"Underscoring the creation of affordable units is critical to our efforts to get people out of the system and back into mainstream community," said Matt Minkevitch, director of the Road Home. "I think we can help prevent people going back into the shelter. We're starting to see some light at the end of this tunnel."

Kerry Bate, executive director of the Salt Lake County Housing Authority, said the county's plan was a step in the right direction but that he worries about funding the program to see actual outcomes.

A single housing unit can run $200-$300 a month just for property maintenance like roof repairs, plumbing and furnaces, he said. Without more federal money or state dollars to buoy the program, Bate said the plan may just burden service providers that are "already stretched very very thin."

"We're just going to take the money from one underfunded, starving problem and move it to another," he said.

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E-mail: estewart@desnews.com