ST. GEORGE, Utah — The only family homeless shelter in Washington County is asking state legislators for $600,000 to help meet growing demand as more families face housing insecurity in the rapidly growing region.
Switchpoint's family shelter in St. George recently expanded from five units to 15, but officials say it's still not enough to serve all the families seeking help. The shelter specifically serves families with children under 18 and is the only facility of its kind in Washington County, aside from a shelter for domestic violence victims.
Kimberly Rabadan-Sanchez and her 7-year-old son Tony are among the families currently staying at the shelter. She said they would otherwise be sleeping in their car, especially during cold weather.
"This is almost a house," Rabadan-Sanchez said. "In Salt Lake, they do not have anything like this."
Rabadan-Sanchez said she lost everything in Salt Lake City due to a divorce and the financial burden of caring for a child with autism.
The shelter's expansion has helped, but demand continues to outpace available space. Juliana Gibson, the family case manager at Switchpoint, said when the shelter had just five rooms, 45 families went through the program in seven months.
In the last month alone, at least 90 families have tried to apply for the 15 available rooms, forcing Gibson to turn families away.
"It's hard. I'm going to be honest," Gibson said. "Sometimes they'll call in, sometimes they walk in and the parents are crying. We work in this field because we're empathetic and we want to help serve."
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Gibson said many staff members have either experienced homelessness themselves or know someone who has, which helps them connect with families in crisis.
"They come and they're like, 'Oh, I didn't realize it'd be like this...' 'There's a roof' or 'I have my own bed that's not on the floor,' or things like that, and those little pieces of humanity," Gibson said.
She emphasized that families deserve stability and routine like everyone else, making it difficult when she has to deny services due to capacity constraints.
On Feb. 2, Switchpoint founder and CEO Carol Hollowell appeared before the state legislature's joint economic and development appropriations subcommittee to request $600,000 in funding. The money would help keep the shelter operating between grants.
"It's really needed because the area Washington County has grown so much over the last 12 years and we were just always at capacity as we moved families through," Hollowell said.
The funding request comes as Washington County continues to experience rapid population growth, putting additional strain on social services and affordable housing options.
Shelter officials hope legislators will see the families they serve as more than just budget line items, recognizing the human impact of their funding decisions on vulnerable children and parents seeking stability.
