Utah Stories

The Voice of Local Utah

A Look at Tenement Housing as Opposed to Government Housing

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Crossing the Great Chasm From Ward of the State to Productive Citizen

In response to a reader’s comment: on Reddit:

I’ve actually been doing an assignment surrounding homelessness and a part of me wishes I’ve chosen another social issue. The more I learn the more I get depressed. I have no idea what the solutions are, and it appears to me as if there may be none to speak of.

Response:

It’s easy to get depressed in examining homelessness because almost all homeless people are depressed; they feel stuck and unhappy. Also, many of those who administer to the homeless are burnt out. But I believe there are viable solutions, which can be divided into three parts.

First, there should be access to affordable housing that is not government owned and operated or awarded by grants but is market-driven. Government housing is fraught with corruption and misappropriation of funding. Free-market-driven housing would be entirely possible if our politicians would relax zoning restrictions to allow for new innovative housing types designed to serve lower-income residents. 

Why was there so much affordable housing at the turn of the century and so little of it today?

Low-income, mostly immigrants on Mulberry St., Lower East Side, New York. Can you spot any homeless people? c.1900. Library of Congress.

 

Tenement housing existed in most major metropolitan areas at the turn of the 20th century. These apartments allowed low-wage workers to occupy and rent tiny apartments with bathroom and kitchen facilities shared among occupants on a floor. Many new immigrants who landed in New York from places such as Ireland, Greece, and Armenia lived in these apartments until they were able to save enough money to later improve their living conditions by buying their own homes. Tenements were outlawed because they were seen as a cause of blight and many had poor sanitary conditions and lacked proper ventilation. In 1900 fully one-third of all housing in New York was tenement, this accommodated the massive population boom that was occurring there at that time. In Salt Lake City Plum Alley provided tenement housing to Chinese immigrants. Removing tenement housing entirely was throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

But by removing this housing type, we are essentially removing a rung from the socio-economic ladder. Currently, low-end housing such as, even if modernized wouldn’t comply with zoning standards. The same goes for tiny homes and most attempts at building new manufactured home communities.

Above image: a sanctioned campground in Denver, Colorado. This is an inferior solution to tiny homes or tenement housing but a step in the right direction to getting homeless off the streets.
Above image: a sanctioned campground in Denver, Colorado. This is an inferior solution to tiny homes or tenement housing but a step in the right direction to getting homeless off the streets.

Second, cities should allow for a sanctioned campground where the homeless can have security to leave their belongings so they can go to work. These facilities would be safe, and clean and offer showers and Porta-Potties or restrooms and dumpsters to maintain sanitation.

Currently, many homeless tell me that they cannot work because of their fear that if they leave their belongings for an entire day, very likely everything they have will be stolen. When many unsheltered homeless are illegally camping because the resource centers are full, this is a valid concern.

A sanctioned campground for every major city along the Wasatch Front would be far less expensive than the hundreds of thousands if not millions being spent on the clean-up efforts by our Salt Lake County Health Department and Salt Lake City’s inhumane abatement policies after the homeless who are camping in our public parks, sidewalks and along the Jordan river. 

Rewarding the Working

Third, the entire system should be designed so that anybody who can work, is working and being rewarded for their work with incremental improvements to their housing and independence, and financial situation. While this might appear to be common sense, currently, the system that operates now functions to reward those who choose not to work with the most generous subsidized housing. 

Those who do not work for long periods and remain on the streets are categorized as “chronically homeless”. Placed in this category, these people are able to qualify for the most generous form of housing assistance: Long-Term Supportive Housing aka Housing First. By rewarding “chronic homelessness”, the system is incentivizing long-term homelessness. 

By incentivizing homelessness, the system finds an endless supply of chronically homeless, who even move from neighboring cities and states to come to Salt Lake City to “wait for housing”. They freely admit this, as Savannah, from Fort Duchesne, told me last winter. And who could blame her? She says she wants a better life for her family. Wouldn’t it be better to have free housing and a job you like than expensive housing you can barely afford only by keeping a job that you hate?

 Rewarding those who choose not to work is in effect also punishing those who attempt to make the leap to independence. This system is akin to an action hero who attempts to jump over an ever-growing chasm along a faultline during an earthquake.

Let’s say Dwayne Johnson from the movie San Andreas, is on one side of the faultline, and his daughter is on the other side. Becoming a productive citizen again after becoming homeless, is like jumping over this chasm. The chasm seems to grow wider and scarier as time passes. While this chasm widens, the government is saying, “don’t jump. Stay here. You lose your independence, but you can enjoy free food, and stay warm outside with our free blankets, tents, and provisions. While those who choose to make the jump risk losing their subsidized housing and benefits if they earn too much or become independent. 

So is it any surprise that today we have more homeless and unsheltered individuals? Far more than ever before, are choosing to remain safe on the government side, rather than becoming independent. It’s a long, difficult, and scary leap, and the government discourages rather than encourages the leap. And the government makes this jump even wider and more difficult by not allowing free-market affordable housing. As free-market housing, groceries, and utilities all become more expensive due to inflation (due to excessive government spending and printing of money), it all becomes scarier, which keeps more people stuck getting their “free benefits” from the government. Back to the failed incentive system.

