Almost four months into Utah’s winter response period, Weber County has finalized a plan to secure additional shelter beds for those experiencing homelessness.
Utah’s winter homelessness response law requires the state’s largest counties to have a plan in place from Oct. 15 through April 30. When the period began, the Weber-Morgan Local Homeless Council was still looking for a facility.
The Lantern House shelter in Ogden will now offer 50 cots in its cafeteria when the rest of the shelter is full, regardless of whether a code blue alert has been issued, said Executive Director Lauren Navidomskis.
Code blue alerts are issued when temperatures are projected to drop to or below 18 degrees Fahrenheit, including windchill, for at least two hours in a 24-hour period.
While the start of February has been unseasonably warm, Navidomskis hopes the beds will be available beginning Feb. 8, when overnight temperatures are projected in the low 20s, as long as blankets arrive in time.
She said the plan required special permission from Ogden City to modify the fire code.
“The city is requiring us to train staff who will be on fire watch each night,” she said. They’ll be on the lookout for potential fire hazards and stay awake to call 911 in case of emergency.
In developing its winter response plan, the Weber-Morgan Local Homeless Council and the State Office of Homeless Services set a target of 132 beds for Weber County through the winter, with no extra beds required during code blue nights. Navidomskis said 32 beds in the Lantern House community room count toward that goal. Weber County Commissioner Sharon Bolos, who chairs the council, said they were looking for 100 more.
Still, she said 50 beds will likely accommodate everyone who wishes to use them.
About 25 people have used Lantern House’s warming chairs on recent code blue nights, according to Navidomskis. When the shelter is full and a code blue alert is issued, guests have been able to sit in the kitchen to keep warm. They have not been allowed to lie down because doing so would violate fire code.
To explain the discrepancy in numbers, Navidomskis said there are many reasons why someone might choose not to spend a night in a shelter.
“Congregate shelter living sucks. It's really difficult,” she said. “The structured component of checking in, waiting in line, [and] sleeping next to someone that you don't necessarily know or don't trust.”
Some experiencing homelessness want to keep their belongings close, Navidomskis said, while Lantern House limits guests to just a backpack in sleeping areas. They may not want to separate from a partner, and the shelter dorms are segregated by gender.
Plus, she said good samaritans often offer clothing and hygiene items to people they see sleeping outside. Those supplies may not be available at the shelter.
“If you get everything you would in [a] shelter, besides maybe warmth, why would you come in?”
While Navidomskis is glad to have a plan, she wishes it had come sooner.
“It really frustrates me that somebody experiencing homelessness and all the pressure around code blue is going to access a bed in Weber County under code blue circumstances for the first time in February, with just a few months left to go,” she said.
Lantern House guests must leave the sleeping areas during the day but can keep warm in the kitchen, which only closes for 30 minutes before each meal. Those sleeping in the kitchen will be asked to leave around 6 a.m. while staff convert the room to a dining space.
Still, Navidomskis is nervous because this is only a temporary solution.
“We should have been a little bit more vigilant on getting this done and pushing back on some of the municipality issues we've had,” she said, noting Ogden officials called for other cities in the county to step up.
Bolos said the city’s reluctance stemmed from the plan’s violation of the fire code.
“It's legitimate. They did not want to pursue this because it's not the best scenario,” she said.
Ogden City Chief Administrative Officer Mara Brown was not available for an interview. In an email, city spokesperson Mike McBride wrote, “Ogden has stepped up on many fronts to provide services that are county-wide shared responsibilities.” He noted this solution is not permanent because the Lantern House cafeteria is not designed for sleeping, and using it for beds requires “creative use of the fire code.”
The local homeless council looked for another facility, Bolos said. They ran into issues such as a lack of fire suppression, cost exceeding budget and owners unwilling to lease their space as a shelter due to concern it would make the site more difficult to sell.
To avoid repeating the process, she said the council is looking to buy a building to use as a winter shelter in the future.
“Everyone at the table wants to look for a permanent solution,” she said.
Ideally, they would purchase a facility outside Ogden City that could be used for a different purpose in the warmer months. She said the owner of the former Stevens-Henager College building in West Haven was not willing to lease it for an overflow shelter but may be willing to sell it.
Bolos said the winter shelter plan never got to the point of public opposition, like in neighboring Davis County, and she wants to keep it that way.
“If we do buy a building, we need to make sure that it's in a location that is best suited for an overflow shelter because we don't want a permanent structure to cause ongoing issues in the community.”
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
