Once homeless vets bumped from VA campus in Utah

From The Salt Lake Tribune in Utah:

It's much better than living on the street.

That's what Bret Lindsey reminds himself when he's feeling unhappy about his new living arrangements.

But since he and other formerly homeless veterans were moved from a transitional housing complex on the Department of Veterans Affairs campus to an old motel near Salt Lake City International Airport, Lindsey said he can't help but feel a bit put out.

The recovering heroin addict used to have a five-minute walk to appointments at the George E. Wahlen VA Medical Center, near the University of Utah. Now, he and others say, it can take up to an hour and a half to get from the former Day's Inn to the VA hospital -- and Lindsey said he has to dodge drug dealers near the bus stop.

"I haven't relapsed, but there are guys here who have," Lindsey said. "And a lot of guys aren't making it to all of their appointments anymore."

Scores of residents are sharing two washing machines and two dryers while they wait for a new coin-operated laundry to be installed by the Housing Authority of Salt Lake City, which runs the complex, now known as Freedom Landing. Promised in-room kitchenettes have not materialized, so tenants are limited to microwave meals and some wash dishes in bathroom showers. Their "one-bedroom" apartments are studios with a plywood barrier erected down the center.

When the nonprofit housing authority's director, Bill Nighswonger, asked the Salt Lake City Council to help fund the motel's purchase, he pledged it would "be a landmark at the edge of our beautiful city showing the rest of the world how we care for our homeless."

Nighswonger said he stands by that promise. He rejects the notion that the complex -- at 1900 W. North Temple -- is in a troubled part of town, pointing out the city and state have dropped millions of redevelopment dollars on the capital's west side. He also emphasized that the Utah Transit Authority plans to build a light rail line right past Freedom Landing that will make commuting to the VA campus a breeze. But the line isn't expected to open until 2015.

For now, he adds, the Housing Authority offers residents an old van on occasion, and taxi vouchers for important trips.

But a group of veterans playing cards in the lobby one recent afternoon all said they take a bus or bum rides from the few residents with cars.

A shuttle "would be really good for me, because right now I have to take two buses to get to the VA," said Ken Dunlap as he listened to recordings of scripture in his dimly-lit room. "It takes me an hour and a half to get up there and an hour and a half to get back."

The transit authority's online planner suggests it takes 51 minutes on a Friday afternoon to get from Freedom Landing to the VA campus. But some veterans say that's only if they make transfers on time -- and they note that itinerary includes more than a half mile of walking, including a mid-trip, two-block transfer that has to be completed in nine minutes. Aging and disabled, some of the veterans simply can't move that fast.

VA spokeswoman Jill Atwood acknowledged the location isn't the most desirable for veterans. "It wasn't our choice to put them there," she said. "It was the Housing Authority's choice."

Atwood said the VA's homeless program manager is aware that some residents are not happy. Nonetheless, she stressed, "we're just happy to have someplace for them that is off the streets."

The Housing Authority has had a transitional housing center known as Valor House on the VA campus since 2001. But the prospect of a move has been on the table for years. And VA officials now need the space to provide in-patient care for a surge in veterans in need of substance abuse or psychiatric treatment.

Ultimately, the VA told the housing authority to give up half of Valor House by January and vacate by September.

Nighswonger said he didn't have time to shop around, and saw the motel as a good opportunity for veterans. His organization took the risky step of agreeing to purchase the $5.65 million motel before it had secured full funding. It has since asked the city to approve a no-interest loan for $519,000 and forgive another $179,000 loan from 2001. It has also requested a $500,000 grant from Salt Lake County.

A new Valor House is scheduled to open on the VA campus in 2012, but the Housing Authority will keep Freedom Landing as well. Nighswonger said veterans' demand for transitional housing will likely grow as hundreds of thousands return home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nighswonger, himself a veteran, received $162,000 in compensation for his role with the Housing Authority in 2008, the last year its IRS documents are available at Guidestar.org. He rejects some residents' suspicions that the Housing Authority would try to use ita federal housing vouchers to pad salaries or fund other projects.

He acknowledged, however, that the authority is hoping the federal government will reimburse it at the one-bedroom rate for the rooms with plywood barriers. He said that could amount to $75 to $100 more than a studio rate, but said the real reason the barriers were built was to give residents privacy.

"That's something nice we've tried to do to provide a private sleeping accommodation," he said.

That doesn't make sense to resident Cayman Thomas. "These are single-occupant rooms, so what kind of privacy are they talking about?" he asked. "They're trying to get extra money from the government for putting us in a so-called one-bedroom space that is in every way the same as a studio."

The federal government pays $660 a month for Thomas' studio. According to online rental finders, that price could fetch a two-bedroom apartment with a kitchen much closer to the VA campus -- though without utilities thrown in, as is the case at Freedom's Landing.

Thomas said he appreciates that Freedom Landing has more private rooms than Valor House did, a sentiment echoed by several other residents. The Navy veteran also likes the proximity to The Red Iguana, a famous Mexican eatery that is one of the area's few non-fast food restaurants.

But Thomas doesn't like to walk the two miles there if he can't get back before dusk.

"I've been followed. I've been offered drugs. I've been offered young boys and young girls for sex -- when you live on the VA campus, you're not exposed to those sorts of things," he said. "What an extraordinary entrepreneurial environment we are now living in."