Our Impact

Based in Tucson, PSMA primarily serves Southern Arizona and Pima County, as well as areas in Cochise, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Maricopa, Pinal, Santa Cruz and Yuma. We also work in California, New Mexico and Mexico, and occasionally, PSMA is called upon to help overseas! 

Over 100,000 pounds of medical supplies and equipment are distributed each year through our partner organizations: 

-PPEP

-El Rio Health

-Gospel Rescue Mission

-South Tucson Lions Club

-Tucson Collaborative Care Community

-Tucson Fire and Police Departments

-Southern Arizona Adaptive Sports

-Tucson Medical Center

-Northwest Medical Center

-Differently Abled Entertainment

-Arizona Diaper Bank

and many more!

Southwest Medical Aid (SMA) was founded in 2004 by Jan Izlar, who noticed the growing need for accessible medical supplies. Her husband Jim (1937-2021) and a small team of enthusiasts started at their house, and we have since grown into two warehouse spaces.

SMA, working with the Society of the Divine Savior (the Salvatorians), took many mission trips to Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Peru and Ecuador. There, we distributed medical supplies and assisted in the building and renovation of local schools and churches.

Cheryl Cecil led the organization for a number of years until Jose Ralls took the reins in 2018. Under his leadership, SMA was acquired by PPEP Microbusiness & Housing Development Corporation (PMHDC) in 2019, creating PSMA. 

PMHDC itself is part of the Portable Practical Educational Preparation Inc. (PPEP) family, started by Dr. John David Arnold in 1967.