SALT LAKE CITY — As Salt Lake City debates where people can sleep outside, one man worries whether help can still find those who need it.
At the Switchpoint Overflow Shelter, Lanny Outcalt is often the first person people see— walking the halls, checking in, making sure others are okay.
“I like being able to help people who are still struggling with something that I’ve struggled through,” said Outcalt.
Not long ago, he was on the other side of the door— sleeping in his car and keeping his distance.
“I preferred sleeping away from people… somewhere off the beaten path,” he admitted, adding that staying hidden felt safer. “A lot of people have the same mindset that I had… You do your best not to be seen.”
That mindset is exactly what makes outreach so difficult.
On Wednesday, First Step House, the behavioral health and housing programs in Salt Lake City, launched the mobile mental health team focused on people living outside with serious mental illness.
“They go and visit those people wherever they are… a nurse, a therapist, a psychiatrist, a peer support specialist,” explained Mary with First Step House.
The team’s goal is to reach people who may not seek help on their own.
“The first thing that a person receives is a message that they matter… that somebody cares enough to come see them,” explained Jared Ferguson, Dir. of Mental Health Services, First Step House.
The launch comes as Salt Lake City considers stricter rules on where people can sleep outside. The city claims the goal is to make the existing rules clearer and keep public places safe and accessible.
Dozens of people spoke during public comment on the subject during Tuesday’s City Council meeting, with some warning that stricter rules could make outreach even harder.
“For me, it pushed me farther away… further off the beaten path,” said Outcalt.
It’s that gap that outreach workers are trying to close.
According to Outcalt, what finally changed his life was someone meeting him where he was. Now, he’s trying to do the same for others.
“Helping them find the hope that I once didn’t have…” he said.
The new mobile team will eventually serve about 100 people. Meanwhile, the City Council has delayed action on the camping ordinance, leaving Salt Lake City to still weigh how to address public camping without pushing people farther from help.