HISTORY

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Looking for immediate shelter?

Call The Homeless Services Line:

801-990-9999

Other Resources:

Experiencing a housing crisis?

Our team may be able to help you find the resources you’re in need of. Please call Our Housing Hotline:

801.359.2444

Team members available: M–F between 9am–5pm

If you have questions about any other resource in the community:

  • Utilities
  • Employment
  • Transportation
  • More

Please call: 211

Agency History and Overview

Since 1923, The Road Home has served as a cornerstone of Salt Lake County’s community. Originally established as the Travelers Aid Society to help stranded travelers, over the years, our agency has changed and grown to meet the ever-increasing needs of people who have become homeless.

From 1982-1988, Travelers Aid Society operated emergency shelters for men, women, and children in temporary locations. It was in November 1988 that the Salt Lake Community Shelter and Resource Center was identified, established, and first opened at 210 S. Rio Grande Street, Salt Lake City.

In October 2001, we officially changed our name to The Road Home to better reflect our mission of helping people step out of homelessness and back into our community through emergency services, personalized case management and collaboration with additional resources. We have adapted and innovated to provide leading-edge services that help families and individuals lift themselves out of homelessness.

Our programs include emergency shelter since 1986, housing programs since 1992, and supportive services, including case management and housing navigation. Starting in 2005, we began operating under the Housing First approach, a national best practice showing that moving people into homes as quickly as possible is the best way to address homelessness.

The Road Home began operating the Community Winter Shelter in Midvale City in 1998, initially providing temporary shelter to adult men. In 2010, we transitioned to serving families at the Community Winter Shelter, then rebuilt the former celery warehouse into a new resource center and re-opened for up to 300 individuals in families in November 2015.

In 2009, we became the central Rapid Re-housing provider for families in our county. We implement Housing First principles in all our programs, where we focus on helping people quickly move into a home with supports to help them remain housed.

Recognizing the community need, in 2007 The Road Home partnered with Shelter the Homeless to purchase a former Holiday Inn hotel and renovated it to become Palmer Court, located at 999 S. Main Street in Salt Lake City. Palmer Court is a 201-unit Permanent Supportive Housing complex for individuals who have experienced chronic homelessness.

In January 2015, The Road Home began operating the newly renovated Wendell Apartments, another Permanent Supportive Housing complex with 32 units.

In 2019, the Salt Lake Community Shelter and Resource Center closed, and three new resource centers were opened. The Road Home immediately began operating the Men’s Resource Center, then in 2020 began operating the Gail Miller Resource Center, while still operating the Midvale Family Resource Center and providing housing navigation staff for all four resource centers, as well as operating long-term housing complexes and various scattered-site housing.

The Road Home remains deeply committed to: being a safe refuge for people otherwise living on the streets and extremes of weather; providing supportive services to help people connect to community resources; supporting people in their successful transition out of shelter into housing, as quickly as possible; and operating permanent housing solutions for people experiencing homelessness for various lengths of time.