As the sun rises over Tucson’s south side, David Garcia provides a landscaping service for his community – earning an income to support his wife and four daughters.

“But by 11 a.m., we’re back in the neighborhood, scoping out areas that need improvement and starting to transform them,” he said.

As the founder and CEO of Barrio Restoration, Garcia has spent the past six years transforming the streets of Tucson’s south side into cleaner, safer, and more welcoming spaces.

“Barrio Restoration is just that – it’s rebuilding this neighborhood,” Garcia said,“Creating a clean and safe environment with the goal to encourage our people to take ownership and reinvest in our barrios and culture.”

His work goes beyond physical restoration, aiming to protect the value of togetherness within the neighborhood his four daughters are growing up in.

“Cleaner streets mean safer streets,” Garcia said.

Garcia also spends time at Casa Maria Soup Kitchen, connecting with people experiencing homelessness and paying them to help with clean-ups. He hands them a shovel, turns on music and provides food for anyone willing to work.

“Even after I paid them, they continued to work,” Garcia said. “People don’t realize that a large amount of these individuals want to work.”

Brian Flagg has lived and worked at the Casa Maria Catholic Worker House for 41 years and admires Garcia for his humility.

“We’re big supporters of Barrio Restoration,” said Flagg. “Here at Casa Maria, all of us really value the working relationship with David.”

Garcia’s humble approach has drawn support from neighbors like Claudio Rodriguez, a Tucsonan who shares Garcia’s passion for community building.  Rodriguez connected with Garcia early on, designing Barrio Restoration’s logo and becoming a trusted supporter.

 “I gravitated toward David because we kind of have a similar story of growing up … It goes back to our native heritage — this land doesn’t belong to us,” he said. “That’s what David really shines at showing. He’s taking care of it and he does that out of the goodness of his own heart.”

With a background in agriculture, Rodriguez has empowered Garcia to rethink how land can serve the community.

“He helped me step outside the box and tear down walls that were preventing me from looking at the bigger picture,” Garcia said.

With Rodriguez’s encouragement, he began growing food in the alley behind his own house, producing watermelon, squash, corn and other foods to share with his community. 

Rodriguez sees the impact firsthand and is often on the streets cleaning with Garcia.

“David offers opportunities to train people, kids especially. He shows people that they can do what he is doing,” Rodriguez said. “Really what he is doing is showing people how to come together as a community.”

Garcia plans on returning to Casa Maria Soup Kitchen on Friday, Dec, 13 to continue cleaning the surrounding streets with his community. To donate or learn more about cleanup projects, @_Barrio_Restoration on Instagram.

Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.