A Foundation That Puts Veterans’ Lives Back On Track
Project Action for Veterans
By R.J. Cohn
In a military community padded with a significant veteran population, a foundation with deep roots in community service is making a major impact for helping veterans get back on their feet.
Through its Project Action for Veterans (PAV) program, the Tucson-based Primavera Foundation has been reversing the homeless and jobless crunch that has landed scores of Cochise County veterans on the street without direction or hope.
Thanks to the leadership of PAV Director Josefina Torres, (photographed to the right), the program has made major inroads for turning around the lives of veterans in southeastern Arizona, many of whom had fallen on hard times.
Since it opened an office in Sierra Vista’s Warrior Healing Center a year ago, it’s also become a safety net of resources for veterans who have nowhere to turn.
“We’re filling a huge gap because the need here is big,” said Torres, a Marine veteran. “We’re seeing about 40 veterans a month, more than double the amount from last year. We’re making this work.”
Bolstered by a three-year, $3 million U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs Supportive Service for Veteran Families grant, the Tucson nonprofit that began as a men’s shelter in 1983 to help the city’s homeless, is doing more than making PAV work.
It’s changing people’s lives, especially those in Sierra Vista, in a big way.
“In the last year, we’ve been able to house at least 100 homeless veterans and 80 to 90 jobs in the area’s five rural counties,” said Torres. “We’re trying to get them back on their feet in stable housing. Some have had difficult times, but everyone’s story is different. As a veteran, I understand their needs. Our mission is creating pathways out of poverty through safe, affordable housing, workforce development and building financial stability.”
That’s something Torres and her rural outreach and resource specialists are passionate about and will do whatever it takes to arrange housing and help get veterans employed.
“After they leave the military, many haven’t thought about what’s next, don’t have a job or a housing plan in place, and they’re suddenly homeless or sleeping in their car,” said Torres. “Over the years, there’s been a big surge of veterans returning to the area, primarily Sierra Vista, because of connections made at Fort Huachuca, the weather or difficulties of living in big cities.”
Faced with what was becoming an overwhelming need from Pima to Cochise County, Primavera launched PAV to help veterans find their footing, starting with getting a roof over their heads.
The foundation that saw an overall 24 percent increase in veterans served in fiscal year 2022-2023 from the previous year has become something of a lifeboat for those who don’t know where to turn for assistance.
“Many vets tell us how we’ve changed their lives, and they’re so thankful for what we’ve done,” said Torres, who was the program's senior resource specialist before being named its director. “I love when I hear this because I love what this program does. We facilitate the process, but they’re real success stories.”
The difficulty for many veterans trying to secure housing is the pricey upfront fees landlords request from applicants, which often include nonrefundable application, administration and holding fees, security deposits along with first and last month's rent.
“In most cases, it can run in the $2,000 range,” said Torres. “The nonrefundable fees alone can be close to $500. That’s steep out-of-pocket money many just don't have.”
But that’s where PAV steps in.
Through a network of landlords it has built connections with, PAV provides a landlord a letter of guarantee with financial incentives covering the upfront fees, move-in costs, the first 90 days of rent, and depending on the situation, sometimes longer.
“The letter of guarantee cuts through a lot of red tape,” said Torres. “We’re advocates for veterans and can get them in an apartment in one to three days, guaranteeing financial assistance, as long as landlords are willing to work with us. We make this work for both parties.”
PAV’s connection with veterans doesn’t end with finding housing. It also directs them to Arizona@Work to facilitate finding work along with developing a housing solidarity program to help avoid eviction.
“We find out what their goal is and help put it in place to make sure they’ll be stable without our assistance, so they won’t face homelessness again,” said Torres. “Every day is a challenge, but I love serving the veteran community because I want to make a difference in someone’s life. I have a passion for this.”
If you’re a veteran or know of one in need of assistance, the Primavera Foundation accepts walk-ins Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Warrior Healing Center, 1838 Paseo San Luis, Sierra Vista.
It's a family affair
Dragoon pistachio orchard brings the best of local farming heritage
By Shar Porier
BENSON -- Steakhouse? Angry Lemon? Chipotle? What? They’re craftly seasoned pistachios?
