Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — Brianna Jackman's story of falling into homelessness in 2016 is not unlike thousands of others: Her family fell upon hard times and with no close family or friends able to take her in, she was forced to seek help at the old Rio Grande shelter in Salt Lake City.
Although she was able to get back on her feet, Jackman experienced further stints of being unsheltered in each of the following six years.
"Yes, you heard me correctly," she said. "Seven different times of being homeless."
Now with Powerful Moms Who Care, a Salt Lake City organization advocating for safer communities, Jackman joined several faith leaders and homeless advocates at the Capitol Thursday morning to ask lawmakers to support more than $150 million Gov. Spencer Cox requested for affordable housing and homelessness prevention.
The annual Faith, Hunger and Homelessness Day — hosted by the Crossroads Urban Center's FACE Hunger and Homelessness project — convenes religious leaders to address the most pressing challenges facing unsheltered Utahns.
Wayne Niederhauser, director of the Utah Office of Homeless Services, described homelessness as a "catch-all" for individuals suffering from mental illness, aging out of foster care and struggling with a variety of other issues. The problem is at the "forefront of the governor's budget," he said, hinting that Cox would provide specifics during his annual State of the State address Thursday evening.
"Homelessness is a statewide issue and isn't specific to any one place. Every city in this state and every county is a source of homelessness," Niederhauser said. "What is your city doing to address that?"
While the governor's budget includes money to provide deeply affordable housing in an effort to "go upstream" to prevent homelessness before it happens, Niederhauser said the state still needs to provide funds for additional shelter space in the short term.
"We'd rather create housing, but our deficit of housing is so great, we're going to have to have some additional shelter until that housing catches up," he said.
Cox's proposed budget includes $25 million for additional shelter space, $25 million for deeply affordable housing, and $10 million for ongoing funding to homelessness service providers.
"We need your help advocating for it; it's a big ask," Niederhauser told the several dozen faith leaders Thursday.
Lawmakers have until the end of the legislative session, on March 1, to pass the state's annual budget. However, revenue projections won't be available for a couple of weeks, leaving leaders unsure of how much they'll have to spend. Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said it's still "very early" in the process when asked about the homelessness requests during Senate leadership's daily media availability.
Senate Majority Leader Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, said that funding for certain budget items will need to be "repurposed" for other things, and lawmakers are still working on the finer details of what gets prioritized.
Aside from the governor's funding request, lawmakers are looking at other ways to address homelessness. Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay, is proposing to earmark a portion of the state's tax on alcohol to provide a permanent revenue source for the Olene Walker Housing Loan Fund. She described the fund as a "critical" source of income for affordable housing in the state.
"We desperately need to address this affordable housing crisis and this is one way to do it," she said of her bill, HB141.
