On a sunny Wednesday in downtown Tempe, the city Nov. 11 celebrated our nation’s veterans with a parade featuring live bands, scouting groups and city officials.
Arizona is home to over 500,000 veterans and has honored famous service members like Lauri Piestewa and Pat Tillman for dying in combat. Now, veterans have connected with the city at the local level to help veterans in need year-round.
Sean Green and Michael Garrison are part of Tempe’s Care 7 team, leading the Veterans Services division.
“A lot of people think that serving is the hardest thing you can do, but getting out is the hardest thing that you can do,” Green said. “In the military, there’s always someone telling you what to do and then you get out and you can be really lost.”
Green and Garrison both served in the Air Force and were sent overseas. Green said the military helped him build discipline and find a career path as he began to understand the needs of veterans without a support system outside the military.
Garrison was stationed at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale for eight years and said he loves Arizona and was grateful to find a job that gave back to veterans in need.
“It was a great way to give back to my community after serving,” Garrison said.
Garrison is originally from Texas, but has called Tempe home.
Tempe’s Care 7 team helps assist thousands of people in need with social services like housing and employment and the veterans division will assist anyone who served, regardless of status or disability classification.
Both Green and Garrison are licensed social workers who help veterans of all ages and abilities connect with housing and employment resources and navigate benefits
For help connecting with Green or Garrison, they encourage veterans to reach out to the Care 7 team to be matched with someone who can support their needs.
Madeline Bates joined Independent Newsmedia in 2025 as a Phoenix/Tempe reporter. Before graduating college, she spent a semester in Washington as a Congressional reporter in the first 100 days of the second Trump administration. But local news is where her heart is. She is excited to be in Phoenix full time and exploring new parts of the city (as long as they have AC).
Community: After living in East Phoenix for two years, she fell in love with Paradise Valley, Mesa, Tempe, and everywhere in between. She recently discovered the beauty of the South Mountain Reserve and hopes to continue exploring should the weather comply.
Education: Madeline has a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and a certificate in Political History and Leadership.
Random Fact: She is a self-taught nail tech. No, she cannot do your nails.
Hobbies: Hiking (when its not 100 degrees), fiction writing, cooking, baking and trying new coffee shops.
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