Information and support from a variety of community services across the Verde Valley will be available to the public all in one place at a Community Resource Fair this weekend.
The free event will be hosted by the Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of Yavapai County on June 19 at the Verde Valley Fairgrounds for the first time in years.
Executive Director of United Way of Yavapai County Patty Demers said it was the hardships brought to the community due to the COVID-19 pandemic that prompted them to bring the resource fair back to the Verde Valley.
The idea behind the event is to bring organizations offering community resources all to the same place to provide the public with information about what help is available as well as gather donations and recruit volunteers.
“It’s a good way to kind of get to know the nonprofits that are out there, get to understand what resources are out there. Everyone has different needs,” Demers said.
This “one-stop shop” will offer information about resources for things like transportation, food, rent and utility aid, clothing, children’s resources, education, and medical and behavioral resources among others.
In addition to informational booths, there will be lawn games, raffles and food trucks for families to enjoy. Over 25 vendors, both nonprofit and for-profit organizations offering community services, are currently scheduled to be there with more continuing to sign up.
Some of the organizations that will be there include NAZCARE, the VerdeValley Homeless Coalition, several public libraries and Home for New Beginnings.
Solari Crisis and Human Services, which acquired the 211 Arizona program in 2017, is another organization that will be in attendance and is a premier sponsor of the community resource fair. Solari helps connect the community with resources for food, housing and mental health resources and offers a 24-hour crisis line for those in need.
Hillary Evans, supervisor of resource strategy and community engagement at Solari, said this year its 211 line also served as the state’s COVID-19 Hotline, offering information about testing and vaccinations. The majority of calls they received on their crisis line also had to do with hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly utility assistance, affordable housing, eviction prevention and access to health care and food.
She said that while Solari has participated in resource fairs before, this will be its first time attending one in Cottonwood.
“Events like the resource fair are beneficial to the community because they afford us the opportunity to connect community members with resources available to them locally and to help alleviate the stress of trying to find such resources on their own,” she said. “They also present a great opportunity for agencies such as ours to connect with one another and find ways we can work together to aid local residents.”
The resource fair will also be hosting a drive-through collecting donations for six of the organizations in attendance, including Catholic Charities, which is looking for items such as water, sunscreen and first-aid supplies for local veterans, and Old Town Mission, which needs nonperishable food items. Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District will be collecting back-to-school supplies to fill backpacks for students and the Cottonwood Public Library will be accepting donations of new and used DVDs. The United Way is also hosting a change drive.
“We’ll be happy to gather those donations and get them into the hands of those who need them the most,” Demers said.
Big Brothers Big Sisters will also be in attendance accepting items like new or gently used clothing, kitchen or bedding items.
In addition to collecting donations and running a vendor booth at the resource fair, Yavapai Big Brothers Big Sisters, in partnership with KB Kornhole, will also be hosting “Bean Bags for Kids’ Sake,” a cornhole tournament benefiting the organization.
The tournament costs $45 per person or $90 for a two-person team, said Robin Layton, communications and marketing director for Yavapai Big Brothers Big Sisters.
“All the funds will support our Cottonwood office and our mission of creating and supporting one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth,” she said.
Layton said the group is proud to be involved in the event, which helps spread awareness of its services.
“We connect to the community through events like this. It can be a source of volunteers for our program, matching adult mentors with local children, as well as a source for parents who want to learn more about our agency,” she said.
The free Community Resource Fair will take place June 19 at the Verde Valley Fairgrounds located at 800 E. Cherry Street in Cottonwood from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information about the event, or to register as a vendor, call the United Way at 778-6605 or the Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce at 634-7593.
