CEDAR CITY — Advocates are preparing to open a shelter for runaway and homeless youth in Cedar City.
Youth Futures Utah, which already has established youth shelter operations in Ogden and St. George, is in the process of remodeling a former bed-and-breakfast residence in downtown Cedar City to convert it to a functional 12-bed shelter home.
Heidi Rugg, program manager for Youth Futures’ Cedar City location, said the nonprofit organization was founded in Ogden in 2015 by Kristen Mitchell and Scott Catuccio. Then, in 2018, Youth Futures opened a second location in St. George. The Cedar City facility will be its third location.
Rugg said the facility is designed to provide temporary shelter to children ages 12-17, with some 18-year-olds also provisionally accepted.
“We have resources,” Rugg said. “If we fill up here, or we don’t have a place for an 18-year-old in-house, we can transport them to St. George, where we will most likely have available beds for them. So our goal is to not turn away the kids.”
Rugg said harboring minor children without their parent or guardian’s consent is illegal under Utah law and punishable as a class B misdemeanor.
“With sheltering kids, there’s a licensing piece that’s got to be there,” she said. “We build our shelters to focus on licensing, making sure that there’s 100% supervision.”
“We connect with and are in contact with DCFS and families to make sure that all avenues of communication are reached and the kids are in a safe space,” Rugg added as she led Cedar City News on a brief tour of the new facility, located at 133 S. 100 West.
The facility will have three upstairs bedrooms with four beds in each room, with attached bathrooms. The upstairs includes a kitchen and a common area. Downstairs is another recreation area, plus offices and storage space for clothing, blankets, toiletries and other supplies.
Rugg said the shelter is expected to open its doors officially in the next couple months.
One of the shelter’s main goals is to help teens become more autonomous and self-sufficient, with their parents’ support, Rugg said.
“So at some point, they might be like, ‘My parents might be not so bad, I’ll go home,’” Rugg said. “Or, next step, ‘I’m 18, I need to be at a place where I know how to manage my life.’
“A lot of our parents seem a little upset the first few days, but after they’ve had a breather and know their kid is safe, they can then make contact on the phone. They will then come in and help support their child through whatever their hard time is. It builds a trust base with the kids and the parents. It’s just a phenomenal thing to watch.”
“We aren’t taking control of people’s kids or stepping into that parental space,” Rugg added. “We don’t take custody of the kids; we are just just a safe harbor until they can get to that next place for them.”
Parents also would benefit from Youth Futures’ focus on bringing families together.
“It’s nice to see that, at some point, those parents buy in and say, ‘Hey, I appreciate this, but let’s work through this and make a space to have that communication with my own child,'” Rugg said.
Co-founder Mitchell says the organization’s top priority is keeping families together.
“Our No. 1 goal is to reunify families, so whatever we can do to assist families, we are here to do that,” Mitchell told Cedar City News.
For those wishing to make donations to help in the effort, there is a “Drive-By Dropoff” event co-sponsored by the Cedar Area Interfaith Alliance, scheduled for Thursday, March 17, 3-7 p.m. at the Christ the King Catholic Church in Cedar City.
All donations will stay in Iron County. To see a wish list of the most commonly needed items, click here.
Additionally, there is a 5K “Color Run” scheduled for March 26, beginning at 10 a.m. at the Bicentennial Park skate park, 665 W. 1045 North, Cedar City. The entry fee is $25 per person, which includes a T-shirt, with proceeds going to Utah Futures Utah. Children 8 and younger run for free. The event is being organized by the Southern Utah University Student Nurses Association, with the assistance of Legacy Flooring Center and other sponsors.
For information about either event or to simply make a direct monetary donation, visit the Youth Futures Utah website or call 801-528-1214.
Additionally, the organization is currently hiring for support staff positions and a cook for the Cedar City location. For more information, call the number above or visit Indeed.com.
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