Utah County religious, service groups raising funds for transitional-housing project

PROVO — A group of Utah County churches is in a race against time for the county's homeless population.

The Utah Valley Ministerial Association, made up of leaders from various religious and service groups, is trying to raise $700,000 so the Provo-based Food & Care Coalition can complete transitional living quarters in the building's second floor by Oct. 31.

"We don't want anyone else to freeze to death around here," said Linda Walton, a Seventh Day Adventist chaplain at Utah Valley University and member of the ministerial association board.

A letter from the association to county leaders asking for donations claims that nine individuals died in Utah Valley in 2008 because of lack of shelter.

"We don't want that to be repeated or to have the number increase because of a more difficult economy," the letter states.

The money will go to complete work begun when the Food & Care Coalition built its new $11 million facility in Provo's East Bay.

The 36,000-square-foot facility's kitchen, dining room, classroom space and dental offices were completed last year, but the planned transitional living quarters, with rooms for 26 men and 12 women, remain unfinished.

"We've had all the permits in place for some time," said Food & Care Coalition director Brent Crane, "but we had lost a lot of pledges because of the economy."

So the group passed its first winter with the second floor unfinished and vacant.

Walton said the Utah Valley Ministerial Association, one of the coalition partners, wanted to resolve that, so it's approaching possible donors with hat in hand, looking for donations.

"We have to have the money in the next 30 to 60 days," she said. "At this point, bake sales and stuff won't cut it. We'd rather they just gave us the money."

Walton said contractors are donating some work, with workers completing the sheetrock work in the sleeping rooms and common areas this week.

"But we still have a ways to go," she said, "so we are passing out fliers to church groups and contacting service groups and clubs in the area."

Crane said the coalition has seen an increase in use of the facility's services because of economic difficulties, and most are members of the community. About 10 percent of the clientele are considered transient.

"We are serving more people than ever, and many are people who have never been in this situation before," he said.

The transitional housing is not for overnight stays, but for people who need a place to live while they get back on their feet.

"What we want to do is buy them time to overcome what led them to being homeless," Crane said. "Most people can't solve that problem overnight. They need a little bit more stability in their housing in order to make that fall into place."

The rooms will represent a shift in homeless housing options for Utah County, which now offers vouchers for motel rooms for individuals who qualify.

Donations can be sent to the Food & Care Coalition, 299 E. 900 South, Provo, UT, 84606. For more information, visit www.foodandcare.org.

e-mail: mhaddock@desnews.com