Traditional therapy doesn’t often include basketball or badminton. But for several veterans at the Phoenix VA medical center, meeting twice a week at Arizona State University to shoot hoops and hit shuttlecocks has helped them feel better physically and mentally.
Faculty members at ASU’s School of Community Resources and Development collaborated with the Carl T. Hayden Veterans Administration Medical Center to bring the students from the school and veterans together.
Families providing round-the-clock care to infirm veterans or military members will have volunteer respite caregivers to help them for another three years, as a federal agency renewed funding for a 20-year-old ASU program that administers the assistance.
Arizona State University student veterans were able to celebrate their graduation in a special way this year — from the comfort of their cars.
While many other ASU convocation ceremonies this spring were held on Zoom or other streaming platforms, nearly 200 veterans zoomed over to Lot 59 on ASU’s Tempe campus on May 1 for an in-person experience.
Editor's note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2021 graduates.
Jose Pelaez was in the Middle East as a member of the U.S. Air Force Reserve when he realized he wanted to be more involved in emergency management and homeland security planning.