The Homeless Services Site Evaluation Commission analyzed the current homeless services system in Salt Lake City and determined that a scattered site model, meaning more and smaller facilities throughout the community, would better serve homeless individuals and take pressure off of neighborhoods hosting services.

Two new homeless resource centers will be built in Salt Lake City. Each facility will house no more than 200 individuals. Each facility will be designed to serve a particular homeless group, such as single women, single men, families, etc. The Board of Directors of Shelter the Homeless, Inc., owners of the current The Road Home facilitiy on Rio Grande Street, voted to close that faciliity after completion of the construction of the four new homeless resource centers.

Two new homeless resource centers are proposed to be located in Salt Lake City. They will be located at:

• 131 East 700 South
• 275 West High Avenue (1475 South)

The new homeless resource centers will be secure, limited in size (200 persons) and have critical services inside each facility. They will provide space for individuals to stay in the facility at all hours of the day, and will include interior courtyard space for individuals to gather outdoors while staying in the center. Case management, job services, food, storage and housing services will be on-site. In addition, facilities will be served by mobile health clinics and clients will have on- site access to a nurse manager. The goal will be to transition individuals out of shelter and into housing as quickly as possible. 

These facilities will be smaller than current emergency homeless shelters. Each facility will house no more than 200 people. They will be designed for safety and to reduce the impact of clients on the surrounding neighborhood. They will provide internal (off-street) waiting areas for those seeking treatment. The facilities will operate as part of a region-wide coordinated entry and referral system. Multiple providers, including third party intake and assessment providers, will be contracted to provide services onsite.

Salt Lake City is not the only city where facilities serving the homeless are being built. Another 300 bed Homeless Resource Center will be built in Salt Lake County. In addition, two other facilities offering detox and residential rehabilitation for homeless individuals with substance use disorders are being built in Salt Lake County (70-90 beds each). One will serve single women and single women with children, and the other will serve single men. One of these facilities will be located in Murray while the other’s location is to be determined, but outside of Salt Lake City.

Numerous potential sites were located based on the Criteria for Success (which was created by the Homeless Services Site Evaluation Commission and prioritized by the public during workshops held during the summer of 2016), parcel size, environmental considerations and geographic diversity. The final two sites were chosen because they best met those requirements.

Construction of the first of the new homeless resource centers will begin as soon as possible in 2017, with the goal to open some facilities in 2018. Other facilities will take longer to develop.

Salt Lake County Collective Impact will decide which populations of individuals experiencing homelessness are served at each site. Salt Lake City will provide input to best protect our residents and community.

The new facilities will be developed with safety in mind. Facilities will be designed with clear sight lines, lighting, and good visibility from the street and building. The scattering of locations across the city will also help reduce criminal activity, by decreasing the concentration of people at each site.

There will be increased police patrol units dedicated to each area once the facilities are up and running.

The State of Utah has provided funding for the design, construction and operation of the resource facilities and will provide additional funding in the next two legislative sessions. This state funding is also being matched by private donations. There will be no tax increase to pay for the facilities.

The locations of the two new homeless resource centers have been decided based on Criteria of Success, environmental limitations and other requirements. A series of public meetings were held to take comments about the sites and get input on how to make them the most successful. These workshops focused on three primary design oriented themes: 1) Safety for both users and surrounding neighbors; 2) Design to mitigate potential negative effects; 3) Integration into the larger neighborhoods.

General comments and questions can be sent to the Mayor’s Office at 801-535-7704 or emailed to homelessinfo@slcgov.com.

Information on current homeless services and ways to help homeless individuals and families can be found at slchost.org and slco.org/homeless-services/resource-directory/

Three public workshops were held in January to receive public input on the design of the facilities and how to mitigate community concerns.These workshops focused on three primary design-oriented themes:

• Safety for the users and surrounding neighbors
• Design to mitigate potential negative effects
• Integration into larger neighborhoods