Logan • Surging demand for shelter in one of the state’s most frigid counties has left a warming center seeking more volunteers to meet the growing needs of those experiencing homelessness.
The William A. Burnard Warming Center, located at Logan’s Saint John’s Episcopal Church, officially opened its doors for the season Friday night. The center’s board president, Jayme Walters, said the facility, which provides temporary overnight refuge from freezing temperatures, has never seen such a high need for help, with nearly 30 people seeking shelter between Friday and Saturday.
“In 2022, we opened the doors, and that first night we didn’t serve anyone,” Walters said. “So the fact that we’re in our third season and we’re serving 18 people already like that — it says a lot.”
Cache County’s homeless population has seen a drastic increase in recent years, Walters said, with nearly 200 people left without shelter of their own on any given night.
In 2018, she said, about 84 people were reported to have entered emergency shelters, while in 2022, that number rose to 437 — 385 of whom were experiencing homelessness for the first time.
Walters believes a lack of funding for hotel vouchers is driving the increased demand this year.
People are also experiencing homelessness for longer periods of time than in the past, said Amy Anderson, a Logan City Council member and the chair of the Bear River Local Homeless Council, an organization that works in partnership with the warming center to reduce homelessness in northern Utah.
“As that rental market has tightened,” Anderson said, “we’re starting to see fewer exits from homelessness into either permanent or temporary housing.”
With the rising demand for shelter services, there is a greater need for volunteers, Anderson said — particularly those who can donate their time from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
“It’s a sacrifice to give up your own bed, to give up your own sleep,” Anderson said, “but without individuals being willing to do that, the people that we’re caring for would be sleeping in a car, in a tent, on the street.”
To sign up to be an on-site or off-site volunteer, visit wabwarmingcenter.org/get-involved.
