Walking the Wild Side with Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams

County Mayor Ben McAdams wants to restart his community’s compassion for the homeless. Last spring, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams was groping to understand Salt Lake’s homelessness crisis. He had all the statistics to make a controversial decision on a new homeless shelter—but something was missing. McAdams put on a jeans and a hoodie, left his ID and money behind and walked into the Rio Grande district to get a more intimate idea of it meant to be homeless. He would be scared, cold and witness drug use. But McAdams returned convinced that a long-term solution to homelessness—beyond law-enforcement sweeps—has to be found.