 

The fundamental question is: Why not reward the homeless who choose to go to work instead of essentially rewarding the chronic homeless with free housing? 

Most administrators in the homeless arena very likely have nothing but the best of intentions. But in attempting to answer the question as to why the working homeless are punished and the street-living homeless are rewarded, I have come to believe the system is in fact rigged. The system is designed to produce a dependent class of individuals who are reliant upon the government in order to function. This is because those in the government who operate the system also don’t want to lose their benefits by achieving success.

Look at it this way: Bureaucracy feeds on tax-payer money. When did we ever hear about a government agency that went out of business? They don’t, they only become bigger and more intrusive. It’s human nature to want to see budgets and operations grow. Most bureaucrats who manage to get to the top want to operate using big budgets and have significant operations, not shrinking operations, and face budget cuts. 

If administrators were solving homelessness, they could potentially lose their budgets, their staff, and their jobs. Nobody is going to solve a problem when the result could be getting fired. For this reason, the top administrators of homeless services should be administrated by Christian religious communities, not the government. The Catholic Diocese in downtown Salt Lake City does a much better job per dollar spent, administering aid to the homeless than any shelter, resource center, or rehab center. And these contracts could be awarded to faith-based centers based on the number of homeless people they put back into productive roles.  Why not? I’d love to hear your comments: Richard@UtahStories.com

Watch our recent podcast on Advantage Services CEO Rob Ferris who is putting homeless people back to work

RELATED CONTENT:

Homeless Victimized By Criminals at Gail Miller Shelter

The $300 Million Utah Homeless Question

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Drug Addict Violently Attacking his Victims Allowed to Roam Freely throughout Salt Lake

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How does a repeat violent offender stay out of jail even after injuring multiple innocent victims on multiple occasions?

Salt Lake City, UT— Rio Grande Street in front of the Weigand center: Six patrol cars and ten officers were on the scene this cold November afternoon after Anderson Jones struck three victims in the head with a hammer. The victims included a 55-year-old  man, a 41-year-old woman, and a third 28-year-old man, who were all unsheltered. The victims were waiting out in the cold for a warm meal in front of Saint Vincent’s when Anderson when on his violent rampage. The police were called and Anderson was taken into custody.

 

 

It’s becoming increasingly common in Salt Lake City for homeless individuals to be victims of homeless violent offenders. According to Danielle Ahn, who recently ran against Sim Gill for Salt Lake County District Attorney. Perpetrators of violence against homeless individuals are getting off with little or no prison time, or they are being released for drug treatment in lieu of jail time. Ahn says this is because “today some people are below the law.” this is due to a shortage of city prosecutors and a lack of willingness to use the courts to convict homeless criminals to prison time. Offenders, at the bottom, now know well that they can victimize homeless people with impunity and face little to no consequences. We thought we would examine this particular offender’s background by researching the Police Criminal Court database. 

 

A Timeline of an increasingly violent man receiving no prison time

Anderson Jones’ criminal history in Salt Lake City dates back to 2015. Jones’s initial offense was a sexual battery in January 2015, when he grabbed a man’s penis over his clothing in the former Road Home Homeless Shelter. Later that year, he was charged with public intoxication and criminal trespassing, for sleeping in a public park.

2017-Kicking an officer

Jones’ charges remained minor until October 30th, 2017 when he was charged with four counts of criminal misconduct including assaulting a police officer. Jones kicked Officer Wilkes in the knee when he was being questioned for having a glass drug pipe while sleeping in the park. His bail was set for $2,500. Jones’s plea agreement reduced his felony charge to one misdemeanor count for interference. Jones was sentenced to sixty days with credit for time served. Jones was released from the Salt Lake County Jail on February 9th, 2018.

2018- Hitting a man with a slab of concrete & punching two others in the face

In August of 2018, Jones struck Zacharie Witlicki in the head with a slab of concrete out in front of the Salt Lake City Rescue Mission. When Mathew Mesner

and Frank Davis attempted to intervene, Jones struck Mesner and Davis punching the men several times in the face and the neck before fleeing to Pioneer Park. Davis later suffered a seizure after the brutal blow to the head. Three men suffered their injuries and officers responded in Pioneer Park when Jones resisted arrest.

For these charges, Jones was slated to stand trial. But on November 30, 2018, the trial was canceled and all but two felony charges were dropped on a plea agreement before Judge Linda Jones in the Salt Lake County Third District Court.

Based on the three assault charges Jones should have served 3-5 years, but as part of the plea agreement he was able to serve the sentences concurrently and receive credit for time served in the jail preceding the trial. Jones was released serving less than a year for his assaults, again he was released on the streets in early 2019.

2019- Hitting two women with his shopping cart

In January 2019 Jones ignored an officer while he was carrying a drug pipe. All charges were dismissed.  In February again Jones ignored an officer, wouldn’t disclose his name, then interfered with an arresting officer. He must have not spent much time in jail because he was charged again in March 2019 with the same crimes: possession of a drug pipe, interference, and failure to disclose identity. Again all charges were dismissed.

