| Members of the Faith and Advocacy Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness were a significant part of efforts that led to progress made in addressing family homelessness during the 2024 general session of the Utah Legislature. We organized a "Faith, Hunger and Homelessness Day" during the first week of the legislative session, communicated with our individual legislators throughout the 45 day session, gave them Valentine's Day messages, and sent a sign-on letter to legislators during the final week of the session. The most important accomplishment made during the session for improving Utah's response to family homelessness was securing funding to staff and open a second shelter for families with children in Salt Lake County. In the summer of 2022 we learned that the existing family shelter was full and that children were sleeping in cars and tents. In 2023 funding was secured to purchase a hotel and convert it into a second family shelter so that every child sleeping outside could be offered a warm, safe place to sleep. A hotel in South Salt Lake City has been purchased for this purpose and is in the process of being renovated so that it meets fire code and other safety requirements. With funding for staff becoming available at the beginning of the state fiscal year, on July 1, 2024, we can expect this facility to open soon. This funding was FACE Hunger and Homelessness's top priority for the session and we are grateful that Governor Cox championed it and the Legislature included it in the budget. The second accomplishment in addressing family homelessness made by legislators was the inclusion of family homelessness as a category for specific study and planning by state leaders charged with addressing homelessness. This change to state law was made in HB 298, sponsored by Representative Tyler Clancy from Provo. The original version of the bill made other changes to the state's strategic planing process but did not require developing plans to meet the unique challenges faced by families with children experiencing homelessness. We want to thank Representative Jennifer Dailey-Provost and Representative Gay Lynn Bennion for working on a floor amendment to add the consideration of family homelessness to the state strategic planning process and to also thank Representative Clancy for understanding the importance of the amendment and supporting the change to his bill. Given the fact that our state has just decided to officially include the study of family homelessness in it's strategic planning process for addressing homelessness, I would like to propose a twelve month plan for promoting two important bills that would reduce family homeless in Utah:
We will be having a meeting to discuss these two ideas for bills next week on Zoom on Wednesday, March 13 at noon. If we reach an agreement that we want to prioritize these two bills I would like propose that we proceed to set up two meetings a month with elected officials and potential allies to build support for them. The first monthly meeting would be in-person in Salt Lake County and would focus on policymakers and partners in that county. The second meeting would be virtual and would focus on talking to leaders from other counties so that our understanding of this issue can be more statewide. |    |
