Who We Are - About The Health Education Project

What We Do

The Health Education Project recruits, trains and places volunteers at nonprofit entities in Tucson to provide health, wellness and life skill classes to people who are residing at homeless shelters, domestic violence centers, substance abuse rehabilitation centers, correctional institutions and transitional housing complexes.

Volunteer health educators are welcomed as they offer more than 40 topics that encourage self-care and healthy choices.

Would you like to be part of this effective intervention for the at-risk populations of Tucson?
We are looking for caring, committed and knowledgeable people to teach classes or assist in the development and preparation of materials in the office. Please contact Diane Haeger at 256-2874 or dianeh@elrio.org to learn more about this important community resource!

How We Got Started

In 1988, the El Rio Community Health Center received a grant from the United States Public Health Service to provide health care to Tucson's homeless population. El Rio nurse practitioners visited shelters and soup lines to provide these services. One of those nurse practitioners, Gay Evans, wanted to do more to intervene in the cycle of poverty, violence and homelessness. Gay envisioned and created this project that would provide information and hope, encourage self-care, and assist people in making healthy choices.

From the left, Kathy Byrne, Executive Director, Dr. Art Martinez, Chief Medical Officer, and Ken Burton, Director of Program Development, honor Gay Evans, The Health Education Project’s founder, at her retirement party after 32 years of service with El Rio Community Health Center.

Founded on the premise that early intervention can prevent future problems, The Health Education Project began by serving five shelters in 1990 and has grown from a few volunteers in a handful of shelters to its current status of approximately 60 volunteer health educators in more than two dozen sites.

Teaching Sites

This list can vary throughout the year.

• Amity
• AVA (Assistance to Victims of Abuse)
• Casa De Vida
• Casa Paloma
• Catalina Transitional Housing
• Emerge!
• Federal Correctional Institution
• Five Points
• Gospel Rescue Mission-Women & Children's Center
• Las Amigas
• Men's PATH -Pasqua Alcohol Treatment House
• Merilac Lodge
• Mother's Caring About Self
• New Beginnings for Women & Children
• New Directions
• Pima County Juvenile Detention Center
• Pima County Adult Detention Center
• Pio Decimo Center
• Southern Arizona Correctional Release Center (SACRC)
• Salvation Army Hospitality House
• Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center
• VA Day Program
• Vida Serena
• Women in Transition