Once a hostel, a new mental health group home for women opens in Salt Lake City

Kelly Cockrell said when her son was killed in a car crash at the age of 24, “I just spiraled.” 

Cockrell, 49, said she started using drugs, lived on the streets of Salt Lake City for about five months, and attempted to take her own life before she was hospitalized. But she eventually got help from Odyssey House, a nonprofit that provides services for substance use issues, mental health and medical care for people in need. 

While in Odyssey House’s program, Cockrell and her best friend, Kearra Clark, 38, have been living in a sober living and mental health transitional home in Sugar House. But this week, both Cockrell and Clark will be moving into a new home that will give them and 27 other women long-term housing stability and support as they continue to heal. 

“It means a lot to have a safe place to come to,” Cockrell said. “It’s going to be a great opportunity, I think, for all of us to be able to have a safe space … and be able to live here for as long as we need to be here.” 

State and local leaders on Thursday celebrated a ribbon cutting for Stonebridge, a 29-bed group home in Salt Lake City for women with severe mental illness that Odyssey House purchased and renovated using about $3.3 million, which included a mix of donations and funding from both the state and Salt Lake County. 

“It’s a miracle,” Clark said, eyes brimming with tears. 

Clark said she experienced homelessness after struggling to afford rent, and she’s looking forward to moving into a home where she won’t have to stress about where she’ll be living long term. 

“It means a lot to me,” she said. 

To fund Stonebridge, the Salt Lake County Council approved $1.4 million out of the county’s Medicaid reserves, according to the mayor’s office. The state Office of Homeless Services contributed $1.4 million, and Utah philanthropist Gail Miller donated about $500,000 from the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation.

Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, Salt Lake County Council member Aimee Winder Newton, State Homeless Coordinator Tyler Clancy and Gail Miller all spoke at the ribbon cutting ceremony, lauding Stonebridge as filling a critical need, especially for people who end up living on the streets due to a lack of mental and behavioral health resources. 

Before it was purchased by Odyssey House, the Stonebridge building was a youth hostel. Now with newly installed air conditioning, fresh paint, a commercial kitchen, new furniture and a window in every bedroom, state and local leaders hope the bright blue building will be a place not just for recovery and healing, but community. 

“What makes this project so meaningful is that it recognizes the simple truth that people do better when they have both a place to live and a community to support them, and that believes in them,” Gail Miller said.

The women who will live at Stonebridge, Wilson said, often haven’t lived in “safe environments.” 

“If we can provide a reset, that’s what we need to do,” the mayor said. “I’m excited for the futures of these incredible women, to see where this beautiful home and this safe environment can take them.” 

Cockrell and Clark picked rooms next door to each other. They told Utah News Dispatch in an interview after Thursday’s ribbon cutting that they’re looking forward to moving in — and they’re especially grateful that they’ll continue to receive support from their therapist, Lani Gailey, who encouraged them to attend Thursday’s festivities and stayed right by their side the whole time. 

“I’ve never had a close relationship with a therapist like I do with Lani,” Cockrell said. “You can text her on weekends, late at night, and she always responds. And that really means a lot.”

That close support is key for the success of Stonebridge and its clients, said Adam Cohen, CEO of Odyssey House. 

“When these 29 women move in, they’ll have much more than a place to sleep,” he said. “They’ll have 24-hour support from caring professionals. They’ll have nutritious meals every day. They’ll have safety, stability, dignity, and a community that believes in them. Most importantly, they’ll have a place to call home, and be surrounded by people who genuinely care about them.” 

Gailey, the clinical director of Odyssey House’s Assertive Community Treatment Team — which  provides intensive treatment, rehabilitation and support services for people with severe and persistent mental illness — said the waiting list for services averages about four to six months

“So Odyssey adding 30 more beds, and also more down the line, is huge,” Gailey said. 

In coming months, two additional group homes are expected to open, Cohen said, including a 45-bed home for men and a third operated by Clinical Consultants. Together, the three homes will bring on a total of 90 new beds — which he said will “easily double” existing capacity for people with needs for substance use treatment and mental illness.  

“It’s huge,” he said, not just to help a population that doesn’t have enough resources, but for every individual client who has been “suffering on the street for many years, cycling in and out of the hospital, cycling in and out of jail. … This will be life changing for them.”

Clients living at the group home will be referred by the Assertive Community Treatment Team, and are eligible for Medicaid to pay for their treatment. Those Medicaid dollars will pay for the facility’s ongoing costs of roughly $1.5 million a year, Cohen said. 

Salt Lake County’s part in making Stronebridge possible stems from the county’s Behavioral Health and Justice Action Plan, built with recommendations from the Leifman Group, a consulting group made up of national experts in behavioral health and justice system reform. 

Winder Newton said one of her constituents had a son who was “dealing with schizophrenia and other severe mental health conditions, and she watched as her son’s life just deteriorated so quickly.” 

“It was devastating to watch the effect on him and his family,” Winder Newton said. “As our behavioral health team has been looking at the right way to help these individuals with severe mental illness, these group homes have become the answer.”

The county’s $2.8 million contribution also counts toward the Utah Legislature’s local match requirement on state funding approved earlier this year as part of Gov. Spencer Cox’s administration’s efforts to improve the state’s homeless system, with a special focus on mental and behavioral health and “high utilizers” of shelters, jails and emergency rooms. 

“This is exactly the type of project that the state wants to prioritize going forward,” state homeless coordinator Tyler Clancy told Utah News Dispatch after the ribbon cutting. “When counties are not only prioritizing saying, ‘We want to participate,’ (but also) ‘We’re going to show our values by putting forward money,’ it’s a huge thing. We want to bring leaders from other counties here, and see what’s possible, and we think this can grow.”

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