Heat Poses Greatest Threat to Homeless in Phoenix

Five days a week, Kay Jarrell and Jeff Jirak drive around in their van, doling out jugs of water, bottles of sunscreen and tubes of lip balm to the homeless.

Other cities often help the homeless cope with the elements by handing out blankets. In places like Phoenix, the big problem is the heat, which is already around 110 degrees by May.

“People have the tendency to think it’s OK when you’re hot. But when you’re homeless, the summer heat poses as much of a danger as the cold does in the winter,” said Leona Smith, the president of the National Union for the Homeless in Philadelphia.

Phoenix has air-conditioned shelters, but many of the homeless refuse to go there.

So Jarrell and Jirak, a nurse and a counselor who work for Maricopa County, dispense the hot-weather items from about May to September or October. They hand out 100 gallons of water, 20 bottles of sunscreen and 30 tubes of lip balm on an average summer day.

For the homeless, finding some shade is a priority.

Gene Stoddard, 58, said he tries to sleep during the day and stay out of the sun. But every time Stoddard and his friend Jesse Romero camp out under a tree, someone cuts it down.

“I can always find where these guys have been,” Jarrell said. “I just look for the cut-down trees. If you want someone to cut down your tree, just ask them to sit under it and someone will come along and cut it down.”

Darrell Christiansen, who found a patch of shade under a palm tree, said: “When I’m out here in the summertime, I can hardly move.”

He often drinks until he passes out, but during the summer, he said, he passes out more quickly from the combination of heat and alcohol.

During the hot weather, Jarrell sees about 20 people with severe sunburn and dehydration at the county clinic for the homeless. She treats dozens of others out on the streets. Heat-related deaths are rare.