Help in Tempe
Somewhere to sleep, something to eat, someone to call. Tap any number to ring it.
Crisis lines, 24 hours
-
CARE-7 (Tempe 24-hour crisis team)
Tempe’s own crisis team, any hour.
-
211 Arizona
Dial 211 for information and referrals to community resources and essential needs.
-
Domestic violence hotline
Support and safe housing for survivors.
Emergency shelter and housing
-
I-HELP Emergency Shelter (TCAA)
Overnight sleeping space, evening meals, showers and laundry for adults 18 and over. Call the hotline to schedule intake.
480-422-8922 (extension 5882)
-
Sue’s Espacio (City of Tempe Bridge Shelter)
City-operated bridge shelter on Apache Blvd, offering rooms, laundry and hot meals.
-
Oasis Center (TCAA)
Drop-in center for unsheltered adults, offering social services, ID recovery, employment help and Circle the City medical care.
-
Family Housing Hub and Central Intake
Families with children call the first number. Adults without children call the central intake line.
602-595-8700 (adults without children: 602-759-5356)
Food and basic needs
-
TCAA Food Pantry
Emergency food boxes, up to twice a month.
-
To-Go Bags (TCAA)
Ready-to-eat food for unsheltered individuals, with no kitchen required. Available at TCAA’s Esquer and Ramsey Center.
Medical and behavioural health
-
Community Health Center
Affordable medical and dental care.
-
Circle the City
Mobile medical services for people experiencing homelessness.
Getting around
-
Valley Metro light rail and bus
The Smith-Martin/Apache Blvd and Price-101 Fwy/Apache Blvd light rail stops serve TCAA directly. Bus routes connect riders across Tempe.
Surviving an Arizona summer outside
The heat here kills people. This is the part of the leaflet that matters most between May and September.
- Get out of the heat between 10am and 4pm
- That is the dangerous stretch. Cooling centres, libraries and shelters are all air conditioned and free to sit in. If you have to be outside, stay in shade and rest rather than walking through it.
- Drink more water than you think you need
- Shelters, churches and outreach groups hand out bottled water all summer, and public parks and community centres have drinking fountains. Dehydration is what turns a hot day into a hospital visit.
- Know what heat exhaustion feels like
- Heavy sweating, dizziness, nausea, headache, weakness. Get somewhere cool and drink water immediately. If someone is confused, very hot, or faints, that is heatstroke and it needs an ambulance now.
- Cover up rather than strip off
- Loose, light-coloured clothing keeps you cooler than bare skin in the sun, and sunscreen helps if you can get some. Outreach teams often have both.
- Buses are air conditioned
- Valley Metro fares are low and some programs offer free or discounted rides to cooling centres and shelters. A bus ride is a cheap hour out of the sun.
- Keep a phone charged if you have one
- Some organisations have charging stations. A charged phone is how you find out which shelter has a bed tonight.
Somebody has already paid for a meal
Pay It Forward lets one person buy a meal in advance and another person collect it from a local business, with no questions asked and nothing to prove. If you need one, or if you want to buy one for somebody who does, it runs at PIF Board.
City of Tempe homeless solutions keeps the fullest list, and it outlasts anything we publish.
Checked on 2026-08-05. If a number here is wrong, please tell us at contact@bchain.coffee so the next person does not waste the trip.