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Gene Kennedy and Tom Callan reportingAccording to a report from The Utah Division of Housing and Community Development, chronic homelessness has dropped 15 percent. The state says it's because of a new strategy to provide affordable housing for the homeless.
Sunrise Metro is one of two complexes to house the homeless in the county. There are plans to build a third complex by 2009.
The state adopted this new strategy to help the chronically homeless and get them off the streets. Now officials say this latest report is the first sign the plan is working.
Paul Herrera is 52 years old, mentally challenged and unable to hold down a job. But he's no longer homeless, and that alone has changed his life. "Dramatically, a lot," Herrera said.
Herrera spent two years on the streets. Anything more than a year is considered chronically homeless. "This is no way for anybody to go," he said.
But just over a year ago he moved into Sunrise Metro, Salt Lake's first housing complex built specifically for the homeless. The accommodations are modest, but Herrera has a kitchen, living room and shower.
In the bigger picture, housing director Gordon Walker says Herrera is part of a 15-percent reduction in Utah's chronically homeless population from 2005 to 2007.
"The fact of the matter is, when we take these people, the chronic homeless, and put them into housing, the cost to society is significantly reduced," Walker said. "It's a reduction in cost at the detox centers at hospitals, and the interactions with police go way down."
Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank told us, "It's a hard time of year to judge if we've seen a real difference, but I'm very encouraged by the housing projects that are being built."
Employees at homeless shelters are encouraged too because beds are freed up.
People like Paul Herrera, who once slept at shelters or on the streets, now have a new road home. "And I want everybody to know, all the homeless, you can do this, you can get off the streets," Herrera said.
The director of the homeless task force says 200 men and women have been moved into the apartments, and 85 percent are still living there.
But it's important to know that while chronic homelessness has decreased, according to this report, the same report says overall homelessness has increased. So there's still a lot of work ahead.
E-mail: gkennedy@ksl.com
E-mail: tcallan@ksl.com
