This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

In a Salt Lake Tribune article last week, I expressed frustration about a crisis that has enveloped a corner of downtown and threatens to spread. A semi-permanent encampment of hundreds of people, many incapacitated by drugs and mental illness, creates an environment where crimes are brazenly committed, police officers are attacked and no one is safe. The complicated situation centered near the Road Home shelter on 500 West has evolved into a public safety and health emergency. 

Many factors have contributed. A lack of affordable housing has led to a dramatic increase in our homeless population. A spike in opioid abuse along with untreated mental illness and medical costs for uninsured people contribute to the problem. The result is an overcrowded shelter system. Drug dealers use the homeless as camouflage to supply addicts from across the region, all in spite of a major increase in police numbers from Salt Lake City. We need new resources devoted to jail space and treatment facilities. And we need them now. We also need to insist on the same standards of behavior in this neighborhood that we would expect in any other community in our state. 

The Road Home was intended to serve a few hundred. Tonight, as it has for the past few years, it will likely provide refuge to more than 1,000 people, with hundreds more spilling out onto a makeshift campsite on 500 West. Other service providers in the neighborhood have seen similar waves of need over the past few years. These providers are truly doing God's work saving lives through basic emergency services. But our approach in concentrating emergency services in a single neighborhood no longer serves our community or homeless people well.

I support Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski's plan to build two new resource centers that will house a variety of services including 250 emergency shelter beds, while drawing down emergency bed numbers at the Road Home's Rio Grande facility. These resource centers must also be complemented by Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams' Collective Impact Plan. This systematic plan calls for more drug treatment, mental health care, homeless prevention and affordable housing — getting at the root causes of homelessness. The partial Medicaid expansion, passed by the Utah Legislature in the last session, will also help if the federal government agrees to a required waiver. And we must do even more.

Some members of the City Council are concerned about the impact of shelters in other neighborhoods. They have asked questions about the size of proposed facilities in Biskupski's plan. I don't blame them. Building a new homeless center is hard. But smaller facilities, designed with a specific purpose and with a hard cap on the number of available beds, will feel very different than the current shelter model. Biskupski's plan can be executed in a relatively short timeline. Other ideas for even smaller facilities may also be viable in future years. But at this moment of crisis, her plan is our best hope.

The YWCA facility on 300 South and 300 East is a good example of a resource center at work. It creates a sense of dignity and safety for the women and children who live for a short time within its walls. Current Fish and Oyster Bar, one of downtown's great new restaurants opened across the street from the YWCA just last year. Today the neighborhood is thriving, boosted by other small businesses success stories like Boozetique, Paradise Palm and Gourmandise Bakery. The YWCA is an asset to the larger neighborhood.

This is a community problem and it will take the entire community to solve it. As concerned as I am about the current situation, I am also optimistic. We have one of the strongest economies in the country with pragmatic and progressive policy makers who are more interested in solving problems than in getting credit. We have a business community and religious organizations that are engaged and supportive. We have true leaders in law enforcement who are committed to public safety and long-term solutions. This sense of commitment is part of the culture of our police department and shapes the behavior of officers across our city. Most of all, Utahns have a sense of decency and good will that guides the best of our efforts. We can get this done, but the time to act is now. 

Jason Mathis is executive director of the Downtown Alliance.