Phoenix was a participant in the Cities of Service Love Your Block program. Through the program, participating cities support the efforts of residents to revitalize their neighborhoods. Cities of Service provided each city with $25,000 and two years of technical assistance and placed two full-time AmeriCorps VISTA members in each city hall to build capacity for resident engagement. Learn more about the results of Phoenix’s efforts.
A popular southwest destination because of its warm climate, temperatures in Phoenix can reach over 110 degrees for more than three months of the year. Phoenix participates in three Cities of Service programs: the Chief Service Officer Leadership Initiative, Love Your Block, and Resilience AmeriCorps. Through these programs, the city is engaging citizen volunteers to revitalize neighborhoods and build resilience in low-income communities.
Since 2012 Phoenix has also used the Let’s Grow Blueprint to create and maintain community gardens at three low-income housing centers. In one of these gardens, citizen volunteers—including residents of the housing center—harvested 1,450 pounds of fresh produce, which was then provided to 210 individuals and families living in the center. Volunteers also lead educational gardening and cooking and nutrition classes for the residents.
In addition, Phoenix launched its Cool Roofs initiative in 2013. Using the Cool Roofs Blueprint as a guide, the city coated rooftops white to reflect the sun’s heat, helping the buildings maintain their internal temperature and thereby reducing energy use. Since the launch of the initiative, Phoenix has coated 71,000 square feet of city-owned rooftops across more than 20 city buildings, lowered reliance on air conditioning, and reduced building carbon emissions by an average of nearly 28 metric tons per year. As a result of this success, all newly designed and renovated city buildings must include cool roof coatings.
Mayor Kate Gallego
Mayor Kate Gallego has spent her career working to find solutions to complex problems. Prior to being elected as Mayor, she served for five years as the City Councilwoman for District 8, a large district covering much of South Phoenix. Her record of proven results includes leading the campaign to pass Phoenix's citywide transportation plan through 2050 and working to ensure equal pay for equal work. In March 2019, Mayor Gallego became the second elected female Mayor in Phoenix history and the youngest big-city Mayor in the United States.
Chief Service Officer Michael Hammett
Michael Hammett is chief service officer for the City of Phoenix, Arizona. In this role, he directs and evaluates the implementation of a citywide service plan that engages citizen volunteers and community partners to address priority issues for the city. He also directs the City’s National Service Program and recently received an M.S. Global Technology and Development from the School for the Future of Innovation in Society, Arizona State University.
What's Happening in Phoenix
35K+
pounds of garbage collected and removed from 39 lots and public parks by citizen volunteers from 2015 to 2017
“Phoenix is better when we work together. It is important for residents to not only make their voices heard, but to also get involved and be active in strengthening the city.”
Mayor Thelda Williams