After Utah’s homeless policy board acknowledged this week that the state’s homeless resource center model isn’t working, advocates and experts expressed excitement about the prospect of adding beds to the shelter system.
The Utah Homeless Services Board, the committee tasked with overseeing the state’s Office of Homeless Services, directed officials Wednesday to construct a sprawling centralized campus — a break from the scattered-site model the state embraced in 2019 when a large downtown shelter shuttered in favor of smaller facilities spread across Salt Lake City and South Salt Lake.
While the prospect of additional beds is welcomed by many, some shared disappointment that the state pumped so much money into the current model only to return to a centralized system five years later.
“It’s very clearly not working. We’re spending millions of dollars on transportation every year to no clear positive end, and now we’re going to go back and recreate the big campus again,” said Wendy Garvin, executive director of Unsheltered Utah. “And it’s really disappointing that all of that money was basically spent to move people out of the downtown area where they’re visually unappealing. But by the same token, we desperately need those beds.”
Leaders said the dispersed model has not received the funding it needs, and complicates how people experiencing homelessness access services that could help them get back on their feet. The board voted to build a 1,200-bed shelter with resources — like job assistance, health care and food — located on a yet-to-be-determined, 30-acre site along the Wasatch Front.
Garvin is concerned that the state will end up picking a site that is politically expedient and not necessarily accessible for Utahns experiencing homelessness, because “no city wants to host a 1,000- or a 1,200-bed campus.”
Some, like Salt Lake Harm Reduction Project Executive Director MacKenzie Bray, worry that given the necessary size, the new campus will have to be in a remote area, making it too far-flung for people sheltering there to get to work or off-site appointments.
“With the Olympics returning in 2034, I worry that there’s going to be a push to move unhoused folks out of sight,” Bray said, “to a shelter that’s far removed from downtown so visitors don’t have to be reminded that Salt Lake is experiencing a significant housing crisis.”
Still, Bray said, the scattered-site model makes it hard for her nonprofit’s clients to access shelter if their first option to get indoors is full, and often leads to confusion about which additional services are available at each site.
The resource centers serve 7,000 people a year, according to Michelle Flynn, executive director of The Road Home, a homeless services nonprofit that operates two of the existing facilities. The addition of a large new shelter, she said, will help Utah’s efforts to combat homelessness.
“This initiative from the state Homeless Services Board represents a step forward in addressing key issues and improving the quality of life in our community,” Flynn said. “While we know there will be challenges along the way, we are committed to working collaboratively to ensure the plan’s success.”
The state board required the Office of Homeless Services to share three possible locations for the campus by Dec. 15. At least the shelter portion of the campus needs to be up and running by next October.
