Twenty minutes to Brigham City. Thirty minutes to Logan.
That’s how long Jennifer Schow said it would take residents of northern Box Elder County to reach the nearest support center for people leaving an abusive partner.
For some, she said, that distance can feel impossible.
“Tremonton, Garland, is kind of an island,” Schow said, describing the lack of nearby domestic violence services. “And that’s prohibitive for many women seeking help. You know, if they have work, if their kids are in school [or] if they don’t have a functional car, 20 to 30 miles is insurmountable for some to seek help.”
In 2024, Schow and her husband, Jan-Erik Schow, decided to step in. They donated 7 acres to a Logan-based nonprofit, Citizens Against Physical and Sexual Abuse, which helps people affected by domestic violence, so the organization could build a new transitional housing project in Garland.
After two Tremonton-Garland law enforcement officers were shot and killed last August while responding to a domestic disturbance call, Josh Thompson, the nonprofit’s development and communications officer, said it amped up efforts to bring the housing project to the community where the officers were killed.
Now, Thompson said, $3.6 million in state funding, along with support from donors, puts the project on track to open by early 2027.
“We felt like we had to address it,” Thompson said of the shooting. “We had to say something. That’s part of our community.”
For Schow, the tragedy “brought home” how much the housing project is needed in the community.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Police officers and family members at a vigil in Tremonton in August to honor the two slain law enforcement officers.
The state funding comes from Utah’s Deeply Affordable Housing Fund, the nonprofit said in a news release. The program provides financial support for developing affordable housing for low- and moderate-income residents.
Once completed, the project will include five fourplexes, totaling 20 units, along with office space for the nonprofit’s staff to provide support to residents.
The project will be the first transitional housing in northern Box Elder County, Thompson said, and will provide survivors with a place to stay for up to two years.
The nonprofit operates two transitional housing neighborhoods in Logan — Independence Way and Independence Place — made up of single-family homes, as well as a fourplex, for a total of 21 homes or units.
The Garland project will largely mirror those developments, Thompson said, but will use fourplexes instead of single-family homes to better maximize space and funding amid decreasing family sizes in recent years.
Few options close to home
The need for transitional housing is urgent in northern Box Elder County, Thompson said, where major industrial employers draw residents from across the area. Many people live near their workplaces, he said, but if they face abuse at home, options for safe housing close to family, friends or their community are few.
“If someone’s experiencing abuse, one of the hardest things is housing. Where are they going to go if they do decide to leave?” he said. “Being able to give survivors a place that’s close is really critical to helping them be able to leave.”
Thompson said it is not meant to be an emergency shelter — the nonprofit already operates one in Logan, and the New Hope Crisis Center has one in Brigham City — but rather a safe, longer-term place where survivors can rebuild their lives, work toward financial independence, and access support and resources.
“It’s a step where, I don’t need to go somewhere tonight,” he said, “but I need to make a plan to be somewhere in the next couple of weeks.”
Megan Talamantez, executive director of the New Hope Crisis Center, previously said that more survivors of domestic violence have sought help in recent years. She said the increase may be partly due to Utah’s lethality assessment protocol, which helps law enforcement identify at-risk individuals.
The protocol has helped support centers build stronger relationships with police, she said, leading more survivors to identify their needs and access resources — but the resulting influx has also left services in rural communities stretched thin.
After the Tremonton-Garland officers were killed, Schow said she often wonders whether it could have been avoided if more services were available to help women, men and children leave an abusive situation.
“We’re just hopeful that when this is built,” she said, “it will be a powerful resource in our community.”
Note to readers • Those who are experiencing intimate partner violence, or know someone who is, can call the Utah Domestic Violence Link Line, 1-800-897-LINK (5465), or the statewide sexual assault line run by the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault at (801) 736-4356 and in Spanish: Línea de Apoyo de Violencia Sexual las 24 Horas de Utah: (801) 924-0860.