Mayor Corey Woods and city staff recognized a cohort of participants who completed the Tempe Works employment program during the Tempe City Council work study session. Tempe Works, launched in 2017 through the vision of Councilmember Randy Keating, places residents in designated city positions while coordinating housing and support services with partner agencies.

Binta Coker, senior social services coordinator for the Tempe Works program, said the program “represents the heart of the Tempe Works program” and noted it now includes five designated city positions and 49 total graduates to date. Coker summarized individual participant pathways: Barbara Lovell began in March 2025, worked in solid waste, and found housing with support from CBI, Care 7, Mercy House and the Dignity Foundation; Scott Barker self-referred while in TCAA’s iHealth program, worked in solid waste and connected to SSVF rapid rehousing; Daniel Donnan and Paige Peterson both started while in the iHealth shelter and completed 90-day work placements in solid waste; Bobby Burnett began in May 2025 and received housing help from Care 7 and the city of Mesa; and a posthumous recognition was given to Adam Sofdic, who had completed the program in April 2025.

The city’s presentation emphasized that Tempe Works combines employment placements with wraparound services from city departments and nonprofit partners to remove barriers to stable housing and long-term employment. Coker said the program’s results “are proof that when communities unite, lives are changed and hope is restored.”

Council members and program partners joined graduates for a group photo after the recognition.

The council did not take a formal vote on the recognition; the agenda item was a ceremonial acknowledgment of program graduates and partner agencies.