As some Salt Lake County homeless advocates raise concerns about space constraints within the area’s new system for delivering homeless services moving into winter, Northern Utah is facing its own capacity issues.
The Lantern House in Ogden, the largest homeless shelter north of Salt Lake City, had to “significantly decrease” its bed count from 300 to 211 in July because of code requirements, according to Lauren Navidomskis, the facility’s executive director. In September, the shelter opened its Soup Kitchen as an overflow area to accommodate 63 more people.
“Thankfully, we have been able to manage with this number,” Navidomskis said of the 26-bed deficit, “although we know that the colder months are here and each night we worry about how many could get turned away.