Our Mission
To empower those in need by addressing the underlying cause of poverty; providing a comprehensive plan, and supporting their journey to self-sufficiency.
Our Vision
Every individual embodies their worth and value with self-esteem, hope and abilities restored, thriving in affordable housing.
What sets us apart from other homeless shelters?
- Open 24/7
- Individualized approach by assigning every client a case manager.
- Partner with over 20 nonprofits and government agencies.
- Offers several classes.
- Give clients access to computers and shower facilities for homeless individuals.
Switchpoint has been able to get more results than traditional homeless shelters where housing and food is offered, but usually not much else. All of our services are free and open to the public. We also have a community garden. The fruits and vegetables are used at the shelter and food pantry.
We operate a Thrift Store to provide affordable clothing and household items to our clients and the community. We also operate a doggy day care, Bed ‘N” Biscuits. Both businesses offer a job shadowing program for our residents and clients. All net proceeds fund the operations at the homeless shelter. We LOVE donors, volunteers, and shoppers!
Building a Community
In 2013, St. George City was seeking a solution for the growing homeless population that often comes with community growth. The current shelter had been utilized to its full extent and was tired, run down and didn’t provide opportunities for anything but a night by night band aid to those who were experiencing homelessness.
An ambitious new vision of an all-in-one resource center for the homeless and others in dire financial straights, Switchpoint, offers case management and a full array of services to try and get struggling individuals and families back on their feet, back to work and back into a home.
Switchpoint Community Resource Center takes a variety of resources available throughout the community and coordinates between different entities to offer more comprehensive help to the homeless and those struggling with poverty. With help from community partners, including charities like United Way Dixie, the Dove Center, and the Salvation Army, as well as governmental agencies such as the Department of Workforce Services, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and Washington County School District, we can proudly say that as a community we are able to be the switch point in someone’s life.
It Takes All of Us
The motto of Switchpoint is “It Takes All Of Us” which couldn’t be more true. Without the surrounding community and volunteers willing to donate their time and means, Switchpoint would not be able to function nor would it be as successful. The core of Switchpoint’s work is the dream that one day families will no longer be struggling to make ends meet. That they will have the skills they need to be self-sufficient and thriving. By implementing the Switchpoint model of providing case management tools, community resources, education and job skill training, we can stop the cycle of poverty in Utah. We can end homelessness for our community, one life at a time.
Switchpoint Community Resource Center
At the heart of Switchpoint Community Resource Center, where, at any given time, about 80 individuals, families and veterans are turning their lives around, receiving the community help they need all while getting love and acceptance to help them overcome their past. While searching for a place to call home, they live in a caring environment designed to build up and assist them on their journey to self-sufficiency.
Switchpoint Community Resource Center provides many opportunities for clients to volunteer in their community as well as develop job skills through their on-site emergency food pantry, nearby thrift store and doggy daycare, Bed ‘n’ Biscuits. Switchpoint believes that clients need to earn what they receive. Through volunteering at the shelter, food pantry, thrift store or Bed ‘n’ Biscuits, clients earn Switchbucks that they can accumulate during their stay and redeem for necessary items, such as dress clothes for interviews, basic hygiene items or tokens for use of the on-site laundry facilities.
In 2020 we expanded our services to Tooele and Salt Lake City to address the growing needs there. We are partnering to create deeply affordable housing, building communities that serve the underserved and the most vulnerable.
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Locally and Nationally, Switchpoint is Advocating for the Following:
Ending Generational Poverty: Switchpoint is working hard to combat generational poverty locally and statewide. Utilizing the Circles Program USA, public awareness campaigns, legislative work and on-going education programs for families, we are working to build bridges out of the poverty cycle and empower families through education.
Affordable Housing for Everyone: Switchpoint believes that everyone deserves to have an affordable place to call home. Currently in Utah the vacancy rate for rentals is less than one percent. That’s right…less than one percent. This equates to rentals being very scarce and prices for units being artificially inflated. Even though citizens are employed, they still cannot afford to live – underemployment is much greater and causes a high rent burden. When this scenario plays out it impacts the local economy and increases reliance on social services to fill the gaps. That’s why Switchpoint has opened up RiverWalk Village.
RiverWalk Village is a 55 unit affordable housing tax credit complex targeting extremely low and chronically homeless individuals. Residents of RiverWalk Village continue to work with a case manager and learn skills that will build bridges out of generational poverty.
Tiny Homes for Chronically Homeless: There are many chronically homeless that still are in need of support in order to live on their own but feel the desire to be surrounded by friends and community. It has been proven that when those dealing with chronic homelessness are housed, they often walk away because they do not feel connected to their neighbors. Community is everything with helping the chronically homeless feel comfortable and able to contribute to society. Tiny Home Communities help those who have been on the streets connect with their neighbors, contribute to their community and most importantly stay housed in a safe and caring environment.