Read and listen to our stories:
How a former addict found redemption among forgotten veterans
Veterans on Patrol is a group that was born out of Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer’s concern about veteran suicides. He now oversees three camps, working with volunteers who make sure the roughly 100 men and women living there are fed, sheltered and protected. At night, he and several volunteers bring blankets and food to those living on the streets, and offer to bring veterans to one of the camps.
by Liz Tung
“Finding Nemo” revitalizes Navajo language for next generation
Before the Navajo Nation Museum even existed, Manuelito Wheeler spent his childhood days playing in the dirt lot on which it stands today. On his playground, nestled between sandstone cliffs in northern Arizona, Wheeler was unaware of just how prominent a role this place would later play in his life.
by Katherine Ellis
A Latino neighborhood and local law enforcement fight crime together
At the Phoenix Police Department’s quarterly Coffee with a Cop event, Rosa Pastrana can typically be found live streaming the west Phoenix based meeting with her smartphone. For the last six years, Pastrana has been the leader of the Osborn Block Watch in the Maryvale neighborhood, and this video feed is just another way she’s working to keep her 832 members on Facebook connected with local law enforcement.
by Kristin Torres
Keeping Curiosity Alive
In 2006, at a time of violence and turbulence in Iraq, Mustafa Alalusi and his mother and sister went to Syria. What was supposed to be a vacation turned into a four year stay.
by Alex Watts
Refugee Finds A Future In Food
Curiosity is eternal. That’s the tagline for the uptown Phoenix boutique, Curious Nature. It’s an idea, embodied in the items for sale on the walls, shelves, and cabinets of this niche store. A puffer fish with googly eyes greets visitors as they walk in. To the left, is a cabinet embalmed with jarred creatures, known at “wet specimens.” To the right is a full taxidermy deer—affectionately named Jen.
by Jonathon Housen