TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Nonprofits across Tucson gathered at the Ramada Inn on Wednesday for the 2024 Veterans Stand Down event.
The event featured dozens of agencies and organizations providing help and resources for veterans battling homelessness and other issues, all in one place.
Veterans got free haircuts, clothes, housing assistance and even pet food.
Tucson Veterans Serving Veterans has been running the event for 20 years. Organizer Bruce Hamilton says the term stand down is used when those in the service need a chance to find their footing during tough periods. He says the event serves a similar purpose.
“They need to stand down for a while, take a break, new clothing, showers, stuff like that,” Hamilton says. “And this gives them the opportunity to come under one roof, one location, spend the entire day and then look at all the different resources.”
Donna Darnell, a veteran in need of housing and dental care, comes to the event every year. She says the event has provided invaluable resources, which allowed her to secure housing, along with helping raise her children, who are disabled.
She says having all of these resources in one place takes away a lot of the aggravation felt when accessing resources.
“So you can go to one agency and they’ll say ‘we provide services towards this particular niche, but hey there's a booth that's over this way,’” Darnell says.
Dawn Wisdom of Montare Behavioral Health says the event gives her organization a chance to give back and meet the veterans they help every day.
“Things that some of the homeless wouldn't get and some of the veterans can't access easily, they can walk up to the table and grab,” Wisdom says. “And then I get to meet other people, you get to put a face to the name because we do a lot of email.”
On Thursday March 14, the group will be back at the Ramada Inn from 10am-3pm to host a career fair to give vets the chance to find employment and educational opportunities.
