Church Specialists Tour 2 Utah Care Facilities to Better Serve Veterans and Needy

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By Trent Toone, Church News

The Transitional Services office within the Welfare and Self-Reliance Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers support and resources for individuals facing mental illness, homelessness or reentry after incarceration, including military veterans.

One of the main initiatives of the Church’s Military Relations, Chaplain Services and Prison Ministries Division of the Church’s Priesthood and Family Department is to provide support and resources for Latter-day Saint veterans worldwide.

On Tuesday, March 17, a group of specialists from the Transitional Services office joined with a Church military relations missionary couple and retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Dan Patterson, a manager in Church Military Relations, for tours of Valor House, transitional housing for veterans located on the Salt Lake City VA campus, and First Step House Central City Treatment/Housing (434 S. 500 East, Salt Lake City), a nonprofit organization offering residential and outpatient addiction recovery treatment, housing services and support for individuals with low income and behavioral health challenges.

For Transitional Service specialists, one of the purposes of Tuesday’s gathering was to learn how they could work more effectively together with First Step House to minister to the homeless and improve access to their programs. Additionally, the Church’s military relations hopes to enhance its support for Latter-day Saint veterans and their families.

Mary T. Calhoon, First Step House’s developmental director, led the tour of both facilities. In addition to each tour, participants met with Gabby Persons, program director at Valor House, and Dan Mulcahy, director of substance use disorder treatment services, and were permitted to ask an abundance of questions.

“We will assess anybody and any one situation. We will try to work with that situation to the best of our ability to ensure that they get the help they need,” Mulcahy told the group. “Our focus is on the people. ... We are always about working with community partners to accomplish that goal.”

Added Calhoon, “First Step House is committed to healthcare housing and wraparound holistic support for folks who are facing some of life’s biggest challenges.”

During the tour, Calhoon said First Step House has long appreciated the support of the Church, particularly through the Bishop’s Storehouse, Deseret Industries and area humanitarian programs.

“The Church makes it possible for us to feed all the people we need to feed, not only at First Step House but also in our treatment programs. We have 700 mouths to feed on any given day, and the donations from the Bishop’s Storehouse make a lot of that possible,” she said, adding that the Church also helps “set people up for success” when transitioning out of a program at First Step House back into the community.

During the tour of Valor House and First Step House’s residential treatment facility, participants gained insights into the facilities and their operations.

Greg Young, who manages the Church’s Ogden Transitional Services office, said it is a “huge blessing” for the Church to be able to collaborate with such “valuable resources” in Valor House and First Step House.

“I’m grateful for all those who take the time to take care of those who truly need it, those that are homeless, downtrodden, the poor and needy,” he said. “I truly think that this is where the Savior would come to minister to these people in these facilities who need Him the most.”

Matt Kimmel, a specialist who manages the Church’s Transitional Services in Las Vegas, Nevada, and St. George, Utah, was impressed by what he saw.

“With Valor House, my top takeaway is the level of compassion that they are willing to show and help the veterans there to take away barriers to allow them to progress and move forward,” he said. “With First Step House, what I loved is that those experiencing homelessness for whatever reason, they need more than one resource or one organization to fill all of the gaps that they have in their lives. [First Step House] is so comprehensive, so well thought out, and it’s very compassionate the way they go about it.”

Julie Erkelens, another Transitional Services specialist who managers offices in Utah (Logan, Ogden, Brigham City) and Mesa, Arizona, appreciated how quickly most patients can be admitted, depending on circumstances.

“What I love is that they said they help those who are most in need. It’s helpful because we see those people often,” she said. “Truthfully, waiting one more day is so hard for some of these individuals.”

David Young, who manages the Salt Lake City Transitional Services, said the tour provided “good perspective on how community resources are able to help accomplish the mission of the Church.”

Patterson also expressed gratitude for having “one more” resource to help Latter-day Saint military veterans in their time of need.

“That’s our role — to connect our veterans with resources to help and support them," Patterson said. “This is one more, and it’s a big and powerful one. We are super excited to be in this partnership.”

Patterson said the next step for Church Military Relations is to systematize the referral process and begin training stake military relations specialists to refer those veterans in need.

“In the military, we sometimes like to suffer in silence. But those stake military relations specialists can grab a veteran by the hand and say, ‘Let me help you,’” he said.