This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Winter is upon us, and hundreds are living under blankets and tarps in Salt Lake City. Pamela Atkinson, who has been watching over the homeless for more than 25 years, says she's never seen so many people camped out in the city.

The Road Home's downtown shelter is maxxing out at night, including its overflow space. The options for more beds at this point are definitely short-term, like buying motel rooms, but there are places available and service providers to get them there if they have the money.

Salt Lake City isn't committing any more resources at this point. Despite willingness from Salt Lake City Council members to allocate more money, Mayor Jackie Biskupski's office says only that it is monitoring the situation. At this point it has no plans to commit any more funds to emergency shelter this winter.

If the city won't do it, the community must. During this season of giving, please consider helping the needy people shivering among us.

The Road Home, Volunteers of America, Catholic Community Services and the Fourth Street Clinic are all providing direct services to the homeless this winter. Any of them, with further funding, can relieve more suffering. And any of them will cheerfully accept your tax-deductible cash donations. (This is superior to giving out spare change, much of which enriches the drug dealers who prey on the homeless.)

There is, of course, no eliminating the problem. As a recent survey of homeless people by the Salt Lake County Collective Impact Initiative shows, many of those living in parking strips and medians wouldn't take an indoor bed if it was offered. Their mental health issues, including addictions, keep them from taking even that most basic step of coming in from the cold.

And that is another reminder that the true solutions are the long-term ones. On that, Salt Lake City — along with Salt Lake County and the state of Utah — has been willing to invest. The city will soon announce sites for four new facilities for the homeless. All are intended to foster more holistic approaches to homelessness. Instead of just giving them a bed and a meal — necessities to be sure — they will also give them mental health services, job training and other support with the intention of giving them tools to maintain their own financial security.

But that exists only on paper. It will be at least two years before any of those facilities will open.

In the meantime, compassion demands more. The city should step up, and so should other elected officials elsewhere. Data show Salt Lake City's homeless come from across the state, but Salt Lake County in particular covers the lion's share of the costs of serving them. Other entities need to dig deep, too.

But the rest of us shouldn't wait for that. From the comfort of your warm homes, please find it in your hearts to find something in your wallets. Our brothers and sisters are under those tarps.