Homeless population in Salt Lake City

Almost every year, various communities that benefit from federal funding to assist in combating homelessness are expected to identify all homeless individuals and families among their population. This paper focuses on highlighting the homeless population in Salt Lake City (Neuhaus, 2017). Besides, the paper explores the assessment and analysis of the community represented by the homeless population in Salt Lake City with the objective of developing effective intervention measures. Upon the identification of the problem and challenges facing this particular group of people, the paper involves a discussion of the resources and constraints that this population is expected to tackle in the process of finding a long-term solution. Primarily, the paper focuses on the exploration of community-based interventions that can be used in addressing the challenges facing the homeless population in Salt Lake City. People comprising of homeless families and individuals in Salt Lake City have been facing various concerns, and difficulties which makes it critical to highlight their plight and adopt community assessment and analysis approaches with the aim of implementing effective and reliable community-based interventions. 

Community Assessment and Analysis 

Upon conducting the community assessment on the homeless population in Salt Lake City, several problems were identified. Some of the significant issues identified from doing the community assessment included crime and drugs abuse, panhandling, hygiene and cleanliness as well as homelessness and lack of appropriate infrastructure (Dluhy, 2013). 

Community Assessment 

Most of the of the members of this community who were interviewed raised concern about the increasing rates of drug and substance abuse as well as crime among the young people living within the homeless population in Salt Lake City. Some of these researchers have argued that drug dealers usually tend to prey on the youth living among the homeless populations while using the existence of masses of people in these areas as a way of concealing their illegal activities (Neuhaus, 2017). Others have observed that the presence of police in these areas would play a vital role in scaring away some of the perpetrators of crime and drug peddling among members of the homeless population in Salt Lake City. 

Panhandling is another problem that was identified following the conduction of community assessment within this particular homeless population. Mark Smith confirmed that panhandling is among the issues of considerable concern for homeless people at Salt Lake City. Besides, there has been a rapid increase and expansion of this practice throughout different areas of Salt Lake City over the past couple of years. According to Mohammed & Tarboton (2012), there are varying perceptions regarding the extent of the spread of panhandling among member of this particular community. Some people have indicated that community members in different areas of Salt Lake City usually consider panhandler panhandlers as people who engage in profitable business activities while pretending to be among the homeless. Other people are of the view that the success of panhandlers in among the communities living around Salt Lake City is mostly attributable to the generosity of the Utah community among others. 

Observing hygiene and cleanliness has proved to be one of the significant challenges that the homeless people at the Salt Lake City have been facing for a long time now. To this extent, Mark Smith and a substantial number of those interviewed during the community assessment exercise identified hygiene and cleanliness as a significant impediment to the enhancement of the standards of living of the homeless population at the Salt Lake City. Generally, the state of the surrounding is unpleasant and filled with litter, trash, and human waste among other forms of dirt. Some of the major downtown areas that are commonly affected by this situation of poor cleanliness include300W to 600W, and 200S to 500S as well as some parts of the Gateway Mall. 

According to Mark Smith, the poor state of housing and infrastructure has remained a significant challenge among the population living at Salt Lake City for several years. Others members of this community who were interviewed in this community assessment exercise lamented that they have been dealing with the challenges associated with chronic homelessness and lack of appropriate infrastructure to the extent that the lives of most of them have always been faced with significant risks. Mark Smith also mentioned that the weak housing model in these areas is partly responsible for the present state of affairs where a considerable section of the population at Salt Lake City. 

Target Population 

The target population for this particular community project included the homeless individuals and families living within Salt Lake City. An interview with Mr. Mark Smith revealed that the count for Salt Lake City in the year 2017 indicated that a significant number of people were sleeping outdoors. In that regard, it is worth highlighting the plight of these individuals before it escalates to a humanitarian crisis that is already brewing. According to information Vital Statistics in the year 2015, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development reported that more than 564 000 individuals who were homeless across different regions including the Salt Lake City in the United States were often forced to seek for shelter on various streets. During the community assessment exercise, Mark Smith pointed out that many people in this area had managed to witness cases of drug and crime happening almost daily. Nonetheless, researchers have had different arguments and opinions concerning how this particular population is related to issues of crime and drug abuse. 

Community diagnosis 

Most streets within the Salt Lake City region have, for a long time, been converted into homes for many homeless people. In recent days, Salt Lake City has been experiencing convulsion owing to the situation happening within the downtown shelter situated along a one-time district that hosts shops and high-end condos (Martell, 2010). Although officials of government agencies working in this area have indicated that a more extensive section of the population is blameless concerning the challenges that they experience, it is noteworthy that the Salt Lake City region is often be described as being prone to violence (Mohammed, and Tarboton, 2012). Some community intervention experts have argued that the nature of violence that is commonly experienced within this area is largely attributable to factors like opioid addictions, issues related to mental disorders, unfavorable economic conditions, and high prevalence of poverty among others. 

Among members of the community living within the Salt Lake City region, high levels of addiction to drugs and substance has contributed to the shoving of young people including men and women out of homes, and jobs. Such young people have ended up seeking for livelihood and shelter in various streets (Pearson, Montgomery & Locke, 2009). Traditionally, concerns involving healthcare, unemployment, and housing have led to the spawning of which often face individuals struggling on lower economic classes, but homelessness among the population within the Salt Lake City remains a significant challenge that requires community-based measures and interventions. 

