EVANSTON — After several years of planning, a centralized referral service has finally come to fruition due to the persistence and passion of several local people. Wayne and Lorie Dennis recently presented information about a new organization, Uinta Community Service Center, at the Soroptimist International Evanston’s September meeting.

“What we were finding, was that people who were in need of a place to stay, were homeless or living on the streets ... there were only three agencies that had funding to help, and those were the Salvation Army, the LDS Church and Human Resources,” Wayne Dennis said. “We found that most people were in need of a one-stop place where they could get the information on what resources were available; so, we began to talk to other agencies and had several meetings.”

Lorie Dennis added the other churches in the county had been contacted and most of them said they weren’t in the position at this time to help but would do what they could.

The Dennises were part of that early planning group. Both were already helping people in need through the LDS church and were passionate about finding a way to coordinate all of the human resources available in the county so those who were in need of assistance weren’t struggling to find where to go for help.

The group wanted one place and one telephone number where people could be interviewed and given direction to the appropriate resources.

“We have been given an office in the human resource facility at 212 Washakie Dr.,” Wayne Dennis said. “Our phone number is 307-677-6856. The office is staffed by five volunteers, and we rely on donations from multiple sources.”

He said the mission of the center is to reach out, lift up and empower lives. They assist unsheltered people in Uinta County by providing a centralized referral service. When a call for assistance is received, two of the volunteers meet with the person to do a needs assessment to determine the appropriate referral.

This service, Dennis said, keeps the person in need from going from agency to agency to find the appropriate help and lessens their frustration or the danger of the person just giving up and not getting help.

“One thing that was happening was some people who have been released from the State Hospital might go off their medication or get desperate and do something to end up in jail because they didn’t get the right help,” Wayne Dennis said. “We have already had some success stories of people getting what they needed and are doing much better — getting jobs and a place to live. We also try to help them reestablish a relationship with family members.”

They have formed a board of directors for the center. They include county commissioner Brent Hatch, Toni Walworth with the Lord’s Storehouse, Adelaida Ramirez with SAFV, retired workforce services employee Marsha Krotz, Vicki Wood of Pioneer Counseling, and Josh Elkins and Cheryl Sherman with the Salvation Army. 

The Dennises developed a network of local support from agencies and businesses including the Salvation Army, SAFV, Human Resources Center, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Pioneer Counseling, High Country Behavioral Health, Work Force Services, the Lord’s Storehouse, Uinta County Commission, local law enforcement, NU2U, Jody’s Diner and three motels. The Dennises have compiled a notebook listing the resources available in Uinta County and parts of Utah.

“This is truly a combined effort of the whole community and the various agencies that work so hard to assist so many people in the community,” Wayne Dennis said. “The Center doesn’t have the financial resources to help due to a lack of funding. We are in the process of getting our non-profit status so we can do fundraising and write for grants. We also hope to eventually offer classes in life skills.”

He said he and his wife served 127 people last year and, this year, the center has already served that many, with three more months to go in 2023. Dennis said 85% of those seeking help have been women who are coming out of a divorce or fleeing domestic violence.

“We need that one more piece of the puzzle to get people back on track with their lives,” Wayne Dennis said. “It’s often not about money; most of these people we help are just looking for someone to care.”