As a former resident of Salt Lake City’s Sugar House area, I wanted to make a statement related to the story by Taylor Anderson.
I am disappointed in the residents who stated such ideas as, “If one of those crazies grabs my kids you will be responsible,” and, “I didn’t buy my house to live down the street from a homeless shelter.”
Kim Correa, executive director of INN Between, and her staff should be commended for the focus and dedication they place on the daily challenges associated with providing palliative care and emotional support to those who have been referred to the INN Between because they are terminally ill and without other meaningful resources.
My daughter was terminally ill and, because of sad choices and circumstance, became the INN Between’s first resident in 2015. She was given care and support that allowed her to arrive at the end of her beautiful life with greater dignity than dying on the street with the disdain expressed by those quoted in this story as her only blanket.
It was mentioned that there is a community board made up of members of the neighborhood that hopefully will remain viable so that the staff of the INN Between can receive input and needed support and consideration from the neighbors of that community.
My hope is that those neighbors extend the consideration and good fortune they are blessed with to those who need it as they struggle before they are “taken home” to a better place than this.
Cecily Davis, West Haven