MILLCREEK, Utah — For many years, The Haven on 3300 South in Millcreek was an assisted living facility, until the owners recently put it up for sale and had to relocate all the residents, city officials said.
Recently, Switchpoint, a nonprofit that runs homeless shelters, purchased this building, but they want neighbors to know that this will not be another shelter.
Dozens of Millcreek neighbors packed into the dining room at The Haven Wednesday night to voice their concerns about who will soon be living in the building during a community meeting.
“Nobody wants it in their neighborhood,” said James Drouday. “There's no curfew, which really bothers me because that means people can come and go as they need to work and walk out and do whatever, who knows who's going to walk out on 33rd and maybe get hit. Once they can't pay rent anymore, they're free to go. Well, where are they going to go? Right in our neighborhoods.”
Switchpoint plans to turn the haven into permanent housing for people diagnosed with a mental illness, said CEO Carol Hollowell.
“There's a lot of misinformation,” said Hollowell. “This is not a homeless shelter. This is not a drug rehab center. This is housing. And so that is really important, I think for the community to know, is that this is permanent housing where we hope that they stabilize out and then they get the treatment that they need.”
Hollowell claims the 43 rooms will be filled with Utahns getting the help they need to become productive members of society.
“A physician, a mental health counselor, the case manager, the nurse who administers meds, a peer support specialist,” she said. “So they're really intensive on focusing on keeping that individual med-compliant for their mental health needs, and then also get them any of the other services they might need.”
While many residents are still skeptical, Kaylynn Wakefield is trying to stay open-minded about her new neighbors.
“We can, because we live so close, maybe we can be of help,” she said. “I like that feeling of being able to help people.”
The city can’t legally stop Switchpoint from purchasing the property and using government funding to provide supportive mental health housing, said Mayor Jeff Silvestrini.
“Nobody may want to have this kind of a facility in their neighborhood, but if everybody has that attitude we wouldn’t be able to have them, so we all need to make room for that in our hearts and in our communities,” he said.
Switchpoint anticipates closing on the property on February 15.
