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New permanent supportive housing in SLC helps fight homelessness

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SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City and State officials celebrated the completion of a new permanent supportive housing complex Thursday.

The Magnolia, located at 165 south and 300 east in Salt Lake City, will provide permanent housing to 65 individuals. Officials at the ribbon cutting event said it was one major step in the continued fight against homelessness.

"Today is a good day," said Michelle Flynn, Executive Director of The Road Home, one of the partners in the project and the group managing the complex. "We've never needed this kind of housing more, and coming out of the pandemic and really, really understanding how important safe and stable housing is to your health."

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The $17 million Magnolia complex houses 65 studio apartments, meant for single men and women experiencing homelessness.

"It is really here as a supportive service type of housing for people who have experienced chronic homelessness," Flynn added. "That means they've been homeless for over a year, many for many, many more years than that."

It's not just a place to call home. The ground floor of the complex will house various homeless services and will connect residents to organizations like the 4th Street Clinic, and the Department of Workforce Services.

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"This type of property, which is called permanent supportive housing, is an evidence based best practice," Flynn said. "We have an over 95% success rate in our permanent supportive housing programs. Meaning that people stay housed."

"I've been from St. George to Logan, out to Tooele. There's homeless situations in every city here in this state," said Wayne Niederhauser, Utah's new state homeless coordinator.

Niederhauser added that providing stable housing to individuals is only one piece of the homelessness puzzle.

"It's the supportive services that must follow that to help people heal and to help them change their lives," he added.

"The magnolia is the kind of collaboration between our city and the private sector and our amazing service provider organizations that makes us who we are as a community," said Salt Lake City Mayor, Erin Mendenhall, during the ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday.

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Residents of the Magnolia sign a one-year lease with rent subsidized through Section 8 housing vouchers through the Salt Lake City Housing Authority.

"That means that they only pay 30% of their income towards rent," Flynn said. "So, if their income goes down, they pay less money towards rent and the voucher pays more, and if their income goes up then they pay a little bit more."

The Magnolia adds more capacity to The Road Home's existing permanent supportive housing services, which includes the 201-unit Palmer Court and 32-unit Wendell Apartments. Residents are expected to move in in the middle of July.