When COVID-19 struck in 2020, Sarah Ogilvie left her 11-year career in medical billing. Her father, Richard Searle, a rancher and pistachio grower in Dragoon, suggested she try selling pistachios.
Unable to find flavored pistachios locally, she decided to make her own. “No one would help me with recipes or how to do it. I had to develop my own everything,” she recalled. At first, she roasted small batches in her kitchen oven—a slow process with uneven results.
The breakthrough came when her husband, Andrew, found a professional nut roaster in Thessaloniki, Greece. Shipped via boat, train, and truck, the machine finally arrived at their door. Unlike a kitchen oven, a nut roaster evenly distributes heat, creating consistent browning and preventing scorching. Some models also include integrated cooling systems to stop roasting instantly, locking in flavor and preventing burnt shells.
Superhero Academy Gets Kids Jazzed About Healthcare
Benson
Superheroes
Hospital
By R.J. Cohn
In a novel twist to a children’s summer camp, Benson Hospital raised the bar a notch to a camp that offered middle-schoolers not just a glimpse, but hands-on exposure toward a future career in the medical field.
And by the interest level generated by 20 youngsters who attended the hospital’s second annual Future Superhero Academy in June, the 22-bed, Level IV trauma center might have 20 candidates applying for respiratory therapists in the not-too-distant future.
“We thought it would be great to introduce middle-school age kids to careers in healthcare at the hospital that just might pique their interest as they go on with their education,” said Ashley Dickey, the hospital’s Executive Director of Human Resources. “We filled the room this year with a lot of Superheroes.”
Funded last year by the nonprofit Center for the Future of Arizona, the hospital funded this year’s Future Superhero Academy that provided
Hospital
Superheroes
Hospital
medical specialists, videos and presentations on the human respiratory system, practice with respiratory equipment, snacks and lunches, along with heartfelt words from Benson Hospital’s CEO. It hopes to obtain a grant from the Legacy Foundation of Arizona to fund the program next year.
Highly engaged throughout the four-hour camp, the youngsters continually asked questions to presenters about breathing issues, compromised lung systems, felt what it was like to have impaired lungs by breathing through a straw while doing jumping jacks and got a first-hand look at a blackened model of a pair of smoker’s lungs.
But it was respiratory therapy manager Alice Gastelum who got their rapt attention, not only with a paper cutout of lungs attached by two balloons showing how lungs properly operate. They received hands-on demonstrations from respiratory therapist Sarahi Lauterio on placing a
Superheroes
Superheroes
Superheroes
tube into an airway of a practice dummy along with using a bag-valve mask that rapidly provides rescue ventilation on patients with apnea or severe ventilatory failure.
Additionally, many youngsters received a first-hand lesson on how BiPAP and CPAP respiratory machines deliver pressurized air into patients’ lungs to help them breathe properly.
But it was the words from Benson Hospital’s CEO Gary Kartchner – who explained to the Future Superhero Academy middle-schoolers the functions of a hospital CEO – that was perhaps the capstone of the day he hoped they would remember for a lifetime.
“If there’s anything at all that you take away from what you learned and saw today, it’s this,” he said. “Be curious, do different things that will challenge yourself and go after it. But most importantly, be kind to everyone you meet, no matter who they are or what they do.”
Photos by Monique Vargas
San Pedro River Bird Walks Still a Big Draw at the San Pedro
Gone to the Birds!
By R.J. Cohn
You don’t have to be a professor of Ornithology or a diehard bird watcher to appreciate the remarkable bird activity flourishing along a stretch of the San Pedro River.
Even if you don't know a Song Sparrow from a Northern Flicker, you’ll still be awed at what’s flying through the cottonwoods and Goodding willows on the trails behind the San Pedro House.
That’s why for years, novice and experienced bird watchers can’t get enough of taking the popular 3-mile bird walk to witness close to 60 species of birds flying through the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area’s migration corridor. The area provides a habitat for 100 species of breeding birds and temporary shelter for another 250 migratory and wintering birds.
If you time it just right — shortly after first morning’s light — like a dozen bird enthusiasts did late spring with Friends of the San Pedro bird walk docent Steve Tracey, what you’ll see is a hotspot of birdlife flying everywhere around you.
