Fountain Hills Marine Corps League (MCL) Detachment 1439 presented a special gift to the East Valley Regional Veterans Court and Presiding Judge John Phelps recently.

MCL officers and members made the presentation. The gift includes a flag stand created from a large section of laminated beam, along with the flags of the five branches of service along with the Marine Corp League emblem. A plaque with the meaning behind the gift features the words, “When the Armed Forces bind together they create Great Strength and Good things can happen.” Donated by Fountain Hills Marine Corps League Detachment #1439. The Detachment’s Adjutant Chris PP Brant built the display stand incorporating the flag poles, emblem and plaque.

The local detachment has a historical connection with the East Valley Regional Veteran Court (EVRVC).

Fountain Hills Attorney Tait D. Elkie also has been a court-appointed attorney for the City of Scottsdale in the Veterans’ Court since July 2017.

As the court-appointed attorney, he assists veterans through the Veterans’ Court process and helps identify underlying issues that led the veteran to be charged in the first place. Many veterans suffer from PTSD, drug and alcohol addiction, homelessness, and mental health disorders, many of which are service connected.

In 2018, with the assistance of Detachment Commandant Elkie, the detachment’s officers and members explored the needs of the Tempe-based East Valley Regional Veterans’ Court, along with then Presiding Judge R. Gregg Maxon.

The research led to the detachment applying for, and receiving, a $1,500 grant in 2018 from the Marine Corps League’s Department of Arizona headquarters to assist the veterans involved in Veterans’ Court who had a need for food, clothing, supplies, and hygiene items.

The grant was provided again in 2019, and the grant monies are being used similarly to assist the participating veterans in need.

The Tempe-based EVRVC recently celebrated its three-year anniversary of providing needed legal services to current and former U.S. military service members. The cities of Tempe, Chandler and Scottsdale, and the towns of Fountain Hills, Carefree, Cave Creek, Gilbert and Paradise Valley, joined together in July 2016 to open a regional court in Tempe that could hear all municipalities’ cases involving eligible veterans.