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SALT LAKE CITY — The temporary sanctioned homeless campground announced in September by state and Salt Lake City officials has hit a snag with no operator selected by the anticipated deadline.
The site will be located at 558 W. 300 South and was anticipated to open in November and close by April, as a pilot project. It will serve around 50 people, utilizing the $500,000 set aside by the Salt Lake City Council and state investments.
The campground, or temporary shelter community, will not have campsites consisting of tents for unsheltered people. Instead, the land will feature a mini-shelter model observed in other cities by state and city officials. The model has "pods," or small individual facilities that can lock, offering more security and privacy to those hesitant to enter a homeless resource shelter.
Salt Lake City has already begun site preparation and plans to purchase the building will still be going forward, according to Salt Lake City homeless coordinator Andrew Johnston.
"It's really just about the operator, not the site itself, or the program going forward," said Johnston. "It'll be a bit of a delay in the operator selection. I think we had anticipated having that done last week."
The grant proposal for the shelter community will be reissued "due to the initial applicants' scores falling below the minimum," the state office said. The grant proposal opened for applications the week after the announcement on Sept. 14, with a 10-day deadline. The operator was to be selected by the Utah Office of Homeless Services by mid-October, but ultimately no operator was selected. The re-issuance of the updated proposal aims to encourage the submission of stronger proposals, the office added.
"This decision aligns with our commitment to ensuring comprehensive and effective solutions to address the pressing issue of homelessness in our community," said Sarah Nielson, Utah Office of Homeless Services spokeswoman. "This, in turn, will better enable us to meet the urgent needs of those experiencing homelessness in Salt Lake City while ensuring minimal community impact."
Unsheltered Utah, an applicant in the process, expressed disappointment in the delay.
"Unsheltered Utah is concerned about the delay of both the sanctioned campground as well as the overflow in West Valley, as we know we can expect 25-degree temperatures this weekend. There are hundreds of people on the street who don't even have a sleeping bag, due to aggressive harassment by Salt Lake City.
"However, we trust the state and the fairness of their process, and hope this gives us a chance to ensure a good provider to run this program," wrote Wendy Garvin, executive director.
Although the temporary shelter site was not included in Salt Lake County's winter overflow plan, Johnston acknowledges that officials had hoped to have it as an option ahead of colder temperatures.
"We wanted it open as soon as possible. We wanted to get it running before things got colder. Of course we want things to go as quickly as possible but for this pilot project we really want to have the right operator and the right plan so that it's very successful because we want to have this replicated elsewhere and continue forward," said Johnston.
