Volunteers of America, Utah

09/11/2026

Every June, Brian Garrett and Scott Pulley open their home for their annual Pride Brunch. This year’s event was their 13th, bringing together close to 200 guests to celebrate Pride and support our community.

Last week, they stopped by our administration office with a check for over $15,000 from this year’s brunch, part of more than $75,000 raised to support the Youth Resource Center. The funds will support all youth at the YRC, where on average 30 to 40 percent of the young people we serve identify as LGBTQ+. The YRC offers a safe space for all to receive help with emergency needs like shelter and meals along with assistance building long-term stability through housing, employment, mental and physical health, addiction, legal and other services.  

Thank you, Brian, Scott, and everyone who shows up year after year to give back. Your community’s generosity makes a big difference for the youth we serve.

VOA Utah creates safe spaces for everybody in our our community in need of addiction, mental health, homeless and outreach programs. Join us by volunteering, donating, or running your own fundraiser or drive! Visit voaut.org, DM us or send an email to [email protected]

09/08/2026

Meet Isa, one of our case managers at the Geraldine E. King Women’s Resource Center.

Four years ago, she started as an advocate at GEK. Three months in, she found her calling in case management, and hasn’t looked back.

Every person we serve has access to a dedicated case manager like Isa, someone in their corner for the big moments and the small ones. That could mean coordinating medical care, therapy, transportation to appointments, or something as simple as creating an email account so they can apply for housing. The goal is always the same: stabilization, housing, and a path forward.

Isa’s biggest takeaway? 

“Homelessness can happen to anybody. People stay here that you would never think would be here. Many of our women are over sixty, and it’s their first time in a shelter.”

The work is hard. It’s also, in her words, fun. She laughs with her clients all the time, and gets to watch people who deserve so much, finally receive the help they need.

VOA Utah is always looking for compassionate, dedicated people like Isabell to join our team. If this sounds like the kind of work that would fuel you, we’d love to hear from you. 

Click the link in our bio or visit voaut.org

08/28/2026

This month we had 12 fantastic women join us through Kristin Andrus’ 12 Months of Family Giving. VOA Utah was honored to be the August partner, with a focus on substance abuse awareness.

Last week, this group came out to Recovery on Redwood and served lunch to our men’s and women’s detox programs. They asked great questions and had wonderful interactions with the clients we care for who are in the first phase of their recovery journey with us.

And they’re not stopping there. The group is organizing a blanket drive for our facilities, since blankets are something our clients always need.

Our volunteer meal service numbers typically drop off during the summer and early fall, so if you or a group would like to help serve our clients at Recovery on Redwood, the Geraldine E. King Women’s Resource Center, or the Youth Resource Center, click the link in our bio. The first step is creating an account on our volunteer website (two waivers are required), and then you can view and sign up for opportunities that work best for your schedule.

Tap the link in our bio or visit voaut.org/volunteer

08/13/2026

Recovery doesn’t stop at housing or treatment. At VOA Utah, our THRIVE* program is the next step, helping people find and keep meaningful jobs that support sustainable independence. Work is treatment, too.

THRIVE runs on partnership, and we’re building a steering committee that meets quarterly to help guide it. We’re looking for local employers, Vocational Rehabilitation counselors, family members, and community members who believe in the power of work to invest their time and expertise. If you want to help shape how people in our community find their way back to meaningful employment, we’d love to have you at the table.

Interested? Click here to sign up: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfWhBFN_W4PLjkhp-I1g-1UStHzjwYtw8QK7nRECQ5ZiT46Tg/viewform

Our next meeting is:

August 19th from 1 to 2:30 PM
Recovery on Redwood Campus
1875 S Redwood Road, Salt Lake City

*THRIVE - Transformative Help in Reintegrating individuals through Vocational Employment

08/07/2026

07/30/2026

Early-bird tickets to Silver & Sandstone are live! Now is the cheapest time to purchase tickets and tables.

Join us October 8th at The Tower at Rice-Eccles Stadium for our 16th Annual Silver & Sandstone Fall Gala. We obsess over the details so the night feels like a fun celebration not like an awkward mixer. We’ve got great food, open bars, a stunning location, easy parking, a kickin’ band, and auction items worth fighting over.

Come solo, bring a partner, or grab a table for your friends or coworkers. All proceeds go directly to the people we care for. Come help us support those in our valley who need it most. Hit the link in our bio or visit voaut.org and we’ll see you in October!

07/24/2026

Save the date! The 16th Annual Silver & Sandstone Gala is happening October 8th! 

Enjoy a night of music, dinner, and live and silent auctions, all in support of our neighbors in-need facing mental health challenges, homelessness, and addiction. Every ticket, every sponsorship, every auction bid goes to support our programs.

Come for the good cause, stay for the good time.
📅 October 8, 2026
📍 The Tower at Rice-Eccles Stadium

Early bird ticket info dropping soon, stay tuned!

07/08/2026

Creekside Stabilization Center will fill a gap that has existed across the Salt Lake Valley for some time. VOA Utah already serves our community through outpatient mental health treatment, addiction recovery, detox, and homeless services, but our community has lacked a subacute level of mental health care, a place between residential treatment and hospitalization. Creekside is that missing piece, giving people in psychiatric crisis somewhere to stabilize when a hospital bed or jail cell isn't the appropriate solution.

To get there, we’re hosting a hiring fair to build the team that will run it. We’re looking for Behavioral Health Aides, Nurses (RN/LPN), Psychiatric APRNs, Case Managers, Peer Support Specialists, and Kitchen Staff. If you want work that matters, tap the link below and apply today. Our HR staff will call qualified candidates back for interviews on July 15th at the Creekside facility. This new program will open later this year.

https://tinyurl.com/VOAUtah

05/20/2026

Volunteer Appreciation Month is over, but we never stop celebrating the people who make this work possible.

At last Friday’s Founders Day Breakfast we debuted a short video about a group of volunteers who have been organizing a prom for the kids at our Youth Resource Center for the past 10 years. Watch it, like it, and share it with your friends. We think it will make your day a little brighter.

If this story moves you to volunteer or give, now is a great time to do both. Every donation through May 31st is matched up to $25,000 by the John C. Kish Foundation and we are currently 16% of the way to our goal. Volunteering also tends to slow down over the summer, so if you have been thinking about it, we would love to have you.

Tap the link in bio or visit voaut.org to donate or sign up. You can direct your gift to any program you choose, including Adult Homeless and HOP, Youth Homeless Services, Treatment Services, Detox Services, or our General Fund.

All of our videos are also on YouTube. Search Volunteers of America, Utah.

05/15/2026

Founders Day is here, and every dollar donated counts twice.

Thanks to a $25,000 match from the John C. Kish Foundation, your gift goes further than ever for Salt Lake Valley residents facing homelessness, mental health challenges, and addiction.

This is our final push before our fiscal year ends June 30. Help us reach $50,000 with a donation before the end of May. Click the link in our bio to donate or visit voaut.org