Homeless charity program about to be homeless itself

By Mike Anderson

WEST VALLEY CITY — A program designed to help the homeless may soon be homeless itself, after the building organizers were renting was foreclosed on.

The Salt Lake City Mission is now fighting to keep its Men's Recovery Home in West Valley City open.

"I've got my life back, my family back, everything. All the bridges I thought were burnt are back." -Shaun Fackrell, formerly homeless

Program participant Shaun Fackrell is what you might call a success story. He was homeless for two years; now he is a pastor at the Salt Lake City Mission.

"After a while, I had kinda lost hope," Fackrell said. "(I) just kind of did what I could to get by, just kind of settled myself to be on the streets.

He got off the streets with the help of the Men's Recovery Home.

"I have this perfect job where I'm happy to come to work every day," Fackrell said. "I've got my life back, my family back, everything. All the bridges I thought were burnt are back."

But now the four-plex that houses the recovery home has been foreclosed on, and pastors at the mission say their requests to either rent or buy the property from the bank are getting little response.

"It seems kind of down, right now, because the homeless mission's gonna be homeless and all that," Fackrell said. "But you now, He's gonna provide. I totally believe that."

"God says he doesn't give you more than you can handle. And we've got a really good crew of men, so it just seems to flowing really good." -Brad Jacques, Salt Lake City Mission spokesman.

To make matters worse, the Salt Lake City building where the mission used to house its was recently sold. The new owners asked them to leave.

Monday, the mission moved into a new space. Volunteers say they're grateful their offices have a home, even though their West Valley shelter may not.

"God says he doesn't give you more than you can handle. And we've got a really good crew of men, so it just seems to flowing really good," said Brad Jacques, spokesman for the Salt Lake City Mission.

But this group isn't losing hope. Fackrell says the mission has overcome other challenges, so why not this one?

"I'm choosing to see the positive, where it's not we're getting kicked out on the street, it's there's an opportunity for us here and God's gonna create that opportunity," he said.

Salt Lake City Mission officials were originally told to be out by June 1. They're still in the West Valley building, though, while they negotiate with the current owners: Bank of America.

A spokeswoman with Bank of America said the bank is looking into the situation, but she couldn't give a specific response in time this posting.

Email: manderson@ksl.com