Patients ready to move into Salt Lake's hospice for the homeless


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SALT LAKE CITY — Where do Salt Lake's homeless go to die? Some spend their final days in a motel, a camp, or a shelter. Even worse, many lives end on the streets.

Now, people who know life on the streets have come together to give the homeless a place to die with dignity. It's called The INN Between and when it opens next month, and it's the first hospice for the homeless in Utah run almost entirely by volunteers.

"I was hesitant at first because I know that I'm a little young to even be considering my mortality, but I guess when you need it, you need it," says Olivia Sherril.

What the 31-year-old homeless woman and mother needs now is a place to call home. There is a room waiting for her and her husband at The INN Between. Sherril is battling Stage 4 breast cancer.

"The hardest part is that I don't have a solid place to live, you know something stable," she said.

When the hospice for the homeless opens, Jeff Baldwin will live on site at 344 Goshen Street in the old but now refurbished Guadalupe School building. As house manager, Baldwin will make sure the patients and their neighbors in the quiet Salt Lake neighborhood are safe. Baldwin knows how important the hospice is for the homeless.

"I've been on the streets before," he said. "It's no place for somebody that's sick, especially that's dying."

"Our goal is just to provide that compassion at the end of life," said Kim Correa, executive director of The INN Between.

It is a goal that's been hard to reach for Correa, service providers and religious leaders who have spent years on the project.


I've been on the streets before. It's no place for somebody that's sick, especially that's dying.

–Jeff Baldwin, house manager


Identifying the abandoned Guadalupe School as a home for the hospice marked the end to the search for a facility in a quiet neighborhood but close to city services like the Fourth Street Clinic and downtown shelters. Now, the hope is the community will embrace its newest residents.

Correa is heartened by what she has seen.

"We've had over 200 to 300 volunteers come and paint, patch walls, clean carpets, so it's been quite an outpouring of community support," she said.

Monte Hanks has lived and worked on the streets, and now he is client services director for the Fourth Street Clinic. He said 75 percent to 80 percent of Salt Lake's homeless are residents of Utah, not transients.

"This is your community member," he said. "Would you let your neighbor die on the street? Would you let them die alone if you knew what was going on in their house? Would you not want to be there for them?"

Earlier this month, a ribbon-cutting was held to celebrate the spirit of community and volunteerism that will soon give the homeless a place to rest as they face the end of their lives.

State Rep. Sandra Hollins, whose district includes The INN Between, was on hand to mark this important milestone.

Hollins is also a social worker.

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"To be of service is one of the highest callings that you can receive in life, to be able to provide service for those individuals who do not have anything," she said.

Sherril and her husband were also at the hospice dedication and toured the facility where they saw signs of just how much the community cares. Homemade quilts cover the special medical beds and dozens of donated albums line the shelves in the music therapy room.

Alan Ainsworth retired from the Fourth Street Clinic after founding it and working with people on the streets for years. Now he is realizing the dream of opening The INN Between as one of its co-founders.

"My strong belief is that we're only as strong a nation as the weakest amongst us," he said.

Sherril is gaining strength from the thought of spending this difficult time at The INN Between. And, with that strength comes renewed hope.

"I think, I think that I will beat this. I'm realistically optimist," Sherril said. "You know, I can't just be totally ok with it, you have to just learn to roll with the punches," Sherril said.

The Sherrils and other homeless patients waiting for care at The INN Between may have to wait a few extra weeks for the hospice to open. Negotiations are underway with Salt Lake City to ensure proper zoning for the hospice. That could push the opening date back to late June or early July.

In the meantime, there are already dozens of medical professionals signed up to volunteer at The INN Between when it officially opens its doors.

Contributing: Keith McCord

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