Utahns urged to help homeless via tax returns

The state's leading anti-homeless activist is asking Utahns to donate $2, $5 or $10 to the Pamela Atkinson Homeless Trust Fund when they do their tax returns.

It might sound counter to the harsh realities of the riddled economy to ask for a donation to homeless programs, Atkinson said Wednesday. But a record-high unemployment rate and other financial frailties almost dictate that donations be requested.

"And besides, Utahns have the trait of the worse things get, the more they step up to help one another."

There are few people who haven't been touched by financial troubles the past year, she said. The rate of chronic homelessness had been going down, mostly thanks to a coalition of public and private people and organizations that have implemented a "housing first" approach to the problem. The homeless who want to participate are provided a low-rent apartment at one of the subsidized complexes around town first. The various personal problems, such as substance abuse, that caused the person to become homeless are then addressed by on-staff social workers and counselors.

The more people participate in the tax campaign, the more area shelters and others will be able to provide services. The donation will not only help agencies better handle the new wave of homelessness but also help preserve the reductions in the local homeless population made in the past three years.

"With the economy the way it is, a lot of people have realized just how tenuous even the best-laid plans can be," Atkinson said. "It's money that matters to many people, but my hope is that we'll come out of these difficult times understanding fully that life is about helping each other, not how much stuff you can acquire."

Money problems have created a new crop of homeless people, but being dispossessed isn't as hard as trying to find another house and a whole new life, a man calling himself Pete said Wednesday.

Being homeless is a state of mind, but if there is nowhere else to turn, it's pretty harsh physically, too, he said. Until about a year ago when he moved into the Palmer Court apartment complex, Pete was among Utah's 20,000 or so people who have been without permanent housing for at least a year.

"What you learn first is that being homeless is about right now and getting through the day," he said. "Plans and goals get pushed aside pretty easily when you're in survival mode."

e-mail: jthalman@desnews.com