- A winter storm hit Utah on Wednesday, set to drop temperatures overnight.
- Unsheltered Utah activated code blue movie nights for the homeless to escape cold.
- Merinda Cutler hopes for legislation to raise the code blue threshold to 32 degrees.
SALT LAKE CITY — Portions of Utah saw winter show up on Wednesday, as a storm brought snow to the mountains and lower elevations.
While the snow is welcomed by some, overnight temperatures are expected to drop drastically.
According to The National Weather Service, temperatures Wednesday night into Thursday morning are expected to dip to 18 degrees.
In efforts to ensure people experiencing homelessness have an escape from the bitter outside temperatures, Unsheltered Utah's "code blue" movie nights will activate Wednesday night and continue through the end of the week.
"A lot of our guests really enjoy it," said Merinda Cutler, executive director at Unsheltered Utah. "We'll show movies all night so people can watch movies, have a hot meal, something hot to drink, and then they sleep."
Unsheltered Utah's code blue nights will happen at St. Mark's Cathedral, 231 E. 100 South, and First United Methodist Church, 203 S. 200 East, in Salt Lake City.
Utah's code blue alerts are triggered when temperatures in counties across the state are forecasted to drop 18 degrees or below, including a wind chill for two hours or more during a 24-hour period. State law requires shelters and warming centers to expand their normal capacity to bring people experiencing homelessness in from the cold.
Cutler said the two churches combined offer room for between 130 and 140 people.
Volunteers are regularly needed to cover various shifts throughout the night at both sites. She says the experience lets a volunteer help build community and connect with their neighbors on a personal level.
"You know, we're not all that different. We're all in this human existence together," Cutler said.
Over the past four years, the nonprofit's code blue movie nights have provided a critical shelter for those sleeping outdoors in their vehicles — especially during cold weather nights.
"We consider what we do lifesaving," Cutler said.
Unsheltered Utah, along with partnering nonprofits, churches and advocates, began doing movie nights during cold winter nights in 2022. The following year, Utah lawmakers passed legislation and authorized state funding for counties to open facilities to provide warmth for their homeless populations during code blue nights.
Cutler said this season has been tricky for code blue alerts due to warmer-than-normal temperatures.
"We're in kind of a weird spot where we prepared to do this (for) about 30 nights, and we've only done 10 now," she told KSL. "So we'd like to do more of this, and we'd love to see more long-term solutions so that people don't have to go in and out (of shelter); they can have a more permanent place to be."
Cutler said the nonprofit hopes to see future legislation that raises the temperature threshold from 18 degrees to 32 degrees to qualify for a code blue night.
"We're hopeful that there's some legislation coming out that would raise that temperature threshold so it's a more humane level; so that we can provide the service for more nights," she said.
Unsheltered Utah's code blue movie nights are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night this week. Opening times will vary Wednesday and Thursday at both churches due to services, but they will close each morning at 8 a.m. The facilities will both open at 8 p.m. on Friday.
Those interested in volunteering can find information here.