Jones wasn’t charged with any crimes until two years later when in April 2022 he committed more assaults. This time Jones hit Stacey Crawford and Maria Sanchez with his shopping cart while calling them “bitch”. He then resisted arrest. Anderson by this time was carrying drug pipes, needles, and “ tooters”.

This time Jones negotiated a plea to be released to Odyssey House for drug treatment, rather than undergo trial which could have led to a conviction. Apparently, Jones didn’t need to remain in Odyssey House long because on May 9th, 2022 he was at it again. 

2022- Throwing Rocks at Security Guards

This time Jones started yelling at police and security at the Weigand Center in downtown Salt Lake City. After Jones was ordered by security to leave the premises. Jones then picked up “palm-sized rocks” according to the court report, and began throwing them at the security officer’s heads. Salt Lake City Police Officers had to pursue Jones where they apprehended him at 200 South and 400 West.

Despite the increasing severity of Jones’ actions, according to court documents, on July 5th Jones was again released to Odyssey House for drug treatment.

On August 30th, 2022, court documents indicate that Jones was not in custody. Jones failed to appear for his hearing. Judge Chelsea Koch issued a bench warrant for $10,000.

Jones was taken into custody on Thursday last week Thursday, November 10th, when he assaulted three more people with a hammer, as previously described. 

Rio Grand Street in front of Saint Vincent's Dining Hall in Downtown Salt Lake City
Rio Grand Street in front of Saint Vincent’s Dining Hall in Downtown Salt Lake City

RELATED CONTENT

Homeless Victimized By Criminals at Gail Miller Shelter

Are Salt Lake Homeless Resource Centers a Failure for the Neighborhoods that Welcomed Them?

Releasing Murderers in Utah Needs to Stop, Says Danielle Ahn

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The Rapidly Changing Face of Downtown Salt Lake City

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Downtown Salt Lake City — The new Hyatt Regency has become a new crown jewel of Salt Lake City, resting beside the Salt Palace Convention Center. A block to the east, on Main Street, the former Pantages Theater has been sadly demolished. Soon to be rising in its place will be a 45-story luxury apartment tower funded by the Hines Corporation ― which has just over $90 billion in their real estate portfolio. The tower will be across the street from Salt Lake’s Eccles Theater, where Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase, KeyBank, and Wells Fargo occupy substantial real estate, all surrounding the glorious City Creek Center Mall featuring Tiffany and Michael Kors.

For now, I won’t point out the obvious: Going into our next recession cycle with so much of Salt Lake City’s tax revenue and economy shackled to Wall Street Corporations is like a very pleasant voyage on the Titanic: we know it’s going down; it’s filling with water fast, but aren’t the finger sandwiches delicious? And isn’t the violin concerto so nice?

Amy Leininger is the entrepreneurial owner of Ruin Bar. The Leiniger’s made a substantial bet to relocate their bar from Sugar House to Main Street. Leininger loves walking to Main Street everyday to operate her business. From BBQ joints to ad agencies to boutiques and markets, Amy and her husband Rheda have been downtown business owners for the past 15 years. 

Regarding Main Street changes, Leininger says: “I’m sad to see the Pantages Theater go. I wish the history could have been saved,” but she adds,” I’m excited about the new dynamic the Hines tower will bring to this side of Main Street. We can’t be curmudgeons; we need to evolve and to accept the changes.” 

Across from Ruin is Boomerang’s Downunder Bar, where drinks are a bit cheaper and appeal to young partiers. Jacqueline Joseph, along with her boyfriend, run a bar downstairs and a nightclub upstairs. With summer gone, I ask Joseph how they liked the concept of keeping Main Street closed to cars over the weekend, which is in its second year.

“We loved open streets. It was great for business. It’s an awesome idea. They should just go for it and close Main Street to cars all the time,” said Joseph. Downunder says they likely have until March to find a new building, as their building will likely be also sold as part of the Heinz tower development. The small buildings are getting demolished and 40-story residential towers are moving in. Downtown is quickly becoming a place for urban residents.

But as this evolution occurs, the question remains: is downtown transforming to the needs and desires of residents or to the desires of city planners? 

Salt Lake City Planning Director Nick Norris says that all of downtown will experience huge changes as Salt Lake begins to adopt a much more bike-friendly, pedestrian-friendly high-density urban model. The biggest change reflecting this transformation is around lower 9th, where the entire three blocks have been gutted all summer for residential buildings, mixed use, and a major bike corridor. Along 300 West, a wide bike lane lined with trees travels south to Home Depot. 

“We are changing the form of the area to match the new residential usage,” Norris says.

He says that the initiative is to make Salt Lake City more bike-friendly so that residents choose to make more trips using clean 30-pound bicycles rather than dirty 2,000-pound cars. It makes sense, especially considering that Salt Lake City’s air quality is horrible in the winter. But whether or not residents will buy in, or believe that cycling is “great for everyone else ― just not me,” remains to be seen. 

