With the summer solstice passing on June 21, the hottest months of the year have begun. On multiple days in the past week, the temperature in parts of the Verde Valley has exceeded 90 degrees.
For those in the area without regular access to a home or other places where they can avoid the summer heat, the Arizona sun can be perilous, even deadly. For the nonprofits in the community helping the homeless population, the hot temperatures stretch resources to the limit.
“We’re busier. We have more clientele and we don’t have enough space,” Verde Valley Homeless Coalition Executive Director Raena Avalon said.
The VVHC has a drop-in center on 14 S. Main St. in Cottonwood where individuals can come and spend time during the day, eat snacks, watch movies and use computers and printers to check mail or work on finding a job, on any day between 1 and 5 p.m.
The small room is nearly full during the hot summer days, with little room left to sit for those who come in. According to Avalon, many are often waiting to come in when the drop-in center opens at 1 p.m. At one point, the center’s air conditioning unit failed, leading to visitors having no escape from the heat. The VVHC is working on potentially moving to a larger space on South 15th Street that would accommodate more people, pending final approval from the city of Cottonwood.
In the meantime, the VVHC is doing what it can to provide for those who need help. Avalon hopes to be able to open the drop-in center for longer hours during the day, but would need more volunteers in order to be able to do so. She also said that the center is giving out water bottles to anyone they can, though they quickly run out.
The center is asking for help getting certain items that are especially necessary in the summer — bug spray, citronella candles, sunscreen and chapstick, hand-held fans, hats, caps, bandannas and cooling scarves — in addition to their usual needs for tents, sleeping bags, tarps, backpacks, shoes and clothes.
“This place is a saving grace,” Angelo Jacob, a homeless man in Cottonwood who has been on the streets since he was 13, said of the VVHC. “It means I can get out of the heat for at least five hours a day.”
Jacob is diabetic, which puts him at extra risk of dehydration on hot days. He said that he recently ended up in the ER after collapsing.
“It takes a lot for me to go to the doctor,” Jacob said.
“It’s been my population out looking for work — which is great, I’m glad they’re out looking,” said Angie Lozano, who runs Angie’s House, a network of 10 recovery homes in the Cottonwood area. She said that it is those individuals that are out in the middle of the day that are in most danger. “But the temperatures hit so fast and so quickly, they get hit by a heat stroke.”
Lozano said that with it becoming dangerous for people to be outside in the sun, one way that people concerned with the less fortunate could help would be to offer a ride for those forced to walk.
“I know we are a loving and giving community, but if you see someone on the side of the road, offer a ride,” Lozano said. She said that saving someone 15 minutes in the hot sun can make a big difference when the temperatures are so high and it offers a good opportunity to get someone in need in touch with Angies’ House or the VVHC. “It’s way too hot not to check up on them.”
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551 or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