“You won’t see this in New Hampshire, especially right now,” said Helen Rose, who was wintering in the area but decided to stay longer. “This is just remarkable, how so many birds are drawn to this lovely area. I really don’t know a thing about birds, but I had read about the San Pedro, and I didn’t want to miss this. You are so fortunate to have treasure like this in your backyard where you’re able to access it year-round.”
Armed with binoculars and cameras, bird watchers and nature lovers followed Tracey on the 2 ½-hour walk that rang with the chirping for birds, many huddling in the groves of cottonwoods, while most darted from branch to branch before quickly vanishing.
“In early spring, we get more people who are visiting the area through the winter coming to these walks,” said Tracey, who was continually pointing out various birds to the group. “Because of the larger turnout as well as many new birds arriving, we often have to split into two bird-walking groups to accommodate everyone who comes to see this.”
But since two to four million birds of more than 250 species migrate and winter along the San Pedro River annually, the bird walks never disappoint, giving many first-time bird watchers a thrill of spotting a Montezuma Quail, a Belted Kingfisher or a Black-chinned Sparrow. Even more remarkable, about 80 percent of the U.S. Gray Hawk population nests along the San Pedro in the tall cottonwoods, primarily feeding on lizards.
“You definitely won’t see birds like these in New Hampshire, that’s for sure,” said Rose. "This is just a marvel. Some of these birds that are common here are just rare in other regions of the country. This is unforgettable.”
For more information about San Pedro bird walks, call (520) 508-4445 or email fspr@sanpedroriver.org.
Friends of the San Pedro River
History Walks are welcomed back in the month of October. Friends of the San Pedro River (FSPR) offers walks and special tours year-round. Click the link below to stay up to date on events and guides that are upcoming.
Tom Keifer’s 100-Pound Gongs Pack a Ring in a bell
One Gong of a Bell Ringer
By R.J. Cohn
Photos by Monique Vargas
If the kids can’t hear you calling them for dinner no matter how loud you yell, Tom Keifer has the answer with one of the most innovative dinner bells that could turn the heads of a herd of cows stampeding across the San Pedro Valley.
Repurposed from blown-out compression tanks and discarded oxygen cylinders found on the side of the road, Keifer – a custom metal fabricator and former cabinet maker – came up with a novel idea.
He took his plasma cutter, sliced the end caps off the tanks and cylinders, welded a nifty-looking rebar support base, added 40 feet of a once-rusted anchor chain to one of his welded structures, fashioned a felt buffing wheel onto a pipe that serves as a striker, and voila – the Hereford welder has created some of the most dazzling gongs and conversation pieces you’re ever going to come across in Cochise County.
He’s even taken cylindrical pipe remnants workers discarded building the border wall and turned them into smaller-sized gongs that still pack a ringing echo you could hear while plowing the back 40.
“I kind of have a knack for building things,” says Keifer, who recently fabricated an intricate circular metal staircase. “If I can see it in my head, I can make it, doesn’t matter what it is. Sometimes I look at pictures of things and think, I can do that. But finding scrap metal or empty tanks and then turning them into something like this is pretty neat. Especially when you make something that has these great ringing sounds.”
Ranging from 5 ½ feet to 7 feet in height, Keifer’s gongs are showstoppers with their bright-red, mushroom-style caps over the copper-colored cylinders. These aren’t your lawn variety hanging chimes. His free-standing gongs – which he sells at the Sierra Vista Farmers Market the first Thursday of each month – vary in weight from 75 to 180 pounds, including the rebar base, anchor chain and suspended cylinder he fabricates in his 40-foot-by-40-foot shop. His 7-foot gong, which sells for $1,400, has the sound of a church bell echoing across the Swiss Alps, while the smaller ones start around $175.
“I don’t know what kind of sound these things are going to make until I cut the ends of the tanks off and strike it,” he says. “Sometimes the sound is really outstanding. But they all have a very beautiful sound. Hard to imagine that things people throw out on the road or don’t want can turn into something like these.”
Welded sculptures like Keifer’s and other creations made from metal grew as an art form in the mid-20th Century. In the 1950s and 1960s, large-scale industrial materials like steel beams and metal plates were used to construct monumental sculptures that soon became an established form of contemporary art with artists like Keifer pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with modern materials and technology.