Still, downtown and Main Street have some major issues. Mainly, winter is coming soon with a huge number of unsheltered homeless. The current plan is to “flex” all of the homeless resource centers, thereby increasing capacity. In doing so, the city is breaking a promise to every neighborhood that accepts homeless resource centers.

Residents and business owners are feeling the stress of the city’s absence of a better plan ― the city needs more shelter space, more beds, more services, and their only plans are to again use the Ramada Inn and likely to purchase yet another airport hotel and expand the homeless voucher and overflow programs.

Amy J. Hawkins is the Chairwoman of the Ballpark Neighborhood Community Council. She believes the Homeless Resource Centers have failed both the homeless population and the residents. The crime rate, the murders and the drug and sex trafficking are all indicative that the current homeless policy is failing. She adds that demolishing the Road Home after mismanagement, then using the same group who failed to manage the former Road Home to manage the new resource centers made no sense.

The good news on the affordable-housing front is the approval of the Other Side Village, where the Salt Lake City Council has approved the plans to build 58 deeply affordable housing units on eight out of potentially forty acres. This will be just a small drop in the bucket to start, but the Other Side Academy peer-support model (rather than heavy reliance on case workers) has proven to be a success in truly transforming the lives of former felons, drug addicts and alcoholics. But it’s clear more transformational help is desperately needed.

Main Street, Salt Lake City’s housing, SLC’s economy, and future should include all residents, including the lower class. Why? Even from a highly pragmatic, economic sense, there is a very good reason why.

We are currently facing a massive labor shortage. If all unsheltered homeless were placed into ideal conditions, many of them would be smart, skilled and educated enough to fill the current job openings. An unsheltered homeless man who we will call John told me, “While just a small few might make us look bad, there are skilled mechanics out here, and people with degrees. But they have got to stop just pushing us down. Give us a real chance and we can get off the streets.”

The scene is tragic like this can’t be the same Salt Lake City with its ritzy new apartments and hotels, and the fancy headquarters of the LDS Church, but it is like so many other boom cities where we find both the best of times and the worst of times.

RELATED CONTENT

Homeless Victimized By Criminals at Gail Miller Shelter

Utah’s Main Street Program to Boost Local Economies

Getting Better Handle on Salt Lake’s Unsheltered Population

Are Salt Lake Homeless Resource Centers a Failure for the Neighborhoods that Welcomed Them?

Body Found in South Jordan Along Jordan River Parkway Trail

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Homeless Victimized By Criminals at Gail Miller Shelter

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According to area business owners, the homeless who are attempting to work and get off the streets are falling victim to homeless predators.

Salt Lake City, UT —Bob Danielson and his brother Tom own and operate a munitions manufacturing facility just West of the Gail Miller Homeless Resource Center. Danielson has sympathized and aided some of the homeless individuals who have become tenants at the facility, but Danielson is appalled by how the homeless individuals, especially those who are seeking to improve their situation are being preyed upon and ending up worse off than when they first arrived at the center.

 

 

Danielson says, “I’ve witnessed robberies of those who are trying to get back on their feet and work. These people become the targets of the predators.”  Danielson adds, “ I can think of three occasions where people who were just going to work were robbed. Wearing their orange vests, and hard hats and going to work, they were robbed.” 

 

Danielson adds, that the reason why people who would otherwise be working getting back on their feet fail is due to the shelter’s “one-size-fits-all policy”. Severely mentally ill patients are placed beside people who have recently lost their housing. Five-time convicted pedophiles or violent offenders are beside people who need a place to stay for a few nights.”

 Utah Stories has reached out to the Director of the Gail Miller Resource Center Mike Young for comment, Young has referred us to The Road Home’s Policy Director for comment, to forward on our question to Road Home Director Michelle Flynn. We are awaiting a response to their policies of protecting the working homeless and temporary homeless from sexual predators, violent offenders, and those who are committing robberies. They have said in the past that it is an issue of resources. Danielson challenges this assertion, questioning how they used a $5 million donation they received from an Amazon-backed charity called Day-1 Family’s Fund.

Besides witnessing the decline of homeless tenants, Danielson says that he is shocked by the level of rampant crime and drug trafficking around his facility. Danielson has a surveillance-camera video of a woman attempting to break into his facility, scaling a chain-link fence while clutching a machete. He says that area business owners have spent tens of thousands of dollars replacing broken windows. He has videos of numerous street fights and property crimes. Danielson has personally been involved in attempted robberies. “I’ve been vocal about all of this for a long time now, and it’s shocking how nobody is willing to do anything.”

 

Danielson has been working with the Pioneer Park Coalition. He and other business owners have voiced their concerns and have made attempts to make changes to the failure of the center, but he says while some of the administrators listen, and say they care, their actions speak otherwise.

Salt Lake City’s Response to the Increase in Violence and Crime

Danielson’s testimony and accounts have been in the news for months now. Andrew Wittenberg, the spokesman for Salt Lake Mayor Erin Mendenhall, told another news outlet that safety in the area is “a major priority, and the Mayor secured $3 million in mitigation money from the state to assist with public safety and law enforcement near homeless resource centers.”

