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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Homelessness Council voted Friday to dedicate $3 million to building a second emergency shelter for homeless families in Salt Lake County, in what advocates called a "huge step" in keeping people sheltered in winter months.
The money was already allocated by the council in December to purchase shelter space for medically vulnerable individuals, but after Shelter the Homeless purchased the property in March, the group decided the space would be better utilized as a shelter for families.
The facility will supplement the existing Midvale Family Resource Center operated by the Road Home.
"It's exciting that the state is realizing that we need to have enough beds to meet the emergency needs of families who are experiencing homelessness. Nobody wants children to be sleeping outside," said Bill Tibbitts, deputy executive director of the Crossroads Urban Center.
Tibbitts said demand for shelter space has outpaced supply, and in one recent month there were more than 60 families turned away from shelters because there wasn't room. A February report found a 30% increase in the number of people from families with children who used emergency homeless services in 2022.
It's hard to predict how each year will go, but he said based on peak demand for shelters during this past year, the new facility could be enough to accommodate all the families with children in need of shelter.
"This is a huge step toward ensuring kids are not turned away from shelter in future years," he tweeted.
The money used for the new shelter came from the sale of the property that housed the old Road Home shelter at 210 S. Rio Grande Street in Salt Lake City. It was given to Shelter the Homeless, which purchased a motel to be converted into a permanent noncongregate emergency shelter.
Advocates are still working toward a similar facility to serve medically vulnerable individuals, said state homelessness coordinator Wayne Niederhauser. The council simply decided the motel was better suited for families, and the state Office of Homeless Services plans to invest $11 million to purchase a shelter for medically vulnerable individuals.
"Both these facilities are critically needed," Niederhauser said during the council's meeting Friday. "I see them as one response. I mean, they're two facilities, but they're part of our total response."
The noncongregate shelter will provide an added benefit for families by providing them with more privacy and space, compared to other shelters, Tibbitts said.
"Having families in the warehouse where you have 20 families sleeping in one room and 100 families sleeping in the same general area can be chaotic," he said. "I think that will ... just make it easier and better for the kids and the parents."
The Utah Homelessness Council, which was created by law in 2021 to oversee the state's homeless services budget, has not publicly stated where the new shelter will be built.
