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MILLCREEK — Religious leaders, advocates and elected officials asked what it would take to reduce homelessness in Salt Lake County as the state prepares to potentially host another Olympic Games.
The question and many attempts to answer it was posed during a Poverty Summit held by Crossroads Urban Center at Christ United Methodist Church on Saturday. The summit featured presentations by state and local governments on current plans to reduce the increasing need.
"If we don't start planning now, we're certainly not going to be done by 2030, we might not be done by 2034. Time is of the essence if we do not want to have more people camping outside when the world comes to visit us, then we need to start working on it now and we are starting to work on it," said Bill Tibbitts, associated director of Urban Crossroads Center.
The issue of homelessness is often regarded as "complex" and "multifaceted", something that requires multiple approaches and strategies to truly solve. Yet as the state continues to pour funding into reducing it — the Utah Legislature allocated a record $70 million in the 2022 session — homelessness is still on the rise.
A 2022 homelessness report by the Utah Department of Workforce Services' Office of Homeless Services revealed that the homeless population is increasing, with the number of Utahns experiencing homelessness for the first time increasing by 14% from 2020 to 2021.
Approximately 12,023 people received homeless services in Salt Lake County in 2021 — with many of those being children.
State officials point to the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, skyrocketing housing costs, lack of housing and increasing population as potential reasons for the increase. Advocates and religious leaders narrowed the cause of homelessness to one thing — the lack of housing or ability to pay for it.
An analysis released by the Government Accountability Office in 2020 revealed that an increase of the median rent of $100 per month will increase homelessness in that community by 9%, in the past three years the average monthly rent in Salt Lake County has increased by almost $300.
The Salt Lake Valley Coalition to End Homelessness has called for 2,950 units to meet the current need to reduce homelessness. Those units include: 600 units of permanent supportive housing, 1,000 units for short-term rapid rehousing assistance, 200 shared housing units, 900 deeply affordable units and 150 permanently subsidized units.
Crossroads Urban Center has set a goal to achieve the number of units before the state potentially hosts an Olympic Games in 2030 or 2034.
"I don't believe we really have that kind of time. I know they want to keep things practical and doable but faith is not practical. It is visionary," said Rev. Curtis Price of First Baptist Church of Salt Lake City. "How about 2,950 units before we build another prison? Before we gentrify another neighborhood, build another luxury high rise, or build another highway?"
In a panel discussion, Millcreek Mayor Jeff Silvestrini, Utah state homelessness coordinator Wayner Nierdauser, Salt Lake City homeless coordinator Andrew Johnston and Dina Blaes of Salt Lake County Regional Development discussed current efforts to meet that number.
"I just say that just because I want you to know that our local leadership is engaged in trying to solve the problems of our state. But as a mayor, I mean that this is a critical problem," said Silvestrini. "But it's also important to my 63,000 constituents that the garbage gets picked up, that there'd be police protection, that there'd be fire protection, that we have running water and sewers and streets that are paved, and on and on and on."
The mayor said that while there are many problems local government attempt to address, the city still provides temporary winter shelter to help resolve the immediate need.
"We can't do it alone and we can't do it exclusively because of the other responsibilities we have, but I do care," said Silvestrini. "I know that there are homeless unsheltered people that are from Millcreek. ... Most of our unsheltered population is from Utah. It's our own families."
So what is being done?
Issues identified in providing more housing as the population continues to grow include lack of density, expensive land prices and resistance to mixed-income communities, said Dina Blaes of Salt Lake County Regional Development.
Funding granted in the American Rescue Plan Act to the state provides a "once in a generation opportunity," but the problem is the will of those "outside of this room," said Blaes.
She pointed to neighborhoods with a "not in my backyard" mindset and several housing proposals being turned down by city councils due to community backlash. To meet the demand for more affordable housing and the need for density, many will have to accept mixed income residents.
This fall and into next year, approximately 500 units of deeply affordable units will be available, said Niederhauser. Additionally, the Utah Office of Homelessness plans to ask the Legislature for $15 million of ongoing funds for housing grants.
"There's a lot of nuances, but a key part of this that we're missing is ongoing funds which partly could be used, I believe, for a state voucher program," said Niederhauser.
Ongoing funds were also mentioned by Johnston, who deemed them "critical" in addressing the problem.
"When we talk about trees as a city official, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, and the second best time is today. Housing is a similar thing,"' said Johnston. "We survive a lot in these systems on one-time funding when things are good or when there's a crisis ... but we have to build it into our systems."
The Salt Lake City Council is scheduled to hear additional proposals on affordable housing and homelessness in its coming sessions, Johnston added.