Danielson said that there have been noticeable changes during business hours, but Danielson says, from 6 PM to 10 PM, it’s a different story. Drug traffickers have adapted. After business hours for area businesses now drug trade opens up shop. Danielsson invites Mayor Mendenhall or any homeless administrators to come and witness the rampant lawlessness that still persists despite the increase of police presence during the day, “Come and walk around with me and you will see it everywhere,” he says.

The additional three million that the city has received from the State will be allocated to providing additional police officers for the area. Still many homeless choose to camp outside rather than brave the shelters that many say are unsafe.

 

View The Entire Podcast Episode With Bob Danielson Below

 

More on Homelessness From Utah Stories:

The “Grand Plan” for Salt Lake City’s Homeless Population

Shelter For the Unsheltered With Winter Approaching

Why More Homeless Spending is Resulting in More Homeless People

 

Getting Better Handle on Salt Lake’s Unsheltered Population

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Unsheltered men camping on the back of Rio Grande in Salt Lake City
Unsheltered men camping on the back of Rio Grande in Salt Lake City

The Grand Plan – How Salt Lake City along with the support of Utah leaders can get a much better handle on our unsheltered population

Today the Pioneer Park Coaltion (PPC) has a new Grand Plan to initiate a sanctioned homeless campground and a “transformational campus” for homeless individuals to get far more help, especially for drug addiction, mental illness, and vocational training. 

A site, funding nor timeline for these additional services is not yet in place. But the PPC has heavy-hitting former Utah State Legislators in leadership roles, and plans will likely start moving forward during the next legislative session. “More cities in Utah need to realize this isn’t just Salt Lake City’s problem. This is Utah’s problem,” said James Buchanan. He added, “We need sanctioned campgrounds and homeless resource services in every major city along the Wasatch front, but most importantly we need accountability,” Buchanan says that today Salt Lake County is currently carrying the entire weight of Utah’s homeless population. “There are virtually no resources in other cities.”

Provo is one of the largest cities in Utah, and they offer no homeless shelter or resource centers, as a result, those who are priced out of the housing market in Utah County, come to Salt Lake County for services. Consequently,  Salt Lake County’s homeless services are completely full and lacking in support staff. “We are short dozens of caseworkers and support staff. “ Jean Hill, of the Catholic Community Diocese told us on the Utah Stories Show. This is because “Case workers can earn more by working at Subway.” There isn’t currently any plan to increase the wages to attract more caseworkers.

The Approval of the Otherside Village

The good news on the affordable housing front is the building approval and zoning changes to begin construction of the Otherside Village. The Salt Lake City Council has approved the plans to build 58 deeply-affordable housing units on eight out of potentially forty acres of what promises to be a supportive-housing community. 

The Otherside Village will be just a small drop in the bucket in terms of the overall demand for deeply-affordable housing. But this Otherside Village promises to become “self-sufficient” and after two years require no tax-payer or city support, as the Otherside folks believe that “work is therapy”. Also, far fewer caseworkers are required. The Other Side Academy (OSA) maintains a peer-support model. Meaning peers who succeed mentor new tenants who need the support and help to get into jobs and/or beat their addictions. The OSA has proven to be a success in truly transforming the lives of former felons, drug addicts, and alcoholics. But it’s clear more transformational help is desperately needed.

If planning began now for ten tiny-home villages to be built in every city along the Wasatch Front, certainly our affordable housing situation, especially for those who are able to take low-skilled jobs, could be solved in the next few years. If “transformational campuses” were supported by LDS Church philanthropists, the LDS Church, and other Christian Churches, Utah could put everyone currently suffering on the streets under shelter and into recovery and vocational programs. Why this should be a top priority for the Utah State Legislature and Utah leaders?

The Current Homeless Supplying the Heavy Need for Labor

Salt Lake County, especially restaurants and low-skilled jobs are currently facing a massive labor shortage. There isn’t a restaurant in the valley that isn’t currently seeking more kitchen staff, wait staff, and help. Many are closing their doors simply because they can’t get enough help. 

If the unsheltered homeless were placed in transformational campuses they could fill some of the current job openings since many of them are smart, already skilled, and educated enough. For example, John is an unsheltered homeless man who had his truck and all of his tools stolen from him nearly three years ago, then lost his job and apartment. He says he is ready to get back on his feet, but he says he “keeps getting knocked down.” Because of the frequent need to move everything due to the current police abatements. 

 “While just a small few might make us look bad, there are skilled mechanics out here, and people with degrees. But they have got to stop just pushing us down. Give us a real chance and we can get off the streets.” 

A few moments after John told me this, (see video below) by orders of the Salt Lake City Police Department, his camp was forced to disassemble their tent and find a new place to camp. John and his friends’ tents were camped on the back side of Rio Grande Station 200 feet from where the previous 1,000-bed Road Home was demolished. Here virtually nobody except homeless people walk, located near Saint Vincent’s, where they get their meals. Still, they are being harassed for staying there.

