On July 24, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to move those living in homeless encampments around the United States into treatment facilities with both mental health and substance use services (1).

This is my second post analyzing the executive order and how it is being implemented in Utah. I share facts about this new facility, as well as my personal experience, having lived outside for 13 months in 2006-2007 as a homeless person in Los Angeles, suffering from schizophrenia.

In order for this executive order to take effect and positively impact our communities, it is up to the individual states to act. One of the first states to come forward with a plan, perhaps even a radical plan, is Utah, building a facility to house 1,300 people in Salt Lake City near the airport. This includes separated services to those with mental illness, those addicted to substances, and people who do not suffer from mental illness or addiction, looking to rebuild their lives.

When considering the potential benefits of this facility, I remember how my mind was once devastated by schizophrenia, preventing me from working the easiest job, or accepting help from family and friends. I was not an “economically homeless” person who was struggling to pay bills or to find a new job. I was part of the “chronic homeless” population who cannot work due to mental illness that disrupts thinking, reasoning, and dependability. There were many people in my life who would have happily let me stay with them when I was homeless, but I was too paranoid of these people. This horrible period of time in my life lasted four years, including 13 months outside.

Finally, on March 3, 2007, I was........

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