PHOENIX, Ariz.—Homeless on the streets since 2017, Roosevelt thought he knew what an Arizona heat wave felt like.
But these past two weeks have been hellish for Roosevelt and his girlfriend, Tru, squatting by an iron fence in “The Zone,” a sprawling urban encampment of homeless people in Phoenix.
Roosevelt wore a long head wrap to catch the sweat, Tru’s arms wrapped around his shirtless torso as the two suffered in silence in the sweltering afternoon heat.
“Yeah, I’ve been out here for six years. I’ve been to Yuma,” said Roosevelt, eyes sleepy from heat fatigue while his body soaked up every drop of cool water flowing from a running faucet through the fence….