St. George • When The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints delivered 20,000 pounds of food to Switchpoint in St. George earlier this month, Washington County Commissioner Victor Iverson lauded the donation, telling the crowd that feeding the hungry is a “civic” and “sacred” responsibility.

Carol Hollowell, Switchpoint’s founder and CEO, called the commissioner’s comments ironic, saying that the county has yet to provide funding or assistance to the homeless services provider despite repeated requests over the years.

“Every county [Switchpoint] is in has helped significantly, except for Washington County,” Hollowell told The Tribune.

Hollowell said she has asked for meetings with Washington County every year for 12 years. But each year, she said, commissioners have told her that “this is not our problem, this is St. George’s problem.”

The commission’s reluctance to provide financial support to the charity stems from the fact that most of the citizens served at its St. George facilities are from cities rather than unincorporated areas in the county, County Commissioner Adam Snow told The Tribune.

“So it hasn’t always commanded the attention it probably deserved,” Snow said.

Between 2019 and 2024, according to a report Switchpoint supplied the county, only 47 of the 9,143 individuals served were from unincorporated areas. St. George accounted for more than 3,000 of that total. Washington City tallied 525 and Bloomington and Hurricane totaled 679 and 391, respectively.

Switchpoint’s senior director of communications, Zachary Almaguer, noted that 80% of the individuals served during that time were residents of Washington County. The figures the county cites, he said, fail to account for the 4,720 individuals who received help from the nonprofit’s emergency food pantry due to food insecurity during that time period, as well as the 5,476 people served in 2025.

“The county’s framing makes their ‘problem’ definitionally small and then uses that smallness as justification for inaction,” he said.

Founded by Hollowell in Washington County in 2014 to address the area’s growing homelessness, Switchpoint started out as an emergency shelter and food pantry at its St. George location at 948 N. 1300 West. Since then, the resource provider has opened locations in Salt Lake City, Layton and Tooele and has been hailed by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox as a model for the rest of the state.

Where the money comes from

Switchpoint serves 26,000 people per year, employs 350 workers, enlists thousands of volunteers and has an annual budget of $25 million. About $7 million of which comes from its thrift stores, coffee shops and its other social enterprises, which help cover expenses while providing job training for people experiencing homelessness, according to David Dangerfield, chair of the organization’s board.

Switchpoint relies on a mix of public and private funding — including millions of dollars from counties and state agencies across Utah — to support its operations.

Salt Lake County, for example, has contributed several million dollars to support housing, Hollowell said. Davis County recently provided a $1.9 million grant to help launch and operate a teen living center, while Tooele County supplies a building for Switchpoint’s food pantry and about $300,000 annually in grant funding.

At the state level, Switchpoint’s St. George campus is slated to receive $9.6 million from the Utah Department of Workforce Services and the Utah Office of Homeless Services. Utah legislators are also pitching in with $120,000 out of the general fund, along with $480,000 federal grant funds administered through the state.

Switchpoint’s St. George facility will receive an additional $1.3 million from the State Homeless Shelter Cities Mitigation Fund, which will be paid to the St. George Police Department for their services in support of the shelter.

Locally, St. George has contributed more than $600,000 and leases city-owned buildings to the nonprofit for its operations for just $1 per year. The city has also provided $1.6 million in land and federal funds for affordable housing projects, while the Washington County Water Conservancy District has deferred $300,000 in water costs as long as Switchpoint maintains its nonprofit status.

Shouldering the load

Switchpoint officials note the county has roughly 500 people experiencing homelessness spread throughout the region at any given time. They say it is unfair for St. George to shoulder so much of the burden when homelessness is not confined within its municipal borders.

The nonprofit’s St. George campus offers a variety of resources, including a temporary emergency shelter with capacity for 84 people, a 16-room family expansion facility, a community kitchen, and a wide array of additional support services.

St. George Mayor Jimmie Hughes credits the county for its important role in funding mental health services, the county jail and the Southwest Utah Public Health Department.

“I don’t want to come off as ungrateful,” he said. “But there’s one area I feel like they are slipping a little, and that is with the homeless. I wish they would help a little more.”

Snow said that could happen. He said the commissioners are mulling over the possibility of providing funding to cover the costs of Switchpoint’s services to unincorporated Washington County residents, but would like cities in the area to step up with more funding as well.

“St. George has been carrying this burden for a long time,” he said. “Maybe it is time for all governments to step in and do their portion.”