SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is dealing with another heat wave as near-triple-digit temperatures bear down on the state.
Sunday afternoon, Unsheltered Utah, a local coalition made up solely of volunteers, spent time at a park near downtown Salt Lake City making sure those experiencing homelessness had what they needed to stay cool and safe.
Wendy Garvin is the executive director of Unsheltered Utah, which started about two and half years ago.
"Because it's so hot out right now, [they need] water and ice," Garvin said. "And then we're serving them a hot meal, providing them with whatever we have in our donations, which is clothing, blankets, we've got a bunch of sleeping pads, we've got a few tents, just the things they need to survive the most."
Garvin says Unsheltered Utah serves as a "curbside compassion organization," which specializes in taking services to the people who are living in tents and on the side of the road. She says this is in order for the people they serve to get access to the things they need.
The coalition does outreach events like this three Sundays every month.
Garvin said so far this year, they've served about 4,000 people.
"We do spend a fair amount of time just looking for people, trying to make sure that they can get the services that we offer," she said.
She said those services and supplies come completely from donations, and they are most critical when temperatures get this hot.
"It is life or death. We really worry about people in this heat," Garvin said. "In some ways, the heat is worse than the cold of the winter. We see more deaths from heat stroke than we do freezing injuries or freezing deaths, and dehydration leads to mental health issues."
Dani Robles is one of a handful of people who took advantage of the services and supplies on Sunday.
Robles told FOX 13 News that since May, she has been living off-and-on in the park where Unsheltered Utah did its outreach event.
"There's no places to, like, shade yourself from the sun, basically," she said. "So it makes it really difficult."
Robles said this is the fourth time she has utilized the supplies Unsheltered Utah has given out — something she is thankful for.
"Being able to have clean clothing and again the hygiene products and things like that, will allow us, you know, if we're looking for work or we have to go to work the next day, that we have clean clothes to wear and we're presentable," she said.
Garvin said the group plans to have two more outreach events like this in September. The next one is planned for Sep. 18.
