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PARK CITY — The flashlight's beam scattered as it hit the growing snowdrifts near the transit stop on Landmark Drive. It was hours before the early morning winter recreators would arrive and the perfect place for someone to seek shelter.
The flashlight traveled slowly across the area before Matt Melville, director of programs for Christian Center of Park City, clicked the light off and shifted the truck back into gear. The snow crunched beneath the tires of the truck as it navigated back to the road slowly, headlights slicing in the black morning.
"It is definitely different up here versus in Salt Lake because it's so visual — we know where the campers are, we know where the unsheltered are. ... Typically they're hiding on purpose, they don't want to be found," explained Melville. "And so in Salt Lake, you would get out and you go to your area like Washington Square and you'd walk around. Out here, it's not really ... possible to do as much walking around."
Both Melville and Hailee Hernandez work for the Christian Center of Park City, with Hernandez operating as the basic needs assistance data coordinator. Prior to Hernandez's position, not much data was available or recorded regarding homelessness in Summit County.
Last week, Hernandez and Melville conducted the Point in Time Count in conjunction with other teams across Summit County.
The Point in Time count is an annual attempt by cities across the country to understand how many people in their jurisdictions are experiencing homelessness, or are unsheltered, on a single night in January.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development then provides data regarding sheltered and unsheltered persons experiencing homelessness, by household type and subpopulation, using numbers from the overnight headcount.
Hernandez organized the biggest group in Summit County in recent years, hoping the data gathered in the effort can help dispel common misbeliefs regarding homelessness in Park City.
"We kind of feel like it is a quiet thing and people are saying that there aren't homeless people in Park City, but there are. You probably are shopping next to them at the store or passing them on Main Street," Hernandez said. "Our director, he likes to say that our thrift store and our boutique is probably one of the very few places you can run into a billionaire and a homeless person at the same time."
Responses to homelessness
Summit County has no shelter system outside of the domestic violence shelter. Often, those directly dealing with the population are advocates or first responders.
Due to the lack of shelter and dangerous conditions, the Christian Center of Park City works closely with the Park City Police Department. The department has a dedicated homeless liaison to work with advocates to understand the unsheltered population's needs. Every officer's vehicle is equipped with emergency homeless kits and sleeping bags, Hernandez added.
Our director, he likes to say that our thrift store and our boutique is probably one of the very few places you can run into a billionaire and a homeless person at the same time.
– Hailee Hernandez of Christian Center of Park City
"Our temperatures are so low up here it's life or death if they come across somebody that may be under the influence and a risk to themselves. So if they do come across somebody that's under the influence and a risk to themselves and the temperatures are low, they will arrest the individual," Hernandez said. "I mean, it's understandable but it's still adding barriers. We do our best to kind of provide them with resources and, hopefully, ways to address the situations."
For the first time this year, Summit County and Wasatch County received emergency temporary hotel vouchers for the winter from the State Office of Homelessness. Additionally, the Christian Center of Park City has extended outreach through a contract with Community Action. The expansion will create more options for clients and distribute cases between agencies.
People often will camp or sleep in their vehicles while unsheltered in Summit County. One of the Christian Center's clients was a single mother of five children who camped during the summer, said Hernandez.
Parking overnight can present a conflict for some areas, as well as unsanctioned camping. Advocates said they'll continue to work with Park City police to address these issues. Hernandez added that often there's significant warnings regarding unsanctioned camping, and when items are removed they're placed into evidence so people can be reunited with their belongings.
'A tale of two cities'
The homeless population in different counties across the state can look different. Homelessness can be more visible in Salt Lake City than in other counties, but the demographics of those experiencing homelessness can be different between counties as well.
The homeless population the Christian Center of Park City serves is 21.5% under the age of 18, with families being a main factor. The biggest branch of the population is 41% between the ages of 45 and 65.
Being unsheltered in Summit County presents a different range of barriers. The snow that draws tourists from across the world can pose a risk to those unsheltered. The snow paired with dangerously cold temperatures, dropping below zero degrees, can make survival difficult.
Surprisingly. advocates said there have been no recorded deaths in Summit County this winter.
I call it ... the Charles Dickens' 'Tale of Two Cities.' It's the best of times, it's the worst of times. Some people here are doing really, really well — this is their third or fourth home. And there are a lot of people that are supporting this whole industry who are living on the margins.
– Matt Melville of Christian Center of Park City
"I think the people that are up here and are unsheltered, I think they're better equipped for it. You do have to have better survival skills up here to survive when you got 5 feet of snow everywhere," Melville said.
"Our unsheltered guests — they're definitely a lot different than the Salt Lake's typical person. There's a lot more vices readily available in Salt Lake and I think that's a challenge for some of the people down there. Whereas up here I don't see issues with addiction as prominent as what we saw when we were in Salt Lake," he added.
Park City's unsheltered population largely helps support the industry that attracts revenue and tourists to the city. Many are seasonal workers who cannot afford housing.
"This is their home. We have a lot of seasonal workers who love the outdoors and they make careers out of it. And unfortunately, their careers cannot support the housing here," Hernandez said.
"I call it, you know, the Charles Dickens' 'Tale of Two Cities.' It's the best of times, it's the worst of times. Some people here are doing really, really well — this is their third or fourth home. And there are a lot of people that are supporting this whole industry who are living on the margins. They're living with three other families in a two-bedroom home, trying to get by, " said Melville, "because they also want to live in Park City for the reasons we do. We've got fresh air, there's great activities, it's safe, it's clean, but they can't afford to do it."
The contrast was clear during the Point In Time Count as the team slowly browsed parking lots across the city.
"That's the irony out here too. I mean that right there, that's probably close to $150,000 worth of a ride next to somebody that's barely surviving in a car like that one," said Melville. "See, they're more prepared. They've got more stickers. It's kind of interesting because the reflectives is a sign that either they're kind of either in it for the haul, or that is just kind of their ski bum mentality."
From the client's point of view
Stacey has been unsheltered for nine months, after a yearlong stay in the domestic violence shelter. She's been working on getting disability payments for nearly two years due to her bursitis in the hips, fibromyalgia lumbar three and four, stage 3 kidney disease and arthritis.
She works at the Christian Center and helps run the food bank. The center provides a food pantry and services to approximately 29 clients. Helping at the food bank is one of the ways Stacey is able to access food. Working other jobs can be difficult for Stacey, who asked that her last name not be used, due to her physical health.
"I don't have money to ... I can't work really. I can't stand up. I can't work hard like that because of all my pain in my body," she said. "And so I need a low-income housing ... and it's really hard. I don't know any way I'm going to be able to get housing, I don't see it in the future for me unless I get low-income."
Stacey said she became homeless after she fled a domestic violence situation.
"I lived in a nine-bathroom home with 17 acres for 10 years. I drove a BMW, and (now) I'm homeless," she said. "He didn't care. He thinks I deserve to be homeless. So who would have thought I would be homeless? People don't think that people like me would be homeless, but I tell people I'm homeless so that it makes it real. I don't want to be homeless, I'm not doing drugs, I don't drink. I don't have a choice, I'm disabled."
Without family to help her, Stacey often relies on the Christian Center, and she says the people there have become family to her. She hopes in the future to open a healing art studio for women and children affected by domestic violence.
"Women kind of lose themselves and what with their abuser because they're always taking care of them," said Stacey. "Women, and men too, but women forget that they're valuable too."
