SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Twelve ‘Code Blue Alerts’ have already been issued this winter.
The alerts are part of a new state law requiring shelters to expand capacity for those experiencing homelessness when it’s 15 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, accounting for wind chill, and when those conditions last for two hours or longer over 24 hours.
Utah Homeless Coordinator Wayne Niederhauser said they started working to get the law after at least five unsheltered people died last year, likely from the cold.
“I told myself at that time… I don’t wanna be standing at a pulpit again talking about people who are passing away due to our lack of capacity,” said Niederhauser.
This winter, around 600 winter overflow beds have been added, in addition to 235 code blue beds whenever temperatures reach that 15-degree mark.
The beds are available during code blue alerts at these facilities:
- 85 beds at the 2nd and 2nd (United Methodist Church building)
- 50 SLCo (Valley Behavioral Health building)
- 30 West Valley Winter Response Site (Switchpoint)
- 30 Pamela Atkinson Resource Center
- 20 Gail Miller Resource Center
- 20 Geraldine E. King Resource Center
Executive Director of ‘Unsheltered Utah’ Wendy Garvin said with the storms and cold temperatures this week, the church where her organization houses people for the night has had to turn away 40-50 people.
However, unlike last winter, she says they have other options.
“With this expanded capacity now we have the option to drive people over to other sites and offer them beds there,” said Garvin.
She said the nearly full code blue shelters are dispelling the myth that there are shelter-resistant people.
“The willingness of people to access these sites shows a need for a more permanent facility,” she said, “And I think if we had, if we had enough beds to match the winter capacity that we're showing, we would, we would get people into housing more rapidly.”
Niederhauser said expanding capacity at the shelters all year is now at the top of their to-do list this legislative session.
“We're making the argument that we need these resources to make sure that we have what I hope is a more year-round facility,” said Niederhauser. “Because ramping up and ramping down every year is costly and inefficient and then I just want to see us avoid having to release people back to the streets in April."
He said more funding and volunteers will be crucial to keeping the code blue alert system successful and expanding shelter capacity even further.
Click here if you’d like to volunteer:
- https://endutahhomelessness.org/salt-lake-valley/ [endutahhomelessness.org]
- https://endutahhomelessness.org/code-blue-salt-lake/ [endutahhomelessness.org]
