The Voice of Local Utah

Online Exclusives

The $300 Million Utah Homeless Question

$200-$300 million is spent every year on Utah’s homeless services. Is this money reducing homelessness? Utah State Auditor with 36 years of experience says “No”.

by

Richard Markosian

|

Answered by Utah’s Foremost State Auditor

$200-$300 million is spent every year on Utah’s homeless services. Is this money reducing homelessness? Utah State Auditor with 36 years of experience says “No”.

Should the Homeless in Salt Lake City be allowed to camp all day in our parks and on the sides of the streets? Use drugs in front of businesses? For the past few years, Salt Lake City has been saying “yes”. Residents have agreed because there is not enough shelter space. But as neighborhoods around resource centers are becoming more crime-ridden, blighted, and full of blatant abuse of the law. Residents and business owners are beginning to speak out.

Jim Behunin is the Executive Director of the Pioneer Park Coalition which believes that it will soon be time for police to enforce public camping for the unsheltered homeless. Their choice will be go to a sanctioned campground, use rehabilitation services or go to jail. The PPC’s Grand Plan is to open a sanctioned campground for the homeless as well as a “transformational Center” similar to Haven for Hope.

On episode 119 of the Utah Stories Show, we drill down to the specifics of both the good and the bad of the Pioneer Park Coalition’s Plan.

The bad was demolishing and selling the land that the former Road Home was located before determining if the new homeless resource model was viable. The good is having something other than the obviously failing system of the resource centers and long-term supportive housing that is currently in place. The bad is the underfunded system that offers little to no support for the homeless who are so obviously in critical need of services to treat mental illness and addiction.

More resources are certainly needed, but Behunin says these resources need to be accounted for. “The money will be available, as long as we know the services are “changing people’s lives.”

More on the Pioneer Park Coalitions’ long-term vision and plan can be found here.

RELATED CONTENT

Rampant Crime is Forcing Residents to Leave Ballpark Neighborhood in Salt Lake City

Crime Rate Soaring in Salt Lake Neighborhoods with Homeless Resource Centers

Utah’s Scary Housing Market

SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM AND SUBSCRIBE TO PRINT MAGAZINE

Subscribe to Utah Stories weekly newsletter and get our stories directly to your inbox

* indicates required



, ,

Richard Markosian

I am a story teller and journalist. I have a passion for farmers, local craftspeople, and folks who aspire to create, build and grow their business in the local marketplace. Why local? By supporting locally-owned businesses we create more opportunity for entrepreneurs, and we claim our sovereignty to shape our communities how we want to see them. I aspire to build Utah Stories Magazine into a household Utah name, and assist Utah businesses and makers with marketing. On the journalism side of things my passion is investigative journalism that offers true insight into issues. I believe strongly in the forth estate: strong, meaningful, insightful journalism is essential to a free market Democracy.

Join our newsletter.
Stay informed.

Join Utah Stories Newsletter

  • Community Events

    Priced Out of Summer Fun? These Activities Cost Almost Nothing

    As summer approaches, many of us start looking for new ways to be active. Whether you’re emerging from a cozy winter of hibernation, or searching for a replacement for skiing and snowboarding, there are inexpensive and accessible ways to get outside, get active, and make the most of summer. 


  • Podcast

    The Reality of Meth Psychosis on Utah’s Streets

    On the streets of downtown Salt Lake City, psychosis has become part of the landscape.

    People scream at invisible enemies. Some believe they are prophets. Others wander through traffic carrying conversations with voices nobody else can hear. To passersby, it can look theatrical, bizarre, and absurd. But behind many of those episodes is a darker reality few people want to confront directly: methamphetamine-induced psychosis, prolonged sleep deprivation, trauma, addiction, and the slow destruction of a person’s ability to distinguish reality from delusion.


  • Utah Stories

    Did Utah Leaders Already Sell Out Tremonton to Big Tech?

    When Kevin O’Leary appeared on Fox Business and casually announced that Utah would soon become home to what could be the largest AI data center project in the world, many Utahns had the same reaction:

    Wait… this was already approved?


  • Utah Stories

    Why Restaurants Like Mazza Are Disappearing

    Across Salt Lake City, luxury restaurants continue to open. High-end dining rooms remain packed. Investors continue buying buildings in formerly quirky neighborhood districts. Chains increasingly move into areas once dominated by independent businesses. Meanwhile, many middle-class restaurants, the kinds of places that helped shape Salt Lake’s local identity over the past two decades, are struggling to survive.