The top three causes of death in the community include Poor state of healthcare, drug addiction, and shallow temperatures. As part of the leading causes of death among the communities living within the Salt Lake City, the dilapidated state of health facilities and healthcare service delivery has continued to deteriorate. Most of those interviewed observed that the issues and challenges emanating from the present state of healthcare among their populations are not proving to sources of inequality but considerably contribute to loss of life among members of the communities (Carpenter, 2015). Others who are unable to find any form of sheltie are usually vulnerable to diseases and infections that eventually lead to loss of their lives since they rarely receive any quality medical attention. 

Addiction and excessive consumption of drugs and substance among the youth is another major cause of death among the homeless population of Salt Lake City. In this regard, overconsumption and abuse of drug and substance have been reported as a practice that is increasing among the majority of young people in the Salt Lake City region (Edward, 2012). Previous studies have been able to establish that those deaths associated with violence in families and street murders among the homeless population of Salt Lake City are mainly attributable to cases of drug addiction. Other forms of death such as suicides among the member of this particular community are also linked to drug addiction. 

Whenever the temperatures at the Salt Lake City drop especially during winters, most people among the homeless population living in these areas find it extremely difficult to proceed with their daily activities (Hess, 2012). During such weather changes, a significant number of the old age and infants often succumb to the extremely low temperatures owing to lack of appropriate shelter that would help in providing the necessary warmth to them. Officers working with the police department at the Salt Lake City Police have always recorded significant deaths resulting from exposure to extreme weather conditions among the homeless population. 

Problem Identification 

The problem that forms part of the focus of this project is that of homelessness among the community living in Salt Lake City. It is necessary for this project to place more emphasis on addressing the issues of homelessness as one of the plights of the population in the Salt Lake City since it is largely linked to other causes of their poor standards of living. Moreover, the issue of homelessness among the people in this community has previously resulted in a considerable number of deaths especially among the infants and older individuals (Hoch, 2015). 

The face of the homeless population in the Salt Lake City has attempted to go through different forms of changes over the last couple of years owing to attempts by the relevant bodies in developing and implementing plans to enhance their standards of living. However, it is noteworthy that many things still need to be done in addressing the concerns associated with homelessness and lack of decent life among this particular population (Toro et al ., 2014). Salt Lake City’s homeless population comprises of various sub-populations which include single mothers with children, families with children, young people, old people, and veterans among others. 

Goal and Objectives 

The goal of this community project is to address the plight of the homeless population in Salt Lake City with a view of finding long-term solutions through community-based interventions. In the short term, the goal of this project is to develop and propose community-based interventions that will focus on offering collaborative services to the homeless population at Salt Lake City in their present state (Edward, 2012). The project focuses on developing efficient and effective ways of assisting homeless families and individuals to move away from the streets and subsequently move into suitable forms of housing. The level of prevention will be secondary in the sense that it will focus on avoidance of a situation where more families and individuals will continue moving to streets to seek shelter and livelihood. The rationale is based on ways of avoiding further deterioration of the conditions of those already in the streets within Salt Lake City. In line with the federal government's agenda for prevention and building of a healthier nation, this project will support the objective of Healthy People 2020 by developing and proposing measures aimed at eliminating preventable threats to the health of the community in Salt Lake City (Hansen et al. , 2018). 

Resources 

The available resources that can facilitate the conduction of this project included include members of the local community who are willing to share the relevant information and participate in the implementation of the proposed community-based interventions. The other resource consists of the public library that is vital in provided documented facts and statistics concerning the geographical, and additional information related to the population living in this region. Besides, there will be the instruments of conducting multimedia campaign to educate people about the importance of decent homes and hygiene, learning resources from the library, trainers, and legislative bodies (Carpenter, 2015). 

Constraints 

The constants faced in conducting this project included a lack of appropriate support from the community members, where some of them were not willing to be interviewed or share any critical information (Brino-Dean, 2006). Other constraints included limited time where only a few individuals were interviewed, and the region was not entirely exhausted. 

Community-Based Intervention 

The proposed community-based intervention proposed by this project in addressing the issue of homelessness among the population living within Salt Lake City will involve several activities. These activities will include mass communication, education, skill development, and development of healthy public policies. In this respect, the resources that will be required for these will be needed the instruments of conducting multimedia campaign to educates people about the importance of decent homes and hygiene, learning resources from the library, trainers, and legislative bodies. The timeline for the implementation of the intervention will range between six and eighteen months. In the process of conducting this proposed community-based intervention, the project recommends the incorporation of various activities public health engagements, training, and educational initiatives, mass communication programs, skills development sessions, and policy formulation among others. The rationale for the selection of this particular community-based intervention includes elements such as the need to secure decent standards of living as a priority, improving the face of homeless families and individuals in the Salt Lake City's population, and creation of opportunities associated with transformative development (Huffman, 2018). The outcome of this particular intervention involves improved standards of living for the population with few or no people living in the streets, significant reduction in cases of drug abuse and crime, and enhanced the state of healthcare (Allen, Hammack & Himes, 2012). The evaluation of the success or failure of this intervention will be based on its ability to lead to the attainment of the expected outcomes. 

Conclusion 

In summing up, it is clear that populations comprising of homeless people in Salt Lake City have been experiencing several challenges and difficulties which makes it critical to highlight their plight and adopt community assessment and analysis approaches with the aim of implementing effective and reliable community-based interventions. Thus, it is necessary for this project to place more emphasis on addressing the issues of homelessness as one of the plights of the population in the Salt Lake City since it considerably leads to other causes of their poor standards of living. The identified community-based intervention is essential in establishing efficient and effective ways of assisting homeless families and individuals to move away from streets and subsequently move into suitable forms of housing. 

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