OGDEN — Weber County officials continue looking for a site to house the homeless on the coldest of winter nights to comply with state law.
“We are still searching,” said Sharon Bolos, a Weber County commissioner and chairwoman of the Weber-Morgan Local Homelessness Council, tasked with helping coordinate efforts to aid the unsheltered.
Still, those seeking shelter have found it at three existing facilities in Ogden, she said, even if finding a separate overflow shelter to house the homeless overnight when the temperature dips to 18 degrees Fahrenheit or below has proven problematic. “I’ve not heard that they’ve turned anyone away, so I don’t think that they have at this point,” Bolos said.
Lantern House and the Ogden Rescue Mission, both in Ogden, operate traditional homeless shelters, but they’ve also provided overnight warming spaces on an emergency basis for those who need them when the mercury drops. Youth Futures, which is geared to those aged 12-18, has also offered overnight assistance.
Whatever the case, legislation passed in 2023, HB499, requires Utah’s largest counties, including Weber County, to create a “code blue” plan to aid the homeless when the temperature dips to 18 degrees or below and secure space to provide shelter. County leaders have a plan, but they have been unable to secure a separate space despite their best efforts, even as cold weather settles in.
Officials in Davis County, too, have wrestled with HB499. Proposed creation of warming centers in Kaysville and Fruit Heights drew sharp public backlash, spurring involvement from the state in searching out locations. Davis County ultimately picked four spots to serve as warming centers on a rotating basis when needed, including the Kaysville site, resolving the issue for now.
Weber County officials’ efforts, however, continue.
The existing Weber County homeless shelters can accommodate some who need emergency shelter. But based on figures from the annual point-in-time count, a headcount of the unsheltered homeless carried out each January across the state, Bolos said Weber County also needs a separate warming space that can serve up to 100, including overflow from the other facilities. Davis County, with a smaller homeless population, needs a facility that can accommodate 16.
Weber County leaders thought they had secured a place in West Haven, Bolos said, but the proposal fell through, prompting a seemingly unending search.
“What we’re doing is just driving around the area looking for vacant buildings and calling and calling the listing agent,” she said. Mayors of Weber County’s cities have also been told to be alert to possible sites.
Owners of some sites have been unwilling to lease space for the homeless, even if just on a temporary basis, worried they won’t be able to show the space in the meantime to would-be buyers. Others are leery of entering a short-term lease to provide space just through next spring, according to Bolos. She said it’s prompted officials to shift gears and consider acquiring a permanent space to serve as a warming center during the coldest months of the year, avoiding the need to work with leery landlords. The space would be tapped for other uses in warmer times.
Further complicating things, the officials on the homelessness council have been searching for a site outside Ogden, which has traditionally housed facilities for the homeless in Weber County. Leaders of many locales “have been willing to have the conversation, but when it comes down to it, the communities aren’t willing to accept that,” Bolos said.
There haven’t been any heated public meetings as in Davis County, where angry citizens have denounced the notion of hosting a facility for the homeless, she said, but local leaders sense likely opposition among their constituents.
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