Bountiful|West Bountiful Journal | November 2023

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Vol. 2 Iss. 24

Nov. 2023

ournals J THE

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Bountiful/West Bountiful

YOUR C O M M U N I T Y N E WS PA P E R

TEEN LIVING CENTER GIVES HOMELESS STUDENTS SAFE PLACE TO STAY By Becky Ginos | becky.g@davisjournal.com

LAYTON—After two years of hard work and planning, the Davis Education Foundation broke ground on Monday for a new Teen Living Center (TLC) that will give homeless students a place to stay while providing resources to keep them on track for graduation. The 10,000 square foot, 16 bed facility is located at 75 N. Fort Lane and is just east of Layton High School. “What an exciting day,” said Davis Education Foundation Executive Director, Jodi Lunt. “Because of you leaning in we have a place that we’ve dreamed of.” Lunt said a beautiful woman walked into her office about two years ago. “She knew about the Teen Centers (in the high schools) but she asked ‘where do they sleep?’” “I did walk into Jodi’s office,” said Jill Bergman, who with her husband Rod donated the money to buy the property. “At that time there were 600 homeless kids, now there are more than 1,200.” Bergman said she asked Jodi where they slept and she said in cars, empty buildings and some couch surf. “I thought I can’t let that be. So with hard work, enthusiasm and tenacity we are here today.” Heavenly Father wants them to have some place warm, safe and comfortable, she said. “I’m so grateful that a dream of mine is a reality.” Switchpoint Community Resource

City officials, Davis School District administrators, board members and members of the Davis Education Foundation turn dirt at the site of the future Teen Living Center. Photo by Roger V. Tuttle

Center, a third-party nonprofit, will provide operations for the center. “This project is so unique,” said Carol Hollowell, Switchpoint Executive Director. “To break the cycle of adult homelessness we have to help them when they’re young.

We’re all ridiculously excited about the project. We want to make people’s lives better.” “We have 19 kids who are homeless,” said Jennifer Christensen, LCSW at Mountain High. “We give them re-

sources during the day but don’t always know where to send them (after school), it’s heartbreaking. It’s amazing now that they’ll have somewhere they can go.” Continued page 2

FOOD PANTRIES FACING HIGH DEMAND AND LOWER INVENTORIES By Tom Haraldsen | t.haraldsen@mycityjournals.com

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he number of children living in poverty in the U.S. has more than doubled in the past year and a half, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It issued a release in September saying 12.4 percent of youth under 18 are living below the poverty line. That’s up from 5.2 percent in 2021, and totals over 9 million children. Inflation overall, added to the expiration of the Child Tax Credit program that Congress instituted during the pandemic, has added to the economic challenges families are facing, including here along the Wasatch Front. It’s estimated that in Utah, 1 of every 11 residents will go to bed hungry tonight. So many are turning to local food pantries for help – and that’s a problem. Food pantries are seeing lower inventories and fewer donations. With the holidays approaching, pantry leaders are alarmed. “Our needs are extreme,” said Rebekah Anderson, executive director of the Bountiful Community Food Pantry. “Every single day, we have at least one new family come in who we haven’t served before. Two weeks ago, we served over 100 families in one day – the most in a single day since I’ve been here.” She said most of the pantry’s clients

are not destitute – many come from families where both parents are employed or have second jobs. “Everyday Davis County residents are finding their paychecks aren’t going as far as in the past,” she said. “They still need help to feed their families.” At the Open Doors pantry in Layton, executive director Jason Wilde tells a similar story. “For the first nine months of this year, we’ve seen a 40 percent increase in the numbers of families we’ve served,” he said. “At least half of those are families that have never come into the pantry before. At the same time, our donations have dropped by about 10 percent. So there’s a great inequity between needs and our ability to meet them.” The Murray Children’s Pantry serves clients from throughout Salt Lake County. Jim Brass, president of the pantry board, says donations have dwindled throughout the summer, as they traditionally do, and he’s hopeful the upcoming holidays will put “people in a more giving mood.” As with Bountiful and Layton, clients have increased in numbers the past few months. “We’re hearing the biggest challenge is rent – the costs of housing,” he said. “We’ve seen our client base grow

Shelves at the Bountiful Food Pantry were full before a recent high demand for food coupled with fewer donations. (Photo by Tom Haraldsen)

by 30-40 percent some weeks. We have put together what we call family boxes – enough to feed a family of four for a week – and demand for those has steadily grown. There are new families coming in for the first time every week.” Anderson said the Bountiful Pantry

is blessed to have over 200 volunteers who help with food organization and distribution. She said one of those volunteers came back into work after being off for about a week and said “she couldn’t believe how empty our wareContinued page 7

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