Fruit Heights, Utah, Church Withdraws Offer to Host Cold-Night Homeless Shelter After Backlash

A Fruit Heights church has withdrawn its offer to host a temporary warming center for homeless people on cold nights in Davis County. The church had volunteered to host the center under the county’s “code blue” plan, but it pulled the offer after what the church described as “anxiety and discord” in the community. Mountain Road Church leadership announced the decision during a Fruit Heights community meeting on Wednesday.

Many residents said they were surprised they had not been notified about the plan earlier. The Fruit Heights City Council room was filled, and an overflow crowd was directed to a room below to watch a livestream of the meeting.

Mountain Road Church Pastor Don Krafft said the church was grieved by the controversy. “Never did we intend to bring anxiety and discord into our community. In fact, as a church, we want to bring unity, harmony and love into our community,” he said (Psalm 133:1). Krafft added that the church “went into this adventure with the best of intentions,” but that the issue had become one of “contention, anger, and even division.” When he announced the church would no longer host the Davis code blue facility, the crowd cheered.

Several residents had voiced objections earlier in the meeting. Resident Scott Heusser said, “It’s not a place that should be here in Fruit Heights.” He also said, “I am all for helping those less fortunate. I just don’t see why we would bus the homeless to Fruit Heights.” Another resident questioned how many homeless people live in the Kaysville and Fruit Heights area and suggested that areas with more homeless people might be better served. Other residents said they cared about homeless people and wanted to help, but they were concerned that they had not been told about the plan. One woman asked what sanctions would apply if residents decided they did not want the facility in Davis County.

Fruit Heights Mayor John Pohlman said he had learned of the church’s decision only about an hour and a half before the meeting. He apologized to the crowd. “I never anticipated how much division this would have caused residents, and I’m truly sorry for any cause of this much contention and this much division within our community,” Pohlman said.

On Oct. 15, Pohlman had told the City Council about the proposed plan. According to that plan, a city bus would stop at several locations and bring unsheltered people to the church starting around 7 p.m. on code blue nights, when temperatures are expected to drop to 18 degrees Fahrenheit or colder. They would remain at the church until 7 a.m. the next morning, when the bus would return them to where they were picked up. A sheriff’s deputy would have provided security during those hours.

Pohlman told the council at the October meeting that the plan was “out of the city’s control” and called it a “win-win” that would help unsheltered people. When a council member asked when residents would be informed of the plans, Pohlman said the city was not required to notify residents because the decision was made between the state, the county and Mountain Road Church leadership.

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