THE NEWSPAPER OF AVONDALE, BUCKEYE, GOODYEAR, LITCHFIELD PARK & TOLLESON
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January 22, 2020
Off the streets and back to help BY OCTAVIO SERRANO
West Valley View Staff Writer
NEWS ........... 12
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The Point-in-Time Homeless Count, which annually determines the number of homeless people in Maricopa County, is Tuesday, Jan. 28. Two formerly homeless people in Goodyear will not be counted this year, thanks to a program that helped get them off the streets. Robin Miller and Bryan Cowens returned Friday to a lot on Litchfield Road near Interstate 10 where they lived for nearly a year. They were back to help clean it up, as a thank you to a program that helped them avoid jail and find a home and hope. In the same location last summer, Miller and Cowens felt the agonizing pain as their bodies detoxed from heroin and meth. “It’s a really wicked drug,” Miller said about heroin. “If you believe in God, it’s Satan’s serum.” Addiction, however, was not their only challenge at the time. Miller, 50, and Cowens, 51, decided to kick the habit and get
clean but, after detoxing, needed to find a place to live. They had been homeless for a decade. Struggling to stay out of jail, they were directed to the Phoenix Rescue Mission’s Homeless Outreach and Navigation program, which connects people with programs aimed at ending their cycle of homelessness. Last year’s homeless count showed 194 unsheltered people in Glendale, 78 in Peoria, 35 in Avondale, 24 in Buckeye and 22 in Goodyear. Many of them have substance abuse and/or Former homeless couple Robin Miller and Bryan Cowens returned to their old Goodyear campground to help clean it up. (West Valley View photo by mental health problems. Octavio Serrano) Miller is from Chino Valley and said she began using drugs when she “Drugs were predominant in my family lost her family during a divorce roughly with my uncles,” Cowens said. “I watched 20 years ago. She spent time in prison for them do drugs and I thought it was the way theft. to have a good time.” Cowens, who is from Tolleson, began Homeless...continued on page 2 using drugs at 13.
‘State of the State,’ West Valley style BY TOM SCANLON
West Valley View Managing Editor
Two days after delivering his sixth State of the State speech to launch the legislative year, Gov. Doug Ducey gave a West Valley version. He spoke before 500 at a Phoenix Race-
way lunch event. The Avondale setting was appropriate, Ducey described the West Valley economy as roaring like a race car. Avondale Mayor Kenn Weise kicked off the event, telling the crowd at the raceway’s Roll Bar the West Valley “is a region where the mayors and city council members work
together.” He acknowledged representatives from Goodyear, Buckeye and Glendale. Jennifer Jessep, director of public relations for Glendale’s Swire Coca-Cola, was seated to Ducey’s left. Sintra Hoffman, pres-
State...continued on page 4
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