{"id":2107,"date":"2021-05-26T17:19:42","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T17:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/photos.sltrib.com\/projects\/?page_id=2107"},"modified":"2021-06-07T22:11:35","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T22:11:35","slug":"without-access-to-a-homeless-shelter-in-utah-county-heres-where-some-people-experiencing-homelessness-are-sleeping-on-the-streets","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/photos.sltrib.com\/projects\/without-access-to-a-homeless-shelter-in-utah-county-heres-where-some-people-experiencing-homelessness-are-sleeping-on-the-streets\/","title":{"rendered":"ph"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Nicknamed \u201cHappy Valley,\u201d Utah County has the gleaming tech offices of Silicon Slopes and the tidy campuses of Brigham Young and Utah Valley universities \u2014 and not one homeless shelter.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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But hundreds of unsheltered people live in the county, which has the state\u2019s second largest population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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donate\/grant spot<\/p>Through a grant from the Local Media Association, The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting on homelessness in Utah communities outside of the Salt Lake Valley. If you\u2019d like to support work like this, please consider a donation.<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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With no emergency shelter where people can sleep overnight, providers try to offer transitional housing or permanent places to live \u2014 or pay for a few nights in hotels, for those who need immediate help.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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But this safety net has holes. People who fall through them can end up sleeping outdoors, often choosing hidden spots to avoid detection by police and the community.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Kevin Roy Vearling Evans, 61, sleeps on even the coldest of nights without a tent, in an effort to avoid receiving a camping ticket from the Provo Police Department.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI prefer if I got a warm sleeping bag, you know, I just lay it in the dirt,\u201d he said. But frostbite has been getting to his fingers recently, he said, even on warmer spring evenings.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Evans has spent many nights over the last few weeks behind this dumpster in Provo. He sleeps on the ground with the lid propped open over him, to protect him from rain or snow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know, the little bit of shelter goes a long ways with me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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But after receiving some pushback from a nearby business, Kevin recently moved to a different dumpster enclosure to spend the night.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a good little area to hide,\u201d he said of the new spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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People experiencing homelessness have become less visible since Provo passed its camping ordinance in 2018, many homeless advocates agree. But that doesn\u2019t mean they aren\u2019t there.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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To avoid police, they\u2019ve simply moved into surrounding cities, the canyons and harder-to-find places within Provo.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cYou can’t find them when they don’t want to be found,\u201d said advocate Sandra Bennett. With the Genesis Project, a nondenominational church in Provo, she helps distribute supplies each week to people experiencing homelessness.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThey\u2019re basically invisible,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Some people sleep in their cars \u2014 including Jackie Davidson, 75, who said she has three or four spots that she moves her car between to avoid suspicion. Others couch surf or stay overnight in a 24-hour laundromat.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Edgar Gago, 65, recently found refuge for a night on a bench on University Avenue, where he said he was only able to sleep three hours. But the police didn\u2019t bother him there, he said, because he slept upright and \u201cdidn\u2019t break the rules” against camping.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Many people experiencing homelessness hesitate to divulge where they sleep in Utah County, out of fear of police crackdowns. But outreach workers with Wasatch Mental Health say they have places they typically check, including underneath the freeway or bridges, in little-frequented alleys and behind buildings.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Outreach workers say they have found people sleeping <\/strong>in these Provo spots:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Advocates disagree about whether Utah County needs an emergency overnight shelter.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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But at least some people experiencing homelessness want one \u2014 including Danny Herring, 52, who said he would go to a shelter, at least \u201cfor a while.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t sleep out at night,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t panhandle. You can\u2019t hardly do anything. So all the homeless people around here in Provo and stuff, they have a really hard time getting by.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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trentn@sltrib.com<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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