In a time of recession, many people are being forced to turn to the streets.
As homelessness in Utah rises8212;there were as many as 500 more Utahns on the street in 2008 than in 20078212;people are turning to local organizations such as The Road Home in Salt Lake City and Community Action Services and Foodbank in Provo for help.
“This is a dire year for us,” said Palmer DePaulis, the executive director of the Utah Department of Community and Culture and former mayor of Salt Lake City. “The economy is deteriorating and we want to reach out to those affected.”
The Road Home reported that as many as 1,000 people, including about 150 young children, utilize their services on a nightly basis, causing concern about the growing number of families living without a permanent home.
“We’ve seen a significant increase in the number of families that come seeking our help, and that’s the sad part of it all,” said Matt Minkevitch, executive director of The Road Home.
Across the United States, organizations such as The Road Home are experiencing trends similar to those in Utah. The National Alliance to End Homelessness reported that every year, 600,000 families, including 1.35 million children, are homeless, comprising 50 percent of the national homeless population.
The Road Home and Community Action Services and Foodbank are non-profit organizations that aim to prevent and end to homelessness on the Wasatch Front, providing services not only in the short-term but also offering lifelong benefits.
“You’d be amazed at the change that occurs when (the homeless) come to us,” said Pamela Atkinson, a community advocate for the homeless, whose state-sponsored trust fund spends an average of $2 million per year in aiding the homeless.
“There are many different faces of homelessness,” Atkinson said. “They have dreams, they have goals, they have families.”
One such face is Camma Howell, a mother of three who fell on hard times after a divorce and a move across the country from her native city of Brooklyn, N.Y. After desperately trying to make it on her own, Howell turned to The Road Home to get back on her feet.
“It was difficult, but with the help of The Road Home, I’ve been able to provide for my children, to do for them what I couldn’t do by myself,” Howell said.
Howell stressed that homelessness can happen to anyone at any time, even those you would least expect.
“People assume you’re a drug addict or a prostitute if you’re homeless, but we’re not nasty people,” Howell said. “We’re just like anyone else; we’ve just fallen down a couple of stairs and need help back up.”
Howell is fluent in Arabic after having lived in the Middle East for five years, three of which were spent in Egypt. She is in contact with the Utah Department of Workforce Services about being employed as a translator to aid other applicants.
“I grew up watching the old “Sinbad’ movies and my mom would buy me books from over there, and living in Egypt definitely helped,” she said. “It will definitely help me knowing another language.”
Advocates for the homeless work to ensure that more stories end up like Howell’s. The Road Home works directly with Volunteers of America, an organization that offers programs to help people to rebuild their lives; it also offers a substance abuse program for those who suffer from addictions. Community Action Services and Foodbank offers instructive courses about homelessness prevention and has a food bank available to those who enlist its services.
“We need to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place,” Atkinson said. “We’re well aware that an ounce of prevention can lead to keeping a lot of people in their own homes.”
Greg HarlowCamma Howell spoke of her experience of falling on hard times and losing her home during a Hinckley Forum on Thursday. Howell was able to provide for her children with help from The Road Home.