Arizona nonprofit brings vital human services to unsheltered veterans across two remote counties.
HOLBROOK, Ariz.—Along the lonely stretch of highway between Navajo and Apache counties in east central Arizona, homeless veterans set up tents and shelters to find peace and privacy away from others.
Marty Jarvey, an outreach volunteer, frequently visits this remote area near the White Mountains to assist homeless veterans and individuals in need.
Typically, the encounters are productive. But she never knows what she will find.
This winter, Jarvey discovered the bodies of four male veterans who had succumbed to hypothermia. They had been living in makeshift shelters with little to call their own.
“I may seem strong on the outside,” said Jarvey, a former member of the Nurse Corps during the Vietnam War.
Still, she said, it is difficult to maintain that strength in the face of tragedy.
With each grim discovery she made, Jarvey found herself kneeling, crying, and praying for these lost souls.
As a founding member of Fishers of Men for Veterans, a nonprofit organization based in Lakeside, Arizona, Jarvey understands that death and suffering are part of the work.
Nonetheless, she remains steadfast in her mission: to assist homeless veterans in any location where they may be found.
Often, this involves actively searching for them as they inhabit isolated areas across two counties.
By Jarvey’s count, there are currently 139 homeless veterans in the area. She said there have been other unattended veteran deaths in the past few years.
“It’s not my first rodeo,” Jarvey told The Epoch Times about the deaths she discovered. “One was in a car; one was in an abandoned home.”
Another veteran had hanged himself in the woods.
These deaths underscore the increasing challenges faced by unsheltered veterans in Arizona, particularly in the state’s poorest counties, such as Apache and Navajo. Lakeside is located in Navajo County and Holbrook serves as the county seat there.
According to the Housing Assistance Council, which is supported by The Home Depot Foundation, there are currently 857 homeless veterans in Arizona, out of a total veteran population of 471,924.
The majority of these veterans—36.9 percent—served during Vietnam, while 21.7 percent served during the First Gulf War and 21.6 percent served in Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 2000s.
By Allan Stein
