Shelter The Homeless, The Road Home, and the city of South Salt Lake have announced a planning application has been submitted to remodel and open the former Motel 6 at 315 W. 3300 South as a Family Interim Housing Facility. 

“We are grateful for the support from South Salt Lake’s mayor and city leadership and are committed to engaging with the community in a collaborative and transparent manner,” said Laurie Hopkins, executive director of Shelter The Homeless. “Working together we can establish the foundation for a successful partnership to provide families with a safe and productive place to help them get back on their feet.”

South Salt Lake held their first-ever joint city council and planning commission meeting Aug. 21 for examining the proposal for the new development. The new facility will provide interim housing for families who are experiencing homelessness with support services to help them find a permanent home or other long-term solution. The project provides an additional program option and capacity to better meet the current need and help avoid turning families away due to lack of space. 

“No parent should be faced with the reality of not being able to provide shelter for their family and no child should have to sleep in their car this winter,” said South Salt Lake Mayor Cherie Wood. “Every family deserves a roof over their head and access to the tools that help them achieve self-sufficiency.”

The new family facility, which will be operated by The Road Home, will provide safe, stable interim housing with onsite services for 70 to 80 families staying in private rooms. 

"Our team at The Road Home has worked with South Salt Lake to develop a strong, supportive partnership over the past five years," said Michelle Flynn, executive director of The Road Home. "We know how much this community cares about children and families and look forward to developing a welcoming, safe and supportive environment for families to build the connections they need and move quickly into stable housing."

The program would be "housing focused" and would receive referrals from the coordinated entry system, meaning it would not be a walk-up facility. Prioritization would be given to families with newborns and small infant children, families of five and under, families with children already enrolled in the Granite School District and families with medical needs.

Private rooms, daily meals, K-12 school access, referrals to community services like day care, housing management, weekly visit opportunities with medical providers, case management, 24-hour staff and security would be among the services offered at the facility.

Since 2020, Utah has seen a 27% increase in families experiencing homelessness. In the past year, The Road Home outreach staff reports serving a total of 86 households—270 people, including 180 children—who were living somewhere not meant for human habitation.

Additionally, The Road Home reported having to turn away approximately 834 families—approximately 3,100 people, two-thirds of whom were children—in the past year.

The increasing number of unsheltered children was a topic raised several times during the public comment session Aug. 21.

The new facility would bring the state closer to its goal of expanding the number of shelter beds. The second emergency family shelter was declared a "top priority" by state homeless officials last year, with the Utah Homeless Council dedicating $3 million toward a facility.

"We know it's a heavy lift for your city, and it's much appreciated, at least from my point of view," Utah Homeless Coordinator and former lawmaker Wayne Niederhauser told the commission and council. "We appreciate the consideration here tonight. This is a need that we have seen for several years now, the need for additional beds for families because families are being turned away from these necessary, temporary hopefully, housing situations which is called shelter."

The city would receive additional funding in the 2026 fiscal year, from the homeless mitigation fund, if the facility were approved. Additional funding for winter overflow beds would be provided if the facility were to be open by then. However, the growing number of facilities housed by the city and the costs associated were a point of frustration for the mayor and members of the council.

"We have—for a small city—figured some things out, but we are now at a tipping point and cannot take any more. This makes sense, we had to develop the Promise South Salt Lake program to stabilize our community. We will welcome these families and do all that we can to help it be successful. But at some point in time, there has to be a line in the sand and I think we're there. I think we're far past there, and we need some help from larger agencies to help us get the ball across the goal," Wood said.

No formal decision was made by the council or planning commission. The initial proposal aimed to open the facility prior to cold temperatures hitting this year. λ