Miller family announces multi-million grant for homeless services

SALT LAKE CITY – The owners of the Utah Jazz have issued the challenge.  They’ve announced they’ll match donations given to an organization that helps homeless people get back on their feet.

Ten million dollars.

That’s how much the Miller family is pledging to match in donation to the group Shelter the Homeless, Utah.  Gail Miller says “People in our city, and state, have always worked together to do the right thing.”

She says now is the best time to ask the public to donate, since Salt Lake City and state officials are in the process of creating new homeless resource centers, set to open in 2019.  She says too many families are trapped in situations they can’t escape.   “We cannot afford to sacrifice the future of the children affected by homelessness.  We must give them hope,” she says.

Greg Miller says all of the money raised will go to programs like legal services and job training.  “We can make a difference in these lives, even if it’s just one at a time.”  Currently, there’s no specific time limit for when they will give the funds to Shelter the Homeless, Utah.  “Our hope is that by the time the facilities that have already been announced are complete, the matching $10 million will have been raised.”

Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams says this money will go a long way in identifying which programs need the most assistance, and how to staff the agencies filling those needs.