R

The scene is tragic. This can’t be the same Salt Lake City with the ritzy new apartments, hotels, and the fancy headquarters of the LDS Church, but like many other boom cities, it’s both the best of times and the worst of times

RELATED CONTENT

Are Salt Lake Homeless Resource Centers a Failure for the Neighborhoods that Welcomed Them?

Hundreds of Unsheltered People are Sleeping on Salt Lake City’s Streets Tonight. Why?

Salt Lake City’s Homeless Abatement Policies Examined

New York Times Journalist Appalled by the Homeless Situation in Salt Lake

Investigating Homelessness Death and Public Safety in Utah

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Are Salt Lake Homeless Resource Centers a Failure for the Neighborhoods that Welcomed Them?

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Back in 2016 amidst a surge in crime/lawlessness and homeless, both Salt Lake City and Utah state leaders devised a plan called Operation Rio Grande. State leaders on the “homeless task force” including Representative Greg Huges and then Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox along with former Mayor Jackie Biskupski all decided to close the Road Home, (1,000-bed homeless shelter) and choose potential locations to build four new homeless resource centers.

The Ballpark Neighborhood community was one of the few to step up and accept the center and the recovering homeless with open arms. “We just decided that we were okay with their plans, and especially that they were going to take responsibility for the safety concerns of the neighborhood in their site-usage permit,” said Amy J. Hawkins, the Chairperson for the Ballpark Neighborhood Community Council.

But since the opening of the Gail Miller Homeless Resource Center crime including drug and sex trafficking have increased dramatically. Now the neighborhood has a nine-times greater murder rate than the rest of Salt Lake City. Hawkins says she feels sympathy for the homeless in the area, she also feels terrible that her neighborhood and neighbors are suffering and her friends are moving away. She says if the Bees end up moving, she will move as well. 

Hawkins is also an Executive Board Member of the Pioneer Park Coalition, a group that supported the demolition of the old Road Home. Certainly, the old Road Home had many flaws but the major failure of homeless care today is the absence of beds and a failure to provide “wrap-around services”. The new resource centers replacing the downtown center have a total of 800 beds, the former Road Home had 1,000 beds. This math and logic do not work out especially considering that the overall population of Salt Lake City has nearly doubled since 2016. The Road Home’s proximity to other homeless resources including free warm meals, showers and indoor daytime shelter. This consolidation of services in one geographic area saved a huge amount of money. The former cost to operate the Road Home was $3 million per year. The new cost to operate the four resource centers is $15 million per year (not including the huge increases in overflow shelter costs). The increase in costs with the decrease in services and beds is endemic to the entire homeless resource services industry in Salt Lake City.

The four new Homeless Resource Centers were intended to be in-and-out, 90-day centers. Instead, today 70% of the beds in the resource centers are occupied by tenants who have been there for over a year. 

The resource centers have also become magnets for drug and sex trafficking in the neighborhoods in which they operate. Even proponents of the resource centers admit there are major problems. They all say this is due to a massive shortage of caseworkers and resources. The huge shortage of caseworkers should come as no surprise according to PPC Executive Buchanan:

“People who have a Bachelor’s degree in social work or psychology working with schizophrenics and severely mentally ill people doesn’t make sense… It’s too difficult of a job with someone with a very limited skillset” said James Buchanan, Executive Director of the Pioneer Park Coalition on the Utah Stories show. 

Drug addicts are not receiving the treatment they need. Severely mentally ill unsheltered homeless won’t have any options until the South Salt Lake Jon Huntsman Mental Hospital opens. But even when its 55 beds are ready, there will still be a shortage of beds to fulfill the needs of Utah’s most mentally ill. Keeping them in the shelters is highly problematic. 

One unsheltered homeless woman camping on Main Street and 1100 South named Diane told me, “I would like to get off the streets into a shelter, but when I stayed at the shelter, all night long, three different women are crying out, making it impossible to sleep.” Diane’s complaints have been echoed by many other currently unsheltered homeless men and women we have spoken to. So instead, many homeless choose to remain unsheltered. Many of them wander the streets, and many more self-medicate on cheap meth and fentanyl. “Utah needs a big mental hospital to keep all of these [mentali ill people],” Diane says. It’s difficult to disagree.

RELATED CONTENT

Crime Rate Soaring in Salt Lake Neighborhoods with Homeless Resource Centers

The Utah Homeless Conundrum: Salt Lake’s Unsheltered Not Able to Find Shelter while Winter Is Approaching

Why More Homeless Spending Is Resulting in More Homeless People

Releasing Murderers in Utah Needs to Stop, Says Danielle Ahn

The $300 Million Utah Homeless Question

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Body Found in South Jordan Along Jordan River Parkway Trail

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South Jordan, Utah —Matt Pennington, Public Relations Officer for South Jordan Police Department has verified to Utah Stories that a young man’s body was found hanging from a bridge off of the Jordan River Parkway Trail.

Jordan River Parkway Trail
Jordan River Parkway Trail, taken from a bridge at 4800 South.

