Tempe is planning a new storage program to reunite people with items they leave behind in the city's parks or other public spaces.
People lose things in Tempe parks all the time, but before now, the city hasn’t had one standard way of handling those items, said Craig Hayton, with the Parks and Recreation Division of Tempe's Community Services Department.
“We recognize that personal belongings have value, have significance, and have potentially secondary impacts if that is not something that is reunited with that individual,” Hayton said.
Hayton said the consequences of losing something like an ID can be serious, especially for someone experiencing homelessness.
“That may be something that is stopping somebody from getting some service that is going to help them to really increase the quality of their life," Hayton said.
The plan to collect and save lost items came from Tempe’s Homeless Solutions Task Force, which noted the need for storage of items found in public places and belongings left behind during encampment cleanups. Tempe's City Council last year approved $25,000 for the program.
The city is seeking a vendor who will be able to log, transport and store items. The city will accept vendor proposals until March 3.
