Salt Lake joins rest of nation in seeing more homeless

Requests for emergency food and housing were up significantly in Salt Lake City this year compared to last, according to a comprehensive national survey conducted by the nonpartisan U.S. Conference of Mayors.

The increases in requests for emergency food were up by 8 percent in Salt Lake City compared to last year, a figure reflected in both the 13 percent increase in the amount of food distributed by Utah Bank Services and by a noted increase in the number of families seeking help for the first time.

Most of the first-time users, according to the 2008 Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness, are working families displaced either by job loss or housing trouble, including foreclosures or evictions.

Requests for emergency shelter and housing in Salt Lake were up by 16 percent compared to 2007. Among 25 cities nationwide, 19 reporting homelessness information saw an average increase of 12 percent. Along with most of the cities surveyed, Salt Lake is three years into a 10-year effort to end homelessness targeted at finding housing for the chronically homeless and implementing programs to prevent the condition.

The efforts of Crossroads Urban Center brighten the emergency food situation a bit. The center's Community Food Co-op of Utah takes orders from co-op members, including churches, community centers and individuals, then purchases high-quality meat, produce and grain from local vendors and farmers.

The food is sold to co-op members for up to 50 percent less than grocery store prices. Currently, the cooperative has 8,000 members and sells more than 3,500 food packages each month.

As part of that plan, two new permanent housing developments were opened, providing housing support services for 184 singles previously homeless or near it. Another 200 units are scheduled to open next spring. The Road Home, the state's largest emergency shelter that has placed overflow families in conference rooms and on cots in hallways when no beds are available, provided 31 families a six-month subsidy and help in finding permanent housing.

Nan Roman, president of the Washington-based National Alliance to End Homelessness, called the survey "very depressing in light of the progress cities have been making." She said a homeless situation is not overcome without help, "and those who are helping are going to be stretched even thinner."

Homeless advocates say families are becoming homeless in droves and to a degree not seen in years. Many who aren't reporting to shelters are staying with friends or family or living in motels until the money runs out.