St. Anne's Center

This sounds a little weird, but now that Christmas is here I need to convince you give less to St. Anne's Center Homeless shelter, but give more.

The family whose car was crushed by a tree in the recent windstorm reminds me of a 1948 movie, "The Bicycle Thief."

The film is set in economically ravaged Rome after World War II. A man with a small family finally gets his bicycle out of the pawnshop so he can get a job.

OGDEN -- St. Anne's Center can better help homeless families after receiving on Wednesday $100,000 from the Weber County Homeless Trust Fund.

This is the first money from the trust fund to help the homeless, said Bill Cochran, chairman of the fund's board of trustees. The fund was established in 2004, when Ogden sold a building at what is now Business Depot Ogden and set aside the proceeds of $1.3 million.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Weber and Davis counties are doing well in the fight against homelessness, especially helping those who are chronically homeless.

OGDEN -- Utah housing officials are touting an 8.2 percent drop in overall Utah homelessness, but the director of St. Anne's Shelter said more efficient programs, not fewer people losing homes, may be what's reducing the number of homeless in shelters at any given time.

OGDEN -- This week's colder-than-average temperatures did not result in increased use of the area's homeless shelters.

Tuesday when temperatures dropped into the single digits, St. Anne's Center and Ogden Rescue Mission saw fewer people than they usually have seen this winter.

Shelter workers gave different reasons for the sudden drop in use, but as winter weather stays colder than normal, they hope people come in instead of sleeping outside or in a vacant building.

OGDEN -- Myrna Hart was out on the streets, the same kind she used to call home. She joined about 20 other volunteers Wednesday night to survey the homeless men and women on the streets of Weber County for the state's annual head count.