VOA adds emergency housing for women

A sign that homelessness among families and women is clearly on the rise, Volunteers of America is adding emergency shelter to its effort to help people struggling with substance abuse problems.

The 10-bed shelter dedicated to mothers ages 18 to 22 opened last week at the VOA drug rehab center for women with children, but single women are eligible for temporary services, said Mark Manazer, head of clinical services for VOA, Utah.

Given the bad weather in both the economy and the season, many more people are vulnerable.

"Homeless young people are in great danger this time of the year because of the cold temperatures. Having a small group of young people sheltered together offers a safe, nonthreatening environment," he said.

Each day at 6:30 p.m., young women can go to VOA's Homeless Youth Drop-In Center and be transported to the center where emergency beds are set up.

At the center, women will be provided with meals, shower facilities, hygiene supplies, first aid and monitoring by professional staff.

After breakfast each morning, the young women will be provided with bus/TRAX tokens and driven to the TRAX station.

United Way of Salt Lake's Neighbor-to-Neighbor program is funding the emergency beds, Manazer said, and will underwrite the costs of the shelter through March.

Manazer noted that additional funding is needed for the support of residential programs run by VOA and encouraged anyone interested in learning more about these programs, donating or volunteering can visit www.voaut.org, or call Sam Stephens at 801-363-9414, ext. 6.

VOA is a national, nonprofit, spiritually based organization providing local human-services programs that assist more than 10,000 people yearly with homeless outreach, substance abuse detoxification and treatment, housing, case management, substance abuse prevention, domestic violence counseling and volunteer senior services.

E-mail: jthalman@desnews.com