Our solution tohomelessnessis housing.
Switchpoint owns and operates deeply affordable housing across Utah, coupled with case management, support services, and community. Below are the homes we own, the sites we operate with partners, and the projects we are building next.
We own 359 homes today, have 76 under construction, and are working toward 1,000 deeply affordable homes.
Our goal
1,000 deeply affordable homes
Carol Hollowell, our founder and CEO, set the goal of building 1,000 deeply affordable homes. The line below shows where we are today: homes we own, homes under construction, homes in planning, and what is left to build.
Owned housing
The homes we own
Switchpoint owns these four properties. We manage the leases and provide the case management and support services that help residents stay housed. Select a property to see who lives there, how it was financed, its timeline, and what it needs.
All properties
Owned, operated, and in development
Along with the housing we own, we operate shelters, a teen living center, and food pantries in partnership with cities, counties, school districts, and the State of Utah. For many people, these sites are the first step toward a home.
Shelter to housing
How people move from shelter to a home
Everyone in our shelters is connected with a case manager. When a home opens at one of our properties, that case manager helps them make the move and keeps working with them after. Housing PLUS means the support continues once someone has the keys.
Illustrative pathways. Band widths show the shape of the system, not a client count.
Affordability
What deeply affordable means
Rents and eligibility are set as a percent of area median income, or AMI. Use the slider to see what a household earns at each level, the rent it can afford, and which of our properties serve it. Most of our homes serve households at or below 30 percent of AMI.
- Household income, one person
- $0
- Affordable rent, 30% of income
- $0
- Hours a week at Utah minimum wage to earn it
- 0
Our properties at this level
Income figures are illustrative one-person AMI and will be replaced with current HUD limits.
- AMI
- Area median income. Half the households in a county earn more, half earn less. Rents and eligibility are set as a percent of it.
- PSH
- Permanent supportive housing. A lease with no time limit, paired with on-site case management and services.
- Deeply affordable
- Homes for households at or below 30 percent of AMI. Many of our residents live on fixed incomes.
- LIHTC
- The federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. Investors buy the credits, and that equity pays for most of a building.
- Housing PLUS
- Our model. Housing coupled with support services and community, offered when a person is ready for it.
- Capital stack
- Every source of money in a project, layered from the most secure loan at the bottom to the riskiest dollars at the top.
Support services
Housing PLUS at every property
Support is matched to the residents at each site, from classrooms and a community garden at Riverwalk to 24/7 staffing at the Teen Living Center. Every resident has access to a case manager.
Case management
Every resident is connected with a case manager who sets goals with them and walks with them from shelter to housing.
Health and recovery
Medication and wellness rooms at Red Hills, recovery meetings at Airport, and health care partners like Intermountain Health.
Work
Our social enterprises hire the people we serve, and all proceeds go back into the mission. Fairpark has a Switchpoint Coffee shop on site.
Timeline
Our housing, 2020 to 2028
Impact
A different kind of ROI
Along with tax credits and repaid loans, this is the return our partners have helped create since 2014.
Current needs
How you can help
These are the current needs across our housing. Amounts are working figures and will change as projects close.
Build
Help us increase inventory through co-development, construction, design, and engineering. Our first 4% bond deals need an experienced development partner.
Fund
Tax credit equity, soft debt, program-related investments, family foundation grants, and naming opportunities at Fairpark Phase 4.
Supply
HVAC, appliances, flooring, furniture, and fixtures. Every donated item lowers the cost per home.
Volunteer
Move-in days, community gardens, pro bono legal work, and skilled help for our housing and case management teams.
Partners
It takes ALL of us
Partners on Red Hills, the Teen Living Center, Harris Community Village, and the Microshelter. Fairpark and Airport partners coming soon.
Common questions
Questions from investors and partners
Why does a homeless services nonprofit own real estate?
Homelessness only ends with a home. Owning our buildings lets us keep rents deeply affordable for decades, move people from our shelters into housing, and provide case management where residents live.
Who manages the properties?
Switchpoint does. Our housing team handles leasing, rent, maintenance, and compliance in house, using systems we built so staff can spend more time with residents.
How do residents pay rent?
Every resident signs a lease and pays rent based on income. At Red Hills the highest rent is just under $600 for a studio or one-bedroom, with income-based caps below $800. Residents with no income work with their case manager to start one.
Is this Housing First?
Our model is Housing PLUS: deeply affordable housing coupled with case management, support services, and community. Homelessness only ends with a home, and we work with each client until they are ready for one.
What happens at the end of the tax credit compliance period?
Where Switchpoint owns the property, as at Fairpark, the homes stay in mission hands. On co-developed deals, our approach is to negotiate for a real ownership interest and the right to purchase at year 15, so affordability outlasts the compliance period.
Can my company invest and also volunteer?
Yes. Teams from a credit union, a real estate brokerage, and a capital markets firm have served in our kitchens, volunteered at our sites, and toured Fairpark. It takes ALL of us.
Our culture
Built for the people we serve.
Everything at Switchpoint, from our staff to our homes to our software, exists for the person in front of us.
- Our staff
- We invest in training and support for our team, because the care our clients receive depends on the people giving it.
- The people we serve
- Everyone who walks through our doors is met with more than a bed for the night: a case manager, a plan, and a path toward a home.
- Our homes
- Deeply affordable housing coupled with support services and community, so residents can start living, for good.
- Our businesses
- Our social enterprises create jobs for the people we serve, and all proceeds go back into the mission.
- Our systems
- We build our own software so staff spend less time on paperwork and more time with clients. We hold this page to the same standard: a number is only true once someone has checked it.
Contact our real estate team
Jeff QuayleChief Real Estate Officer, Switchpoint