Skip to main content
Metro

Volunteers of America opens Ballington House in Salt Lake City

Ballington House
New Ballington House on Brooklyn Ave in Salt Lake City, Utah. Ballington House offers services to homeless adult males struggling with co-occurring disorders including substance abuse and mental illness. (Volunteers of America Website)

Volunteers of America Utah opened Ballington House, a 16-bed residential facility for men 18 years and older with a serious mental illness diagnosis and homelessness or at imminent risk of homelessness, in Salt Lake City on Oct. 22.

Ballington House has been designed to provide wrap-around services both onsite and in the community, integrating mental health and substance abuse treatment approaches with the goal of successful reentry and reduction in recidivism as well as homelessness, according to Volunteers of America Utah.

Ballington House
One of the residential bedrooms at Ballington House. With the additional beds at Ballington House, the number of mental health beds in the community increases from 88 to 104. (Volunteers of America Website)

“Not only do we care about everyone in our county, we’re doing the work. ... (The) Ballington House team will provide whole-person services in a space that promotes stability, healing and hope,” Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson said.

The Volunteers of America Utah overview page breaks down the objectives of Ballington House.

1. Empower clients, fostering their autonomy and active participation in their recovery journey.

2. Promote abstinence from substance abuse, emphasizing a drug-free lifestyle.

3. Focus on improving positive emotional functioning, recognizing the crucial role emotions play in overall well-being.

4. Establish accountability through a modified therapeutic community model, where mutual support and collective responsibility drive personal change.

Ballington House
A treatment room at Ballington House. Services offered include consumer, group, and family addiction therapy, medication management, consumer mentoring, skills development, personal services and case management. (Volunteers of America Website)

Ballington House does not accept walk-ins or drop-offs, according to Volunteers of America Utah. Clients are referred through a VOA Utah program or another partner program.

The duration of services ranges from four to six months but ultimately depends on the consumer’s response to their treatment and discharge plan, according to Volunteers of America Utah.

Ballington House
Expectations for the new residential treatment facility. Ballington House establishes accountability through a modified therapeutic community model where mutual support and collective responsibility drive personal change. (Volunteers of America Website)