Show Battling t 4 I homelessness in Utah r o ot t r s ay t a T I E j i 1 t r I It t. Globe photo b by Adriana Adrinna Herrera There are four shelters in Utah that provide a place for the homeless to live for a period of time Adriana Herrera Community Reporter It is estimated that at least people across Utah are homeless every night This number continues to grow every year The Road Home is a support shelter to help people step out of homelessness and back into the community through emergency services personalized case management and collaboration with additional resources These people are poor The Road Home states on its Web site Staying on the streets in a shelter shelter shelter-or or substance abuse treatment center and most have no resources to meet their basic needs It is challenging to estimate the size of the total homeless population due to difficulty locating and counting people Nonetheless 57 percent of Utah's homeless populations are single men 9 percent are single woman 14 percent are adults in families and 18 percent are children Student Jessica Esparza Espana thinks homelessness is avoidable I think the majority of homeless people choose to be homeless They choose not to go look for a job she said Esparza Espana also agrees that more shelters Road Home Continued on The Road Home Continued from A l I should be built but mothers with children should get first priority There are a total of four homeless shelters in Utah The Ogden Rescue Mission Rescue Mission of Salt Lake Family Crisis and Resource Center and Wasatch Homeless Health Care Program Student Adam Hurdman thinks that building more homeless shelters would not help the situation It might make it worse Hurdman agrees with Esparza Esparta about people who are homeless and not looking for a job They could easily get a job at McDonalds Hurdman states A hom homeless less man was out on the street holding up a sign that said he was selling pens for a dollar he said I bought a couple of them because I saw that he was making an effort not just asking people for money The Road Home formerly known as Travelers Aid Society is a profit non-profit social service established in 1923 The Road Home assists people in Utah who may be stranded travelers unescorted or runaway youth They have helped thousands of people who were homeless Road Home provides people with basic needs such as food shelter and clothing while immediately working with them to help develop a plan for housing According to The Road Home The Salt Lake Community Shelter and Sufficiency Self-Sufficiency Center served 1957 households consisting of 2288 persons including 1280 single men single women and families consisting of children and adults A total of shelter stays was provided The average length of stay was 31 days for single women 42 days for single men and 75 days for families The Road Home is asking for towels blankets and volunteers to help put together food boxes for the chronically homeless The service can be reached at |