With demand for homeless shelter services steadily increasing, the current plan in Utah is to close an 1,100 bed shelter and replace it with a total of only 700 beds. In addition, legislative auditors, the county mayor, the speaker of the House and others are ganging up on The Road Home for operating a low-barrier shelter that serves the most vulnerable people in our society.
What’s the plan for helping these people? In winter 2019, what’s going to happen to the mentally ill, those who are addicted to drugs or alcohol? Using language from the New Testament’s parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-36), it appears that the current homeless services plan is to: 1. Pass by on the other side and 2. Publicly criticize the Good Samaritan and the Innkeeper.
Robert Allen, Holladay