On Tuesday, Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski signed a proclamation recognizing November as Youth Homelessness Awareness Month.

“It’s more than just a plaque and more than just a resolution,” Nadolski told the Standard-Examiner. “We’re highlighting the issue and we’re highlighting the partners that help us address the issue. And we also want to highlight the resources available.”

There for a brief signing ceremony at the mayor’s office was Kristen Mitchell, executive director and founder of Youth Futures.

“Every year, November is designated as Youth Homelessness Awareness Month,” Mitchell told the Standard-Examiner on Tuesday. “Most of the country has events — we call it the Sleep Out. Literally, pretty much every state does a Sleep Out event for youth to raise money. It’s a month where we can set aside some time to remember our youth, the kids who have been on the streets and stand in solidarity with them and raise some funds.”

She noted that this year’s Youth Futures Ogden Sleep Out will be held at the Youth Futures shelter at 2760 Adams Avenue on Saturday night beginning at 7 p.m.

According to Mitchell, teen homelessness at their shelters in Ogden, St. George and Cedar City has seen a 50% increase in shelter nights over the past year.

“We’re seeing an economic downturn,” she said. “We’re seeing more stress in families; we’re seeing more homelessness. Homelessness overall in Utah increased 18%, so the kids end up, along with their parents, homeless. We’re seeing more behaviors and a lot more challenges with youth this year.”

She said this increase has been seen both statewide and across other states at a similar rate.

Mitchell said it’s especially important to bring light to the plight of youth homelessness.

“Youth homelessness is slightly different than adult homelessness,” she said. “We’re dealing with kids that are minors — they’re 12-18 — and they don’t have the same options that adults do. They can’t sign a lease, they don’t have any place else to go and they’re facing higher risks of trafficking and people who are looking to exploit them on the streets. We do not want kids — not even for one night — to stay on the streets. That’s why we’re here.”

Nadolski said there can’t be one size fits all solutions and that the city is also working with its partners toward youth homelessness solutions.

“One example is we have kids that are transitioning out of foster care and into independent living and they need some support in that transition process,” he said. “They need access to housing and they need to have resources on site and the infrastructure of support around them. We’re working with the Ogden Housing Authority to review and approve options for another phase of the Solace project to make sure that we provide those units and that infrastructure of resource and support. That is in addition to the work that (Youth Futures is) doing.”

He said the city is continually looking for more partners in combatting homelessness.

“It takes everybody to do the lifting and we’re also trying to make sure that we have the entire county doing the lifting,” he said. “A lot of people want to politicize that right now, but this is not about politics; this is about people, and we are going to keep lifting and keep doing the work that we always do and do more. We need everybody else to do it with us.”

For more information on the Youth Futures Ogden Sleep Out event and to register, visit https://www.youthfuturesutah.org/index.php/component/content/article/116-events/events-current/125-utsleepout2025?Itemid=437