 

The body was discovered early Sunday morning at 9:30 AM. A passerby initially thought it was a prank because it was near Halloween. They called it in any way and officers discovered that it was not a prank. 

Pennington says, “The death has been classified as a suicide.“ Pennington went on to say, “I don’t know if they were hanging from a rope or a cable.”  The deceased has been verified as 19-year-old Kaleb Droke. There are currently no suspicions of foul play. Still, the matter has been handed off to South Jordan’s Police investigative unit. 

Officer Pennington says, “It’s sad for the family, it’s tough on the officers and firefighters who responded to help.” Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Droke family, as well as all families who have had sons or daughters who have committed suicide. 

Utah’s teenage suicide rate remains one of the highest in the nation. If you or a loved one is contemplating suicide, please talk to someone. Call the suicide prevention lifeline at 988. 

 

Utah Stories is working on an ongoing project investigating the deaths of homeless individuals who are possible murder victims. This story was tipped to us in relation to that ongoing investigation.

 

 

The Utah Homeless Conundrum: Salt Lake’s Unsheltered Not Able to Find Shelter while Winter Is Approaching

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There is a false dichotomy: downtown Salt Lake City residents cannot be both compassionate for the homeless and compassionate to business owners and residents.

Downtown Salt Lake City October 26th —Witnessing first-hand the temperature drop below freezing along with Salt Lake City Police’s futile tug-of-war against the Salt Lake City homeless community was something akin to watching the SS operate in their “jack-boot” squads. As the reality was setting in for the unsheltered that they would be braving a snowstorm outside in the cold, it was clear many were feeling desperate. Police/homeless encounters were happening all over downtown. 

Driving around I witnessed a series of desperate situations of a community in peril. One woman named Rachel, who appeared to be suffering likely from mental illness and/or drug addiction, was handcuffed and then released by SLCPD. Her wrists were swollen and red. “They don’t give a f***!” she repeated.  I brought her a simple lunch from Maverick, she waited for me sitting and crying muttering incoherent words.

Rachel, a Salt Lake unsheltered woman distressed after her encounter with the police.
Rachel, a Salt Lake unsheltered woman distressed after her encounter with the police.

I drove on to the backside of the Rio Grande train station. A group of unsheltered men in a small homeless camp was starting to move carts and belongings around. When I approached they were negotiating a deal for a shopping cart full of dismembered bicycle parts. “$30 is a great deal for all of this!” They stopped when I asked them where they planned on going.

“I have no idea. There is no plan. We would like to stay here. This is where the services are.” said John with clear eyes and currently sober. His hands were incredibly large and dirty. He later told me he was working with copper wire the night before.

They were told by SLCPD that they needed to move or have their belongings thrown away. “You are lucky to get away with the backpack on your back.”

A group of unsheltered men in Salt Lake forced to move their camp in inclement weather.
A group of unsheltered men in Salt Lake forced to move their camp in inclement weather.

The men were located in the most logical area, near where they can get meals and showers, out of the way of the general population— near the Weigand Center and Saint Vincent’s Dining Hall. The entire scene appeared just cruel as the police approached to tell them for the last time that they needed to go while nowflakes and temperature were falling. “Just when we think we can start settling in they just come in and push us back down.” 

John told me he became homeless after he lost his job at Big-D Construction. This happened after his truck and all of his tools were stolen about eighteen months ago. “After my entire livelihood was gone, and I lost my apartment, I just became depressed, and I couldn’t get out of bed.” 

The understaffed SLCPD force has been given a terrible mandate: make those who are suffering, suffer even more. 

Driving along 300 West out in front of the Salt Lake City Mission, two unsheltered homeless couples were fighting for space to camp where they could remain dry. The situation is dire for one simple reason: there is no secure place for hundreds, possibly up to 1,000 unsheltered people in Salt Lake City to stay warm. 

If these people were a wave of Ukrainian refugees, we would put up FEMA tents and call in the National Guard and step in with food and a call for volunteers. However, because these are unsheltered homeless, many with drug addictions; many with psychological disorders; some who are recently homeless, priced out of the housing; some who are drug and sex traffickers– this is all somehow a new normal. We are more accepting of this because many larger cities have it even far worse than Salt Lake City. Still, we could be doing far better.

Why isn’t there a sanctioned campground? Why isn’t a new shelter, or even just a big camping area with security allowed? Because there is currently a stand-off between Wasatch Front Cities (Utah) and Salt Lake City leaders. Salt Lake City placed a moratorium on building any new shelters in the city. Utah leaders don’t want to step up because the shelters and the homeless resource providers keep asking for more money while offering little to no accountability for the money already provided. Those who have shown greater compassion to help the homeless have essentially been punished for their generosity. 

“[Homelessness] isn’t just Salt Lake City’s problem, this is Utah’s problem. Cities and residents all over Utah need to step up,” said James Buchanan, Executive Director of the Pioneer Park Coalition. 

Part two coming soon.

