Some Tempe residents are concerned that local efforts to help the homeless are causing more disruptive behavior in their neighborhoods.
The Interfaith Homeless Emergency Lodging Program began in February to offer food and sleeping space to homeless people in Tempe on weekend nights.
Tempe resident Mike Ruppel, 57, said that because of the shelter's presence, homeless people gathered in his neighborhood more often.
The Tempe Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends is a church located in the University Park neighborhood that participates in the program, which offers services to the homeless at different churches each week.
This also happened after local churches separately provided meals for homeless people at nearby Daley Park, he said.
The University Park neighborhood is bounded by Apache Boulevard and 15th Street and Mill and McAllister avenues.
Ruppel is one of four neighborhood residents who complained about the shelter program at a Tempe City Council meeting Thursday.
"The risk to the relatively defenseless residents from undocumented people of unknown psychiatric stability and criminal backgrounds is significant," Ruppel said in an e-mail.
These concerns prompted the council to ask city staff to investigate the matter.
Beth Fiorenza, executive director of the Tempe Community Action Agency, said her organization would meet with the city and residents to address their worries.
The TCAA helps coordinate the rotating shelter program.
Fiorenza added she didn't think the program attracted more homeless people to neighborhoods.
"We hope there would be less homeless in the area due to the program," Fiorenza said.
But Tempe police have already decided to patrol Daley Park more frequently due to the neighborhood's worries, said Sgt. Dan Masters, a police spokesman.
Calls for service at Daley Park have more than doubled from 33 between Jan. 1 and April 15, 2005, to 69 during the same period this year, Masters said.
It's unclear why calls increased, but a rise in disruptive transient behavior is a possible cause, he added.
Penny Caldwell, who has lived in Tempe for 22 years, said at the meeting she was upset to see transients sleeping on tables or next to toilets in broad daylight.
She added she watched her children carefully at the park.
"They can rename Daley Park 'Bum Park' as far as I'm concerned," said Tom Caldwell, her husband.
Transients have gathered at Daley Park for years, Masters said.
This problematic behavior has included urban camping, aggressive panhandling and public alcohol consumption, he said.
Ruppel said this behavior is potentially harmful and shows why Tempe should help homeless people get off the streets.
But the rotating shelter program is not the answer, he added.
"A room for the night does not address the psychological and social problems that make these people homeless," Ruppel said.
But Fiorenza said the rotating shelters could help solve the root problems by putting transients in touch with case managers.
"We're trying to address their long-term needs," she said.
Ruppel said despite his neighborhood's concerns, the community should help care for the homeless.
"We are not heartless, just practical," Ruppel said.
Reach the reporter at grayson.steinberg@asu.edu.
