By Jean Welch Hill–
For the past two years, state, Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City leaders have been meeting to address homelessness in Utah over the long term. The Collective Impact discussions are ongoing and have led to significant changes in how we address homelessness, including the decision to close our largest shelter and open smaller, more targeted resource centers.
In the meantime, conditions for people congregating on Rio Grande street, in between Catholic Community Service’s St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall and Weigand Homeless Resource Center and the Road Home Shelter deteriorated to an astonishing degree. Lawlessness was easy to see by anyone in the area at any time of the day.
In response to the declining state of life on Rio Grande, state, city and county leaders launched Operation Rio Grande. This three-part operation included an influx of law enforcement combined with a promise of additional treatment beds for substance abuse and mental health needs and a focus on employment. All parts of the operation are critical to its success, if we measure success by the number of individuals actually helped out of homelessness.
Both Operation Rio Grande and the long-term strategy developed in the Collective Impact process could lead to positive outcomes for people dealing with homelessness in Utah. But both will end up being fruitless without a few additional items:
1. First and foremost, there is little chance of successfully moving people out of the resource centers, as planned, without rapid development of affordable housing throughout the county. There is not one city in Salt Lake County wherein a person making minimum wage can afford to live. While federal housing subsidies are available for low-income earners, the months long wait undermines the concept of “rapid rehousing.” The stated goal of the new resource centers is to move people quickly through. A person waiting 8, 9 or 12 months for a housing voucher is not moving quickly out of homelessness. Moving them into motels, as is currently the case for many families, is not a long-term solution for either the families or homeless service providers. Solutions need not focus solely on new development either. Changing city ordinances that restrict accessory dwelling units or arbitrarily limit the number of unrelated people living in a house could open up a number of additional options as well.
2. Service providers need to continue to be part of the solutions. Many people living without a place to call home are wary of officials in any capacity, from law enforcement officers to doctors, to community social workers. But often times there are one or two people within a service agency who are able to talk to those same individuals and help them get the services they need. Some of the people who are afraid to get the state’s new Coordinate Services Card to access the safe space the state has created on Rio Grande Street were also afraid to go to the Road Home or Weigand for services. Both agencies, plus the other groups engaged in outreach to people who are homeless must continue to find the best way to approach those who are most wary and help build the necessary bridges so those in need feel safer seeking services.
3. We all need to be part of the solutions — volunteer. People suffering from homelessness are still people. They need what all of us need –a meal, a safe and welcoming place to spend the day, a kind word from someone who cares. Thanks to Operation Rio Grande, the area around Weigand and St. Vincent de Paul has never been safer for volunteers and clients at the St. Vinny’s Dining Hall and Weigand Homeless Resource Center. Opportunities to be the person who treats another as a valued human being abound at both locations. Contact Monica at CCS today to volunteer (mrich@ccsutah.org).