Keifer’s repurposed gongs are just part of a vast reservoir of Keifer’s talents with a welding torch. The guy can put together just about anything you can come up with.
For more information, call 408-348-4522.
Chock Full of Choices in Chocolates
By R.J. Cohn
Photos by Monique Vargas
If you’re a chocoholic, this is the place of your dreams.
Even if you’re not, Ruby’s Divine Chocolates is about as divine as Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, except this dream of a candy store on State Route 92 next to Nirvana’s Cup of Joe is mouthwateringly real.
Loaded with handmade artisan chocolates shining like jewels in a display case carrying passion fruit caramel, black currant marzipan and key lime chocolate, this may be what paradise looks like.
Try tasting just one of Robert and Jessica Ishoy’s candies – if you can stop at one – and you’ll realize that this heavenly little store really is a piece of paradise, a chocolate mecca in the middle of the high desert packed with more chocolate delights than you could ever imagine.
Make no mistake: When you step into Ruby’s Divine Chocolates, it’s divinely difficult to leave.
Nobody locks up their sweet tooth when they go to Ruby’s. With wondrous-looking candies staring at you from a refrigerated case the moment you walk in, you’re practically on cruise-control sauntering past the likes of roasted raspberry, espresso and amaretto chocolates. When they introduced the new rage of candy, Dubai chocolate, it sold out immediately. They've re-ordered 300 pieces, most of which are pre-sold.
“When a customer walks in and I give them a sample, I tell them they have to eat it in front of me,” said Ishoy, an Army veteran who helps support Sierra Vista’s Warrior Healing Center. “I watch their eyes go wide, look at me and say ‘wow, I’ll never eat another piece of candy but this.’ Happens all the time.”
Started in 2017 a few miles from their current location, the Ishoys took a leap of faith in a jumpstarting a niche chocolate business in a community they weren’t sure would embrace their love of gourmet chocolate.
“You couldn’t find any really good chocolate in Sierra Vista 10 years ago, and we got tired of driving to Tucson for it,” said Jessica Ishoy. “Robert’s dad had a chocolate shop, and he’s been a chocolate fanatic ever since. We had a feeling we weren’t the only ones.”
Their hunch panned out.
Customers who loved quality chocolate discovered Ruby’s Divine Chocolates, named after their daughter, plus it had an old-time candy store ring to it. Word that the Ruby’s was the go-to place for the best chocolate this side of Tucson quickly spread. They added a line of gourmet coffees, popcorn, jerky, tea and products like maple bourbon balsamic olive oils. Suddenly, they had a gourmet food store on their hands.
“We did a lot of research before we opened,” said Robert, who also works as a contractor at Fort Huachuca. “We found three of the finest chocolatiers in Arizona because we wanted to sell the highest-quality chocolates at the most affordable price. That’s something that’ll never change, even though I drive round-trip nine hours east of Phoenix for our products.”
Don’t think even for a minute that operations like Ruby’s are only busy on Valentine’s Day and Halloween. The chocolate industry is positioned for sweet success all year. Last year, revenue in the global chocolate confectionery market reached more than $254 billion and is slated to grow annually by 5.63% through 2028, according to Statista, an online data-gathering platform.
“We’ve done well since we opened,” said Jessica. “Christmas, Valentines and Mother’s Day are big ones for us. Our regular customers have supported us from day one and have stayed true to us all these years. We've gained new ones who’ve become just as loyal.”
It’s more than their quality chocolate that makes the store connect with customers. Jessica Ishoy has redefined customer service to another level in an era where it’s become almost extinct.
“She’ll get a call from someone who can’t make it in for a box of candy, and she'll do a home delivery, or meet a customer at the shop after hours,” said her husband. “She goes that extra mile without hesitation.”
But Jessica Ishoy sees it differently.
“Our customers are like family,” she said. “Who doesn’t go out of their way for their family?”
Ruby's Divine Chocolates
To learn more about Ruby's Divine Chocolates, visit their website or get in touch!
4643 Arizona Highway 92, Sierra Vista, Arizona 85650, United States
Need to reach out directly? Call
(520) 678 6577