Homelessness is on the rise in Utah. Residents feel hope in this community

A year ago, LaDonna Sidney said she was living in her apartment and came home everyday a little tired but grateful. She was trying to further education because she wanted more for her granddaughter and her son.
“Sometimes when you go that route, you end up having start back in square one and building again,” she said. Sidney said she moved from Illinois to Utah to find opportunities to build her life again.
After a successful pilot program that started in December 2023, the community was moved to a more permanent location. The microshelters are not the only solution to rising homelessness in Utah, but for some of the residents that live there, it has been a stepping stone to permanent housing. The new community has room for 50 residents. There are paved pathways to each dwelling and a fence surrounds the area.
“I feel a sense of home,” said Sidney pointing out her bed with floral print blankets and new laundry supplies. “I feel a sense of safety and comfort.” She said she felt safe at a Redwood Road shelter where she previously stayed, but felt a sense of home and friendship where she is now.
Sidney just started a new job working at FedEx and said she feels like she has gained so much already living at the microshelter.
“Everybody has a life here, everybody’s trying to work,” she said. She explained at the microshelter, she can wash her clothes and her hair, gesturing to her freshly styled curls. Beaming, she walked toward the air conditioner and said being able to escape the heat after a long day at work brought her joy.
To have her own space, Sidney said, “It feels amazing, I must admit. These are state of the art.”
Sidney and other residents started moving in on Saturday. Residents said the gamechanger for them was having a place they could live as they started working again.
“I moved people in on Saturday and first thing they were like ‘Oh man, this feels like home, thanks for taking us back,’” said Carol Hollowell, executive director of Switchpoint which operates the microshelter.
Around half the residents had jobs, which meant they needed to move in later. Hollowell said the pilot program of microshelters was full of success — people had a place to live where they could lock the door and keep their belongings safe. Staff built relationships with residents and helped them connect with resources. Residents got jobs and she said quite a few residents eventually moved into permanent housing.
“I would love to double the size of it,” said Hollowell. “It’s going to be up to legislation and to funders, but we certainly have a lot more people who want to be in these microshelters.”
The microshelter is one part of a multipronged effort to fulfill the mission of Utah’s Office of Homeless Services — to make homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring. This office recently released its annual report dashboard on homelessness, which showed the number of Utahns experiencing homelessness for the first time increased in 2023.
The state’s homelessness rate still tracks below the national average, but the number of Utahns experiencing homelessness multiple times in a year also increased.
“The data in this new report demonstrates the significant ongoing need for shelter and housing resources with supportive services,” said Tricia Davis, director of the Office of Homeless Services.
Addressing homelessness means looking at the root cause, then to go on to promote long-term stability, said Davis in a release.
A $51 million investment from the Utah Legislature will have a significant impact, said Wayne Niederhauser, Utah’s homeless services coordinator. “Enhanced data capabilities, prevention strategies, statewide service support, immediate crisis response, and expanded winter services are essential steps toward stability and independence for those experiencing homelessness.”
Utah started a microshelter community with 50 beds as a pilot program in December 2023. Those involved with the pilot program said it was designed to help people who may have become “shelter resistant.” Outreach started on the streets to find people not connected to another homeless resource center.
Microshelters allow case managers to work one-on-one with residents to address their specific needs, said Hollowell. It is a different approach than larger shelters.
For one, microshelters look different. A larger shelter is typically found in a big building set up to have multiple beds within the same room whereas a microshelter gives residents their own personal space. Not everyone can make the transition from a larger shelter into permanent housing, said Hollowell. Microshelters can work for some people who need a safe, smaller place to accept services.
“It’s really made the residents feel like this is their little village and that they can control something — finally — in their life,” said Hollowell.
Having this space can be crucial, said Hollowell, because it allows residents the time and space to gain back some stability. Then, they can work on getting their driver’s license, get reconnected with medical care and figure out a path into permanent housing. She said since the microshelter opened in December, residents have stayed there for an average of a little less than four months.
One resident was a veteran who moved in and needed help connecting to the VA, said Hollowell. Since he was able to stay in the same location, he was able to work with the VA and eventually obtained a veteran voucher that allowed him to move into housing.
People have the misconception that people experiencing homelessness want to be homeless, said Hollowell. But what she sees is different.
“What I find is that they lose hope because every time they go to pick up their stuff, someone steals their ID or some of their benefits, like their social security card,” she said. This means they have to start over and over again.
But she sees a more hopeful reality in the microshelter community. Once residents no longer have to worry about their belongings being stolen and they have a warm, safe place to sleep, case managers can get to the root of some of their problems.
Then, Hollowell says, residents can move into permanent housing.
By moving the microshelter community to a plot of land nearby the freeway, it has created “a more permanent” location, in the words of Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall. “It’s a testament to our commitment to exploring and deploying compassionate and effective solutions for those in need.”
“The successful microshelter pilot, with its notable exits to housing and low calls for enforcement, demonstrates that this model works,” said Niederhauser. “This second phase represents a crucial step toward greater stabilization and long-term solutions for those in need.”
Steven Malia said life on the street was hard for him. He used to sleep on the ground, but was injured and had to go to the hospital for a week after an incident occurred.
At the microshelter, Malia said he does not have to worry about that.
“I can go to work and I can come back,” he said, adding he felt peace and stability since he had a safe spot to come back to.
Utah has seen increases in people experiencing homelessness from 2022 to 2023, according to a report from the Office of Homeless Services.
9,838 Utahns experienced homelessness for the first time in 2023, an increase of 9% from 2022. Four percent more people experienced homelessness multiple times in the year.
Emergency shelters and transitional housing were also used by more individuals in 2023. The report there was an increase of 4%.
Niederhauser said there needs to be further analysis to understand the cause, but listed “the lack of attainable, deeply affordable housing, rising costs of living nationwide, and limited access to health and other supportive service” as reasons why more Utahns are experiencing homelessness for the first time.
The state’s rate of homelessness still is below the national average. Around 11 in 10,000 people experience homelessness in the state compared to 20 per 10,000 people across the nation.
One area where the state saw significant progress was a decrease in the number of people returning to homelessness within two years of leaving the system for permanent housing. The rate of people returning in 2022 was 30% and it decreased to 25% in 2023.
“Connecting Utahns with the highest needs to projects that provide both housing and supportive services has proven highly effective in reducing returns to homelessness,” said Niederhauser over email. “In Utah, 93% of individuals who were housed and received supportive services through these programs remained housed after one year.”
The programs Utahns can access help address the root causes of homelessness and also connect individuals with job training and health care. Niederhauser said these are the kinds of programs that break cycles.
To see more progress, Niederhauser said Utahns need to be connected to programs to address root causes of homelessness, and there also needs to be a focus on supportive services.
Sidney has optimism that her life will get better and that others’ lives will get better, too. She hopes to further her education and find permanent housing.
Her ear-to-ear smile never faltered. When asked about what drives her hope and happiness, she had a simple answer.
“I am a Christian,” she said.
“If you’re down on your luck and you just keep going, things will get better. I think that life just has a way of making things better after so much hardship.”