(upbeat music) (Tom) This week on Arizona Illustrated, the Tucson community unites to clean up the Santa Cruz River.

(Luke) We're trying to pull out 2,000 pounds of trash in two hours.

This entire city drains into the Santa Cruz.

So when we get a big monsoon storm, all of the trash from the whole city eventually ends up in the main stem of the Santa Cruz.

(Tom) Meet parents who help foster a more compassionate conversation about mental health.

(Nancy) I call it the double bind that those that had addiction, self-medication, and those with serious mental illness found in life that the government was not supporting them together.

(Tom) One couple is responding to humanitarian issues at the border with compassion.

(Miriam) Económica nos obliga a salir de nuestras comunidades, a dejar a nuestra familia y movernos a otros horizontes, a otros sueños.

Allá en la otra tierra puede ser mejor para nosotros.

(Tom) And lessons from the saxophone with Edward Goodman.

(Edward) It's an instrument that I often like to say, it's controlled chaos.

That's our job to try to figure out how to control this, to create beauty.

(upbeat music) (Tom) Hello and welcome to Arizona Illustrated.

I'm Tom McNamara.

You know when it rains in southern Arizona, naturally a lot of the water flows into the washes and unfortunately a lot of trash flows there too.

Well recently the Sonoran Institute held an event to clean 2,000 pounds of trash out of the Santa Cruz River.

Hundreds of volunteers not only exceeded that goal, but they spread wild flowers, a strong sense of community and an abundance of love for the river.

[Music] (Lane) Benos días.

Good morning.

How are we doing today?

Bien, y'all ready to pick up some trash or make some seed bombs?

Yes?

[Music] (Angel) We have gloves, we have rangers or picker stickers or whatever you want to call them here.

We have trash bags.

Use this as an opportunity to make some community, yeah?

Because you're going to be really sad if you're carrying that one bag alone, all right?

The ramp to get into the river, just drop down this way.

[Music] (Luke) We're trying to pull out 2,000 pounds of trash in two hours.

This entire city drains into the Santa Cruz, so when we get a big monsoon storm, all of the trash from the whole city eventually ends up in the main stem of the Santa Cruz.

[Music] (Simone) The world is so crazy right now.

It's nice to just be in an environment where we are all focused on, you know, doing something that's bettering our community.

My family is not from here.

We're actually from Jamaica.

Growing up there, the land is a big part of, like, what we do and how we feel as people.

So if the land isn't taken care of, then I don't think we'll ever be, like, you know, taken care of as well.

[Music] (Miroslav) When I go to the beach, I'm like having a margarita and then I have a trash bag, and I'll, you know, have my little sunset walks with the trash bag.

That's just who I am.

That's how my mom raised me.

(Merrian) I go to, like, where I see there's a lot of buildup of, like, natural materials because that's where I'm finding a lot of, like, the big pieces and stuff on trees and stuff.

(Taylor) I did find a horseshoe as well, that was really cool.

So cool.

Yeah, no, it's been in the river for a while.

[music] (Paige) Today we have some of our community naturalist interns with us.

I think they were just really excited to know how recently the water used to flow here.

So around 100 years ago, it was still flowing annually.

And I think a lot of the interns are also really excited to be part of this movement where we're trying to restore the river.

We're making native wildflower seed balls.

You use soil with some clay, maybe even a little bit of compost in there.

You mix in the wildflower seeds, mix it all together, and squish it up into a nice, tight little ball, and then you let them dry in the sun.

We're going to throw them in the river now that we've pulled all the trash out.

(Luke) Go, go, go, go, go... (Lane) The Santa Cruz River is important.

It's made it possible for this area to be a habitat for wildlife, for people, for over 4,500 years.

And so as y'all are walking through the river, think about all the ancestors, all the relatives that have walked and moved through there.

we are part of that legacy in continuing to care for our riverways.

[music] (Tom) Mental illness has long been stigmatized and difficult to speak about, but it's come a long way in being understood, and that's thanks to parents and others who are directly affected by serious mental illness and who have been pushing for advocacy and new legislation.

In this next story, meet three such parents whose legacy is a more understanding, just, and caring mental health system.

