Top Features for Mesa, Arizona
Mesa is a city located east of Phoenix. It has various parks and museums that attract visitors from all over. There is a famous park called Grande Cultural Park, which has a massive, centuries-old ceremonial mound, and artifacts that belonged to the Hohokam people. In addition, there is the Arizona Museum of Natural History which has dinosaur skeletons and archaeological items. Furthermore, the i.d.e.a. Museum has hands-on artistic and scientific exhibits specifically for kids. Last, the Mesa Arts Center features theatre performances, musicals, and contemporary art.
Facts
1) The history of Mesa goes all the way back to at least 2,000 years when the Hohokam people arrived.
2) The Hohokam, whose name translates to “All Used Up” or “The Departed Ones,” was responsible for building the original canal system. These canals were the most extensive and most sophisticated during the prehistoric New World.
3) Mesa is the largest suburban city by population in the country, the third-largest city in Arizona, the 35th biggest city in the United States, and the biggest city that isn’t a county seat.
History/Data
Mesa was founded in 1878 by Daniel Webster Jones, a Mormon pioneer. Since its humble beginnings, Mesa is now a thriving suburban city.
Jones had left Utah to establish an LDS settlement in Arizona and brought along a team of colleagues to Lehi, located on the northern edge of present-day Mesa. However, another group formally called the First Mesa Company did not accept Jones’s offer to live in Lehi and decided to settle down on the Mesa.
LGBTQ+ Facts
Mesa’s LGBTQ+ community is not as significant as those in larger cities but is still a warm, accepting, and booming community with various resources.
PFLAG Phoenix is Mesa’s local chapter of the national PFLAG organization and supports the LGBTQ+ community in the greater Phoenix area. It is the most thriving grassroots organization of its kind in the U.S., with 500 chapters and more than 200,000 members. PFLAG is essential for providing resources, tools, advocacy, networking, and support for the LGBTQ+ community.
One n Ten is a resource center for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults in Mesa and the greater Phoenix area. It aims to provide LGBTQ+ youth and young adults (ages 11 to 24) with beneficial social service programs and improve these youths’ lives. At One n Ten, young people can expect to develop their leadership skills better, improve self-expression, and make healthy choices in their lives.
Mental Health in Mesa, Arizona
In the Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale MSA, 558,000 persons (12 or older) have used an illicit drug over the past year, making up 16% of the MSA population. For marijuana use in the past year, the number was 10.7%. In addition, in Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale MSA, there has been a rate of 6.1% for non-medical prescription-type pain relievers.
In the same area, 326,000 people (12 or older) had a substance use disorder during the past year. Furthermore, for adults ages 18 or older in the Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale MSA, 7.4% (231,000 adults) had a major depressive episode in the past year.
Many resources can benefit a child or youth you know who is suffering from substance abuse or a mental health disorder in the area of Mesa, Arizona. Be sure to browse through our various supports at LGBTQ and ALL to get the appropriate help.