Tempe Community Action Agency

The Tempe Community Action Agency's (TCAA's) mission is to foster dignity and self-reliance among the economically vulnerable within the communities we serve. We assist over 22,000 individuals each year, through a variety of programs:

-Community Action Programs (CAP) CAP provides basic needs assistance for low income Tempe community members, such as financial help with overdue utilities and rent, in an effort to prevent homelessness.

-Hunger Relief: TCAA operates Tempe's largest Food Pantry providing emergency food boxes to seniors, adults and children in need, and operating two Community Gardens. The Escalante and Clark Park Community Gardens strive to build community through the production of high quality, organic fruits and vegetables, to teach our community about sustainable gardening, healthy cooking, and to strengthen community bonds by creating and sustaining an organic garden in the surrounding neighborhood.

-Interfaith Homeless Emergency Lodging Program (I-HELP): TCAA operates Tempe's sole emergency shelter service with involvement from several area faith congregations and service groups, providing nightly shelter, meals, and help to overcome homelessness among adult men and women.

-Senior Independence: TCAA serves older adults in Tempe and Scottsdale and offers senior center activities and a lunchtime congregate meal at Tempe and South Scottsdale senior centers. Additionally, TCAA coordinates a home-delivered meals program, provided daily by staff and volunteers to home-bound seniors and adults with disabilities, in an effort to help them continue to live independently.

-Economic Advancement: TCAA assists low-income families to overcome barriers to financial independence through the offering of employment assistance, financial literacy training, microenterprise training, and a pathway to homeownership.

-Health Families: TCAA's Health Start program provides pre- and post-natal care to expectant mothers, as well as home-based case management and family support until the newborn child reaches age two.

-Volunteer Engagement: TCAA offers community volunteers, service organizations, and corporate groups with an array of individualized and group-centered volunteer opportunities.