Maricopa County Wins 31 National Awards
Maricopa County won 31 National Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo), an organization dedicated to strengthening counties across the U.S. by promoting programs that improve the quality of life for residents.
“As the nation’s fastest-growing and fourth most populous county, Maricopa County continues to focus on improving our services and programs to our residents,” said Chairman Bill Gates, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, District 3. “We appreciate the recognition of our efforts to make our programs more cost effective and efficient, and to improve the overall health of our residents and community.”
Some of the award-winning programs recognized this year include:
Mowing Down Pollution, Departments of Air Quality, Environmental Services, & Equipment Services
The Mowing Down Pollution program is a lawn mower exchange program where residents can volunteer to trade their gasoline-powered lawn mower for a voucher to purchase an electric lawn mower. The goal is to lower emissions and improve air quality.
For more information on how you can help limit air pollution visit cleanairmakemore.com.
Jails Reading, Library District & Sheriff’s Office
The Jails Reading program challenges inmates to read books and track their progress. The goal of the program is to reduce recidivism. Since the program began, inmate participation has more than tripled, and this past summer, inmates read more than 32,000 books.
Meatless Meals, Sheriff’s Office
The Food Services Division prepares and assembles meals for inmates daily. Since 2013, the program has saved the county $1.6 million by eliminating meat products and transitioning to all-vegetarian meals.
Cooking Success: Excelling In & Out of the Kitchen, Human Services, Sheriff’s Office, & Adult Probation
The program is a collaboration between Human Services, Sheriff’s Office, Adult Probation, Arizona Department of Corrections and the St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance’s Community Kitchen. Through the program, inmates learn culinary skills while in jail and continue their training with the Community Kitchen after they are released. Once they complete their training, they are placed with employers within Maricopa County for full-time employment.
Project HHHOME, Ryan White Part A Program
Project HHHOME helps people living with HIV get stable housing, education for employment and medical services, while helping treat their HIV so the disease is no longer transmissible. The name is an acronym for “Housing, HIV, Health Outcomes and Employment/Education.”
Ukuleles at Your Library, Library District
Ukuleles at Your Library is a partnership between Maricopa County’s Sun City and Fairway Libraries and the Sun City Ukulele Club. Residents can check out ukuleles up to three weeks at a time and are provided with a kit that includes a tuner and beginner’s song book so they can teach themselves how to play.
On August 29, 2019, Maricopa County hosted a ceremony to honor the recipients of the 31 NACo achievement awards. Videos played at the ceremony featured more award-winning programs and highlighted additional county goals.
Thanks to all county departments and elected offices for their hard work over the past year, and congratulations to all of the 2019 NACo Achievement Award winners!
