‘Renewed hope’: Hundreds of homeless Utahns served Thanksgiving meals at Rescue Mission

SALT LAKE CITY — It’s been about a year since Jakorrin Jackson began living on the streets of Salt Lake City. The Louisiana native grew up in California and says he was effectively left stranded in Utah when he lost his job as a truck driver while completing a route.

Now, Jackson said he’s still struggling to get his feet back underneath him.

“It’s rough for me right now, considering the fact that I don’t have a lot of resources out here,” he said. “I don’t have a phone. I don’t have a source of income. I don’t have a roof over my head. I’m basically just out here, just homeless.”

Jackson was one of hundreds of people experiencing homelessness who lined up outside of the Rescue Mission of Salt Lake Wednesday morning for the mission’s annual Thanksgiving banquet. While he was looking forward to the hot meal, he was more excited by the prospect of a haircut offered by volunteers from the Taylor Andrews Academy.

Jackson said he has found it difficult to find a job, and he thinks government in the state should do more to remove barriers to work and housing for people like him. He said he doesn’t have a criminal record, and better access to temp work and stable housing would go a long way.

“We are already struggling. Show mercy,” he said. “That’s all I ask: Just show mercy.”

‘Things to be grateful for’

The Rescue Mission of Salt Lake has served Thanksgiving meals to struggling Utahns for 52 years, according to executive director Chris Croswhite. He said the mission planned to provide as many as 1,200 meals at lunch alone.

“We’ve already served breakfast and, of course, we’ll serve dinner again tonight,” he told KSL.com.

The mission additionally offered donated clothes, haircuts, vaccinations and other wellness checks for people in need.

“Often, hope starts with a meal,” he said. “And we hope that the banquet will instill hope in them so they have the desire to change their life and not settle for less than what they can achieve. … Our goal, literally, is to renew their hope so they can strive to change their life.”

He said the Rescue Mission is always in need of donations — toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo and other essential items — but said the need increases during the winter season when more individuals are seeking shelter from the cold.

“If people are clearing out their closet — even if they’re buying it or receiving another coat for Christmas and have an extra one — then if they would donate their used coat to the Rescue Mission, then we will give that to a person living on the streets to make sure they stay warm,” he said.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, first lady Abby Cox, their children and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson helped serve the hundreds of people who gathered inside the mission Wednesday morning. The governor highlighted the theme of “renewed hope,” saying it’s important to continue to provide for the growing number of Utahns who face housing insecurity.

“We call attention to the work that (the Rescue Mission is) doing,” he said. “They’re hopeful they can instill that sense of gratitude — even when we have not very much to be grateful for — that there are things to be grateful for and that there is hope.”

Housing affordability and homelessness are issues the governor has long been keen to address, but he told KSL.com that serving in a hands-on way gives a different perspective on the issues.

“It’s too often we look at issues, kind of on paper, and we talk about policy, and we forget that there are real people that have names and stories,” he said. “You’ll see families come in. You’ll see single folks, older folks, elderly, young — and they’re all somebody’s mom or dad or brother or sister or aunt or uncle, right? … There are so many priorities, but you can’t understand those priorities until you get to know the people behind the stories.”

Roger Albretson, an older man, said the Rescue Mission provides him with housing and transportation to pick up medication — an essential service given that a “bad leg” makes it difficult to get around.

Asked what he is thankful for this year, Albretson pointed at the Rescue Mission and said: “I’m thankful for this place.”

“I’m thankful for seeing another day,” Jackson said. “I’m thankful for the strength that I have to be able to carry on through the next day and the next day and the next day and the next day. … That’s the only thing that’s keeping me going is my strength. I’m very thankful for that.”