South Tucson is a social and cultural enclave for Mexicans.
"About 80 percent are Spanish-speaking people," Castro said.
Castro said it would be difficult to determine how many illegal immigrants live in
South Tucson or how many people have relatives who were or are illegal immigrants.
There exists an inherent comfort zone among the people in South Tucson because
it is close to the border and a large number of Mexican-Americans live in the city.
"There is a high level of familiarity," Castro said. "We don't get a lot of com-plaints
from residents about illegal immigrants. That may be because people blend
very well, especially if they have families
and can stay here." see IMMIGRATION page 6
identes.
"Hay demasiados inmigrantes aquí" dijo
Rose Mary Morales, una residente de
South Tucson de 16 años de edad, alum-na
de Desert View High School. "Para
qué necesitamos 3 millones más?"
Morales dijo que mientras tos inmigrantes
mexicanos parecen venir a EE.UU. en busca
de empleo, ella cree que algunos se involu-cran
eu manejar en estado de ebriedad, al
igual que en participar en pandillas o en
actos de violencia.
"Lo primero que debet-la hacer el
Presidente Bush es confirmar lactase de per-sonas
que son, y no sólo arrojar a personas
véase INMIGRACION página 6
Immigration law reforms
could affect South Tucson
Free/gratis h t tp I/jon rit alls m . arizona, edn lin dy September/septiembre 2001