Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune Jim Lamm, a New York transplant, was out of work and about to be homeless. No agency would help him. The Trib did a story on him and Tribune readers responded to Lamm's predicament. Now he has lots of work, including painting this Avenues house, Wednesday, January 31, 2018.
A life-changing experience.
That is how 69-year-old Jim Lamm describes what happened to him when Utahns found out he needed work so he wouldn’t become homeless.
“Many, many people said, we have work for you. We want to help you,” he said Wednesday at a job site in the Avenues. “People were so kind, they’d say, we’ll give you $500 the day you start. We don’t want you to become homeless.”
Originally from New York, Lamm is a general contractor specializing in painting and tile. After relocating to West Valley City in October, he was unable to find work and was on the cusp of homelessness. He had reached out to public and private agencies without success.
The Great Recession coupled with skyrocketing costs in Manhatttan had practically wiped him out. He took what was left of his savings and headed to Florida, which he soon discovered was not for him. Having spent time in Salt Lake City in the 1970s, he lit out for Utah and the beautiful Wasatch Mountains.
From there things went downhill. When The Tribune caught up with him just before Christmas, it looked as if Lamm wouldn’t be able to make January’s rent.
“There’s nothing worse,” he said, “than the feeling you can’t go out and work and make a living.”
A proud American, Lamm had always believed there was a safety net for people who found themselves in a temporary jam.
“I have never expected a handout. I’ve always worked,” he said. “But I believed we have support systems and we stand together and help each other through government and churches in times of need.”
But when he found himself in such a predicament for the first time in his life, he said, there was no help.
Lamm, who is fit and fastidious, made a list of more than a dozen agencies he contacted — or attempted to contact — seeking work or some kind of financial aid. In some cases, he was told that help was not available until he became homeless.
Advocates, service providers and government leaders all have intoned the maxim that it is much more efficient, cost effective and humane to help people before they are forced out of their homes, rather than sending them to a shelter with the ultimate goal of finding housing for them.
A lack of funding, however, remains a barrier for providers, public and private, as more and more people find themselves slipping into homelessness.
Lamm had been to four job interviews but wasn’t hired. Potential employers praised his résumé and invited him for interviews. “But then they saw my gray hair and wrinkles and things changed,” he said.
On Dec. 26, The Tribune published a story describing Lamm’s plight, along with his website, www.precisionpaintandtile.com. The response, he said, was overwhelming. Now he has work lined up through February and is taking bids for March.
“When you turn to the community,” Lamm said, “the community opens its heart to you.”
Lately, Lamm said, he has been thinking a lot about homelessness. High rents and low wages help swell the homeless population, while people at the top have more money than they can spend.
“I saw a man and a woman with two small children in strollers panhandling for money,” he said. “It breaks my heart. How can this happen in America?”
For his part, Lamm said he is indebted to the people who saved him from that fate. “I don’t want to bring any negativity. I’m so thankful,” he said. “Customers have been happy with my work. It’s a real blessing.”
And so, Lamm will keep working as long as he can. “I’m going to have to work the rest of my life,” he said. “But that’s OK. I like to work and I’m grateful.”