[NARRATOR]: Dining tables.

They've always been places of coming together, a space for sharing meals and stories.

This table is no exception, and special because it's in the home of Si and Ellie Schorr, the very place where NAMISA, the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Southern Arizona, was founded.

Si and Ellie, attorneys who met in New York, married and moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1954.

They have four children, one of which has a serious mental illness.

Struggling to find a group home that could take their daughter, they met with Dr. Jose Santiago, a well-known psychiatrist who was instrumental in bringing people in the mental health field together and who introduced the Schorr's to other families in the area with the same needs.

It was around this table that these families came together on a regular basis to discuss how they could better advocate for the seriously mentally ill and their families.

[ELLIE]: This isn't even the whole size.

It becomes two leaves bigger.

[SI]: Yeah, it is.

[ELLIE]: So we have plenty of room.

[SI]: Yeah, this is where... [ELLIE]: Where it's at.

[SI]: One of the big problems in that era, the stigmatism that came with mental illness.

Folks didn't want to talk about it.

They sort of hid in the shadows.

So it was difficult to find others who would help.

[ELLIE]: I had thought of the fact that it would be good to get together with some other families and do something.

[NANCY]: We worked together pretty darn much as a team.

And it was an exciting time.

[NARRATOR]: Nancy Masland was one of the parents who met regularly at the Schorr's.

[NANCY]: She was the brightest one in the family, most athletic, best looking, and yet her mental illness totally wiped that out.

She was both bipolar and schizophrenic, and back in the 70s and 80s, federal would not talk to the mental health.

And so she was bounced between something like 30 homes.

One was for addiction, one was for mental health, one addiction, one.

She'd gone through them all, and I have greatest respect for Ellie and Si Schorr.

Particularly Ellie as a lawyer was able to move mountains legally.

[SI]: We weren't getting much attention from those who were in a position to help.

We realized we had to create a vehicle for advocacy, and Ellie began to put together, establish, and publish a newsletter.

[ELLIE]: It was a very difficult undertaking.

[NARRATOR]: Ellie's newspaper became a vital source for families in need.

She covered everything related to the developments in the mental health system and it proved to be an especially powerful instrument that she placed into the hands of as many legislators and leaders as she could.

The newsletter began receiving national recognition and awards from the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

[SI]: And from that advocacy, Ellie decided to run for the legislature.

In 1988, she sponsored some earmark legislation providing for an additional standard for commitment, which has been emulated throughout the country.

Ellie was also very instrumental in helping to form the state chapter.

[NANCY]: 1983 was when we chose to become part of NAMI, the national.

And we did it before Phoenix and before the state.

And I drove up and down the highway more times than I'd like to count, and loved building NAMI Arizona.

[ELLIE]: Most of the areas that were giving aid to people with a mental illness were seeking people who had milder forms of problems.

So basically, they were not receiving the type of care or help they needed for their families.

[NANCY]: I call it the double bind that those that had addiction, self-medication, and those with serious mental illness found in life that the government was not supporting them together.

[SI]: A lot of the community began to understand that the organization was forming, was in existence, and family members who were affected, who were not part of the organization, would call Ellie and start discussing their problems with her and where they might go for help or for getting other resources.

So Ellie began to be, her phone started ringing a lot to answer questions from these affected family members.

[ELLIE]: I think there was a special feeling in our group.

Everybody had the same problem, basically.

[NARRATOR]: Si and Ellie continued their advocacy throughout their careers.

Ellie was elected to the national board and was later appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve on the advisory board for substance abuse and mental health services.

Nancy also continued advocacy and went on to write a book detailing her daughter's struggle with the dual diagnosis of mental illness and substance abuse and how as a family they navigated the mental health system.

[NANCY]: What I see is more openness, more willingness to be vulnerable.

And that's the key.

[SI]: Today if a family gets impacted by serious mental illness, they are in a different position than we were 40 years ago.

So much of this was done by family members and their friends and their families to bring about a better understanding and how to advocate.

[NARRATOR]: NAMISA is still in operation today and continues to provide no cost mental health advocacy, education and support to those affected by mental illness in Southern Arizona.

