We strongly urge the state to invest the necessary funds to make the transformative homeless campus center a success. This innovative concept not only holds the greatest promise of meeting Utah’s goal to make homelessness “rare, brief and nonrecurring,” but there is tangible evidence from other states and organizations that have tried it.
This ambitious initiative would serve up to 1,200 in one location with housing, treatment services, employment resources, meals, data-driven and person-centered case management all in a supportive community environment. After the state, cities and continuum of care organizations have spent millions on various approaches to homelessness that primarily provided shelter but often failed to transform lives, the new campus could be a game changer.
The endorsement comes with a caution: Securing the land, building the complex and assembling qualified professionals is only half the process. Success will hinge on whether the overarching goal of the new campus is recovery or enablement. That’s where all interested parties must find consensus around this mutual vision: Self-sufficiency and independence will require those needing help to have skin in the game and a willingness to improve. A splintered vision will lead to splintered results.
Not everyone will succeed and some at the campus may fall back — repeatedly. But as long as there is a core understanding that this is not just another huge “tent city” with relaxed rules that openly permit and condone the very addictions, dependency and chronic recidivism that have plagued other state and local city efforts, this has a chance of changing lives.
These same foundational principles have been operating at Haven for Hope in San Antonio since 2010. It’s one of this nation’s most successful homeless campus models. At Haven’s Transformational Center, which serves about 1,000 homeless, those entering the facility make a number of agreements including a willingness to work with a case manager toward “a sustained, sufficient life” and to engage in activities geared “toward achieving self-sufficiency” (education, job training).
Haven’s central philosophy is to address the root cause of each person’s homeless experience. More than 80 community partners and agencies provide services at the campus. Since Haven’s inception, San Antonio has seen a 77% reduction in the city’s Point in Time (PIT) homeless count and $100 million in cost savings for emergency rooms, courts and jails. Ninety-one percent of those served by Haven for Hope remained housed after 12 months.
Similar concepts can be found right here in Utah with private and semi-privately funded organizations like The Other Side Academy (TOSA), The Other Side Village (TOSV) and Switchpoint. Since its founding in 2015, TOSA’s achievements are impressive: 84% of all graduates are employed and 71% are drug-free, crime-free and employed. Just this month, The Other Side Village installed its first tiny home on land that will eventually serve 400 homeless.
Carol Hollowell, CEO of Switchpoint, who was awarded operation of the first sanctioned homeless campsite in Salt Lake City in 2023, set strict rules about drug use and self-sufficiency. In conversations with Hollowell, she explained to us that within months of accepting 50 homeless, 80% were employed. Eventually nine tenants had to be removed for failing the no-drug policy. In sharing these details, Hollowell said that if allowed to stay in the camp, active drug users would impact those struggling to stay clean. Hollowell’s “mini-sanctioned camp model” might be a precursor for Utah’s larger campus initiative.
Fighting the “war on homelessness” has come at a high cost. Since 2019, California has spent $24 billion on homelessness while homelessness grew exponentially.
Next year, the federal government will invest more than $10 billion on those already experiencing homelessness and billions more in preventative programs.
Equally discouraging is HUD’s latest Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress that shows those experiencing “street level” homelessness in America increased to about 653,000 in 2023 — the highest level on record since reporting began in 2017. It also said if solutions aren’t found the nation’s homeless problem will double every five years.
In Utah, it is estimated that $1.75 billion in state and private philanthropic resources have been spent on homelessness since 2016. Yet, Utah’s Office of Homeless Services reported in August the state’s homeless numbers keep rising — 9,800 Utahns became homeless for the first time last year, a 10% increase from 2022.
If vested parties can put aside their differences, Utah’s transformative homeless campus has a real chance to succeed and give new hope to those searching for a way out of life on the streets.
(Lynn Ames) Lynn Ames is the chair of Solutions Utah.
Lynn Ames is the chair of Solutions Utah, a nonprofit public policy advocacy organization established in 2014.
(Dave Kelly) Dave Kelly is the vice chair of Solutions Utah.
Dave Kelly is the vice chair of Solutions Utah.
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