Tempe will move forward with plans to develop a centralized, city-operated day resource center for the homeless over the next three months.
The Tempe City Council agreed at its issue review session Thursday to determine a location, services offered and possible funding sources for the homeless center within 45 days.
"Its core mission is to hook up those who want to get off the streets" with necessary services, said Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman.
The center would offer food and showers to the homeless, just like an overnight homeless shelter, said Martha Cronin, interim assistant director of the Tempe Community Council, a local social services organization.
The day resource center would also provide long-term case management, mental health screening and job counseling, among other services, Cronin said.
Tempe will already allocate $630,993 for homeless services during the 2006-07 fiscal year, according to city documents.
This includes funding for emergency shelters, homeless coordination, homeless youth assistance, transitional housing, the Tempe Salvation Army and case management.
"That [$630,993] is just a drop in the bucket," said Councilman Hut Hutson. "It could be a hell of a lot more."
The day resource center would put many current city services under one roof, Cronin said.
"The effort needs to be a little bit more coordinated and focused," she said.
Cronin added she hoped the City Council would decide on a short-term pilot program this summer. This would allow the city to offer the homeless adequate food, water, emergency medical care and a place to escape from summertime heat, she added.
The center's location would be selected based on a series of criteria that includes proximity to neighborhoods, parks, schools, community centers, public transportation and downtown Tempe, Hallman said.
Proposed locations include Tempe's old downtown performing arts center, vacant police and fire department buildings and a mobile center, according to city documents.
All proposed sites, except for the mobile unit, are within about a mile of city neighborhoods and parks. Most are within about a mile of schools, except for the site that currently holds the Tempe police bike unit at Papago Park.
City officials have said residents opposed past efforts to construct a homeless shelter in Tempe because they feared it would bring an undesirable homeless presence to their neighborhoods.
Residents of the University Park neighborhood near ASU's campus complained at an April Council meeting that churches offering the homeless food and shelter caused more disruptive transients to gather nearby.
North Tempe resident and community activist Darlene Justus said she opposed the Papago Park location because many children visit the park.
She said she feared a day resource center would lead to gatherings of homeless people at Papago Park and nearby Tempe Town Lake.
"You will encourage urban camping when the weather's better," she added.
Cronin said she feared opponents might focus too much on the day resource center's location, rather than the actual services offered.
Tempe resident Bill Butler said he worried about a "feel good" solution that would try to assist people who didn't want to change and who also lacked respect for property.
"They truly demolish and destroy what they touch," Butler said.
Another resident, Don Frank, said he agreed that some homeless people couldn't be changed, but others, such as the unemployed, mentally ill and those with families would benefit.
"They're a paycheck away from being homeless," Frank added.
Reach the reporter at grayson.steinberg@asu.edu.
