Information in regards to the homeless community and what my city is currently doing to rectify the situation

1. Homelessnes
s in Utah
The Next Step

2. • Homelessness in Utah over the years has
had a few peaks and valleys when it comes
to the overall number of individuals that
are homeless at any given time. Nationwide
studies have proven that permanent housing
is the key solution that will keep people off
the streets long term.
In 2015 there were approx 13,500
homeless individuals in Utah. 8,229 of
them had used the services provided
through the Road Home. This is a facility
that provides food and shelter for those
in urgent situations, dealing with
domestic violence, families looking for
help and a place where case workers
take on those needing longer term
solutions.

3. 90% of homeless that find their way through the doors for the Road
Home are only there short term and do not require assistance for long,
some families are only there a few days to a couple months while they
try to get their feet back under them after a job loss or a death in the
family that has caused things to go downhill too rapidly for them to
catch up. They use to Road Home as a bridge for a new start. Their
children still have access to education, food, clothing and a bed to sleep
in. Most people do not want to use this as a long term solution and
make arrangements to get out quickly.

4. The other 10% of homeless fall under a category known as chronic
homelessness, this is determined if they have been in and out of
homelessness for 1-2 years and haven’t been able to find their way out,
some are dealing with addiction, some are dealing with mental illness and
some have just had a string of bad luck. These are the individuals that fall
into a group that will be transitioned from temporary housing into a
more permanent home of their own that can help provide them a more
secure setting and stable environment.

5. It’s a true statement, everyone should have a home. There has to be something to
having a roof over your head and a place you know you are going to be ok that can
make a person sleep well and wake up willing to face a new day. Housing first is a
program designed to find permanent housing for the chronic homeless. When
someone qualifies to the program they are given keys to their own apartment that is
furnished and has most of the basic things required to live a comfortable life.
Statistics done in 2006 proved that cities participating in a Housing First program
had a significant decrease of 76% in homeless incarcerations, detox visits decreased
by 82%,emergency room visits were reduced by 34.3%, inpatient hospital costs were
reduced by 66% and these individuals/families were finding stable jobs providing
income where they eventually could move out of the housing and into places of
their own.

6. In Utah there are currently 900 individual
units in 5 different buildings that are used for
the Housing First program. These units
helped to bring the overall number of
chronic homelessness down by 91% in 10
years.

7. Salt Lake Cities Mayor Jackie Biskupski is currently in the process of
expanding the number of homeless shelters in Salt Lake City. Each of the 4
sites will be capped at 150 bed capacity and the goal is to be able to provide
job-skills training and substance abuse treatment at each site. These will not
be treated as the long term housing units like the other ones but they will
be used in the same capacity as the Road Home as the plan is to eventually
phase out that location. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the
location of these new sites as some fall within walking distance from
schools and homes and people in the community are concerned about drug
use and crime being brought to their neighborhoods.

8. As the discussions of the new sites continued to escalate there had been an
increase of public outrage with the idea of having these sites in their area. Sugarhouse
was slated to have one of the shelters, after multiple town halls and people contacting
their representatives this site was shut down and many people rejoiced with the
outcome.
It is a justifiable concern from these residents worrying that having a homeless
shelter so close to their homes could cause problems down the road with drug use and
other crimes rising. However the main plan behind having smaller sites is so that there is
less people to monitor and each site will know who is coming and who is going at all
times eliminating the ability for the site to get over crowded and drug ridden leading to
Rio Grande 2.0.
City officials have created a great plan for moving forward with these sites
keeping what is best for the homeless population and also the community in surrounding
areas in mind during planning. The problem is that no one is listening to reason and
speaking out in anger and fear instead of compassion and understanding. Coming
together to support those in need is what should be happening in our city and not town
halls demanding the homeless be shipped somewhere else out of site out of mind. The
celebration behind closing these sites is hard to watch and I feel that down the road
people will look back at this behavior and be ashamed. Time will tell which side wins out
in this battle, hopefully with more time people will see that those in need are not always
drug addicts and criminals but families, women, children and men that are just trying to
to get on their feet after a tragedy none of us would wish on anyone.

9. • GET INVOLVED
• VOLUNTEER
• DONATE-MONEY,CLOTHING, TIME
• CALL YOUR MAYORS OFFICE
WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP OR
TO VOICE MY CONCERN/OPINION?
The Road Home
210 S. Rio Grande Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
801.359.4142
Salt Lake City Mayors Office
801-535-7704
mayor@slcgov.com

10. References
• Hunsaker, Brent . "Salt Lake Homeless Solution, Inside Housing First." Idahonews.com. N.p., 9 Feb. 16.
Web. 5 Feb. 16.
• Hartvigsen, Alex. "Comprehensive Report on Homelessness." Jobs.utah.gov. N.p., Oct. 15. Web. Feb. 17.
• "Overcriminalized-video." The Road Home . N.p., n.d. Web. Theroadhome.org
• Terrence McCoy. "The Surprisingly Simple Way Utah solved Chronic Homelssness." Washington Post.
N.p., 17 Apr. 2015. Web. Feb. 2017.
• SLCmayor.com
• Homeless photos referenced in slides courtesy of Lee Jeffries photography-homeless series.