(Tom) In the late 90's, Mark Adams moved from South Carolina to the Agua Prieta-Douglas area, straddling the U.S.-Mexico border.

There, he met, fell in love with, and married Miriam Maldonado, who had moved there from Chiapas.

At that time and now, their communities are on the front lines of the immigration issue.

Their Presbyterian church and ministry, Frontera de Cristo, asked themselves how they could respond to the crisis with faith and love rather than anger, fear, or hatred.

"Adios.

Bye" Mi nombre es Miriam Maldonado y yo soy una migrante.

Migré nací en el estado de Chiapas y migré a Agua Prieta, Sonora en busca de un trabajo.

Llegué a la frontera cuando no existían los muros que nos divide ahora en nuestras comunidades y al final de cuenta traemos a toda la familia después de dos años de trabajo para ayudar a sobrevivir a la familia, moverlos de un campo rural tan maravilloso donde hay tanta riqueza en la naturaleza comunitaria, sociable, mucha cultura, mucha tradición, pero la necesidad económica nos obliga a salir de nuestras comunidades, a dejar a nuestra familia, a dejar la tierra que nos vio nacer y movernos a otros horizontes, a otros sueños, a otras esperanzas movidos por la motivación de quizás allá en la otra tierra puede ser mejor para nosotros.

(Mark) Yo, el primer lugar donde yo llegué aquí en Agua Prieta era en la casa de sus papás, yo había venido dos mil mías de Carolina del Sur, pues sin la neta no tenía mucho ganas de salir era un sentido de llamamiento de estar aquí con de mi lugar, no era por cuestiones económicas pero este ministerio binacional y aunque no tenía mucho ganas de dejar mi familia sentí que era el lugar donde yo estaba debo de donde hubiera venido y después recuerdo como seis, ocho meses después el pastor estaba teniendo un estudio bíblico y preguntaron a todos en el círculo qué tienen que puede ser utilizado para Dios y para su prójimo.

Entonces llegó a hermano Pedro, el papá de Miriam y dijo somos pobres y humildes pero Dios nos ha bendecido grandemente y cuando pensamos en hacer nuestra casita pensamos hacer una casa pequeña, sin embargo pensamos no vamos a tomar más tiempo y más energía y más dinero para construir una casa grande para que los que necesitan un lugar podían llegar con nosotros y fue la primera vez que yo supe que él había construido una casa grande porque para mí era una era una casita físicamente era muy pequeño en comparación de mi comunidad pero en de ellos era una casa grande entonces fue fue algo que me me impactó fuertemente y después pude conocer a este gran mujer y pues siendo creados por papás como ellos pues este quería conocerla más y pues ya nos formamos nuestra familia.

(Miriam) Una ocasión un grupo de emirantes que fueron dejados en la calle y estaban cerca de una de los miembros, hermana miembro de la iglesia Lirio de los Valles y resulta ser que había algunos conocidos de ellos ahí, eran un grupo grande, los hospedaron esa noche el siguiente domingo, los trajeron a la iglesia y la hermana María Magdalena preguntó a la iglesia quién tiene espacio y muchas manos se levantaron de la iglesia, una comunidad de fe que abraza a cualquier persona que necesita un lugar, un espacio con amor es una gran bendición.

(Mark) No muy, después de eso yo recuerdo que estaba sentado esperando unos amigos a llegar de Tucson en el shuttle y era una noche muy frío, muy fría la noche y estaba sentada y llegaron este camiones, 40 y tanto hombres fueron bajados de la camión y enviados a Agua Prieta y era de la Border Patrol que estaba enviando personas a las calles de Agua Prieta y en el tiempo que estaba esperando tres camiones llegaron y con más de 120 y tantos personas fueron regresados y después del último llegó una van con este personas mujeres, niños y ellos también fueron regresados a Agua Prieta en la noche fría a las calles y hice la pregunta y si no hay lugar para ellos en este país que es el más rico del mundo en dónde va a ser el lugar para ellos en Agua Prieta y cuando pensé eso y empecé a pensar en la familia de Carmina y María Magdalena y pensé en la familia de quien ahora es mi suegro y dijo pues, si todos vivimos así pensando que lo que tenemos es para compartir, hay espacio para todos.

