Salt Lake City launched a new housing strategy Thursday aimed at helping vital blue-collar workers afford homes in Utah’s capital.
Meant for nurses, teachers, police, firefighters, dispatchers and EMTs who will work and live in the city, the Community Heroes program will put $100,000 toward down payment assistance over the next year, paid for with sales tax money from the city’s new Funding Our Future initiative.
Though they perform jobs essential to keeping the city running, officials said, many cannot afford to buy a home under current market conditions.
Bruce Schumann, a West Jordan resident, said the program could help his 25-year-old son Tyler, a former Marine who is applying to work as a city policeman, settle down closer to family in Utah.