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Why More Homeless Spending Is Resulting in More Homeless People

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Danielle Ahn is running for Salt Lake County District Attorney. Working closely with the homeless resource providers she has some inside knowledge about how the “homeless industrial complex” is operating, providing huge amounts of money to homeless service providers without providing services to homeless individuals. She describes the operation as a “revolving door” between government agencies handing out money and non-profits receiving the funds. 

“The homeless industrial complex is actually a term that I coined. That, I’m really glad is picking up speed, because what you have is you have non-profit organizations that benefit from homelessness. They have no incentive to actually help the people.” states Ahn.

Most non-profit organizations receive funds from the government thanks to its taxing power. However, despite all this funding they fail to provide safe care to the very ones they are supposed to help. For example, in some facilities, people are allowed to bring in drugs but not their medication.

So Utah Stories asks, why is it that tenants at facilities such as the Gail Miller Homeless Resource Center are not able to bring their prescription drugs into the facilities but illegal street drugs are getting inside?

And why are self-reliable non-profits like the Otherside Academy ostracized by government-funded organizations?

Utah Stories will continue to investigate.

RELATED CONTENT

Releasing Murderers in Utah Needs to Stop, Says Danielle Ahn

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Crime Rate Soaring in Salt Lake Neighborhoods with Homeless Resource Centers

Woman’s Death at Hands of SLCPD Determined Homicide

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The Failure of the Metaverse and the Rise of the Real World

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Mark Zuckerburg wants you to join his Meta Universe, turns out people would rather not.

Meta (Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a massive bet on the “Metaverse” or the concept that Facebook users would want a more “immersive experience” when they join online communities. The metaverse consisted of massive, elaborate virtual meeting spaces, and the ability to customize your own avatar to your liking, making your online presence even more of your personal identity. 

After endless Zoom meetings, online learning with our kids, and a very dreary existence during Covid lockdowns, I saw Meta as an extension of those lockdowns. Why would I want even more meetings from home in my pajamas?  Let’s just say engagement and user interest in the Metaverse has not fulfilled Zukerberg’s expectations as engagement has tanked.

The entire concept of the Metaverse is that people desire to essentially check out of the real world and check into an online world. What Zuckerburg and the folks at Meta don’t quite get, is that the real world is so far superior to anything your lines of code can generate. CGI and VR helmets can’t even come close to offering “nice experiences” it’s actually depressing to believe you are somehow “engaging with the world” when you are wearing a VR helmet, moving around invisible things with your arms and legs looking like a complete dork. 

It’s also quite sad that the real world has been neglected. We should work on building a better version of the suburbs. Instead, we are spending far too much time in front of screens, tapping out code. We engage in “social interaction” and allow our kids to spend countless hours in front of screens playing online games, while their bodies atrophy into little mush blobs.

By this time I was in my mid-twenties I had worked in the corporate world for about five years working as a computer graphic artist. I then had an epiphany. 

I realized after spending five years of my life creating computer graphics for Fortune 500 Companies training programs, that I didn’t wish to spend the majority of my life, putting the energy into computer programs and simulated “virtual” experiences.

I bought a bike. Started biking daily to work, and I had gotten into great shape. From these morning and evening commutes, I realized that the real world, the local sphere, and the places that embraced real-world experiences (ma-and-pa shops and restaurants) were far superior to the Fortune 500 Companies that we were catering to. 

I enrolled at the University and took a beginning filmmaking class. The first place I did a film on was the Peter Prier violin-making school. There I found aspiring violin maker Boris DeGranda who also was a computer graphic artist and he abandoned that to hand-craft violins in the Stratavarious tradition. Using his five senses he crafted Sitka spruce lumber into intricate bodies for violins; he used ebony for the necks. He showed me how crushed beetle abdomens to produce just the right reds and purples for the varnish. The smells of real pine, turpentine, and varnish along with the tiny wood shavings from the intricate carving out of the violin’s bodies, immersed me into a sensory world that was so far beyond anything I was experiencing in my cubicle computer job.

I decided I wanted to live in the real world. I wanted to experience old-world bakeries; old-world walking; old-world writing with a pencil and paper; gardening, the earth anything but computers.

 This epiphany was actually quite depressing for a while because it wasn’t so easy to just quit my high-paying, excellent corporate job by all standards. I was very lucky to have such a career at such a young age. But eventually, I was able to save up and pack my bike and some belongings and travel to Europe, where I learned how the old world existed before computers. I biked through over 1,000 years-old European villages with stone buildings. I worked in a 200-year-old bakery in Luxembourg for a month. I studied French in Switzerland.

This phase lasted about three years. I never became a complete Luddite. I eventually came back around to still appreciate technology and computers. But we cannot forget these machines are tools. They shouldn’t dominate our lives; they should be ancillary tools like bows and arrows. Social media, or “online-communities” are no substitute for real relationships and real communities. And we need to spend plenty of time in the world of experience.

 I’ve just been on a hike up in the Millcreek mountains, the colors on the trees are exploding reds and yellows and the hue of the light filtering through the tunnels of trees can’t help one to believe that real life is truly a gift we should be enjoying to the greatest extent.

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