Si al inicio después que descubrimos que había tanta necesidad cuando vimos a los migrantes siendo expulsados después de dar alimento veíamos a ellos que no tenían a dónde ir, se quedaban en las calles de Agua Prieta cerca a la frontera y eran cientos y cientos de migrantes.

Una de las necesidades que vimos era cubrir la necesidad de las mujeres que cruzaban embarazadas, mayores de edad, niños y niñas siendo vulnerables en las calles de Agua Prieta y empezamos a llevarlos a la casa para hospedarlos y darles una albergia y nuestros niños eran muy pequeños y para ellos ver a otros niños llegar a la casa era una alegría de compartir juguetes con ellos, de compartir un libro para dibujar, un libro para leer.

(Mark) Cuando nos comunicó una iglesia la Sagrada Familia en Agua Prieta que ellos tenían una albergue y querían tener una presencia más permanente en la frontera y para hacer apoyo para personas, entonces entre las dos grupos nos formamos lo que se llama el Centro de Recursos para Migrantes que fue formado, empezó en 30 de junio de 2006, entonces ya hace 17 años y en estos 17 años este grupito de personas, muchos de México, unos de los Estados Unidos dando lo que pueden, han recibido más de 180 mil personas para dar un espacio de bienvenido así en el lugar donde estaban siendo expulsadas.

Siempre hemos sido una familia, soy la cuarta generación, siendo presbiteriana, mis ancestros lo fueron y siempre hemos profesado una fe en Dios y esa fe siguiendo el ejemplo de Jesús, compartiendo nuestro amor, abriendo nuestras puertas sin ver quién es la persona.

(Mark) Y como es interesante, pues ella no quería venir a Agua Prieta, no quería al principio, después estaba enlucionado, después decepcionada, yo tampoco, pero ahora vemos la frontera como un lugar de encuentro, donde nos encontramos, donde formamos familia, pero también es un lugar donde podemos encontrar personas de muchas partes y reconocer el valor que cada uno de ellos tiene.

(Tom) Now to find a Spanish translation of the previous story and many others from our archives, go to the website azpm.org/espanol.

We've been working with our exceptional student associate, Daniela Gonzalez from the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, to translate our stories into the Spanish language.

Serving all communities in southern Arizona equitably is very important to us.

And we'll be updating the page often with new translations, and we hope you'll check it out.

Edward "Eddie" Goodman is the Associate Professor of Saxophone at the University of Arizona's Fred Fox School of Music.

In this riveting performance, he talks about how his relationship with the instrument has contributed to his personal development and talks about life lessons to be gleaned from learning the saxophone.

[footsteps] [saxophone music] (Edward) My journey with the saxophone has always been an adventure.

For me, I really found my identity within it and through the saxophone I've learned a lot of different aspects of my life.

[music] There's so much possibility and versatility with this instrument.

[music] Really, there's so much you can do.

There's a degree of freedom.

[music] It's an instrument that I often like to say it's controlled chaos.

That's our job to try to figure out how to control this, to create beauty.

[music] It's a bridge toward exploring yourself as an improviser.

And so much of what you have to do as an improviser is story tell.

[music] I think that my goal as an artist is that I always am trying to reach my audience, whether that is giving them joy, having them experience sadness, excitement, a new thrill.

[music] What I'm trying to do is navigate me living in the moment and just letting things happen.

[music] Engaging with the challenges the saxophone might bring is also being able to answer back and address, like, what are the things I need to do personally.

[music] There's things in life that are always going to be coming our way.

And you learn over time and time again, and failing over time and time again, and also having successes.

[music] I want to walk away being able to tell myself that I did the very best I could in that moment.

[music] And then I leave it all on the stage floor and just give it my very best shot to the audience.

[MUSIC] (Tom) Before we go, here is a sneak peek at a story we're working on.

(Marc) There's something about seeing an old picture and seeing the people in it and being like, "Oh, they look just like me," or, "They look just like my family members."

And there they are running a barber shop.

I think it's really important to preserve these stories, these histories.

(Tom) Thank you for joining us here on Arizona Illustrated.

I'm Tom McNamara, and we'll see you again soon.