Longtime homeless cleanup nonprofit shuts down, leaving 125 unemployed

Despite efforts to save about 125 jobs, most of which were held by people experiencing homelessness and other challenges, the longtime Utah social enterprise nonprofit Advantage Services is shutting down amid financial struggles. 

“With heavy hearts, we announce that Advantage Services will be closing its doors and ceasing all services” effective Saturday, the nonprofit’s CEO Rob Ferris wrote in an email to customers and other community partners sent Thursday. 

He told Utah News Dispatch he and his team were in “shock” after receiving an email from the state Office of Homeless Services on Thursday that sank their last hope for a solution to save the social enterprise that’s existed for more than 34 years or the jobs it provides to vulnerable people. 

“We didn’t think that we were too big to fail, but we thought we were too important to let go,” he said. “The services that we provide are vital to the unsheltered community, to our community partners.” 

Ferris said over the next 30 days he’ll be working on liquidating the company’s assets, which includes a fleet of vehicles, in hopes he can use the money to pay out employees’ unused vacation time as severance. 

He’s also encouraging any current customers or members of Utah’s homeless services network interested in hiring his former employees to reach out to him. 

Why is Advantage Services shutting down?

Utah News Dispatch reported in August that Advantage Services had been facing financial woes due to several issues: unexpected cost increases, higher insurance premiums, and scaled-back contracts from various customers. But one of the biggest reasons was its largest contract with Salt Lake City’s Urban Services Division was slashed in half from roughly $2 million to less than $1 million. 

Longtime Utah homeless cleanup nonprofit on brink of bankruptcy, issues ‘urgent’ call for help

Since then Ferris has been trying to expand Advantage Services’ contracts or merge with another nonprofit to preserve its jobs so that the people who rely on the nonprofit for work aren’t left unemployed. Earlier this month, he furloughed about 110 employees as a last-ditch effort to keep the company afloat after not being able to make payroll. 

Earlier this month Advantage Services’ situation caught the attention of the Utah Homeless Services Board, the powerful body that oversees the state’s homeless system and distributes state funding to homeless service providers. State Homeless Coordinator Tyler Clancy expressed a willingness to explore solutions, but none came before the clock ran out. 

In response to Ferris’ request for “emergency bridge funding” to keep Advantage Services afloat, an Office of Homeless Services staffer told Ferris in an email Thursday “OHS will not be able to provide funding for the requested purpose.”

Ferris said the social enterprise nonprofit’s slide toward closure has been “devastating” to his employees. He also worries that the loss of Advantage Service will leave a “void” in Utah’s homeless services network — not just because of their now canceled clean-up contracts on city streets, state highways and more, plus transportation services to and from homeless resource centers, but also because of the people that relied on the work. 

“I have some of my homeless employees, or people who’ve just come off the streets and got apartments, now concerned that they’re going to be homeless again because nobody’s going to hire them because of their criminal record,” Ferris said. “Each person that is employed by Advantage Services has some sort of barrier to employment.” 

‘We need help’: Homeless cleanup nonprofit furloughs employees, faces full shutdown

Since it was formed in 1992, Advantage Services has employed people who are disadvantaged, whether they have disabilities, are currently or formerly homeless, leaving jail or prison, are refugees, or are living in poverty. 

The nonprofit doesn’t function like a typical employer, but rather provides “supportive employment,” offering job coaching, mentoring, and other resources to help meet employees’ needs so they can not only work, but “thrive.”

The work Advantage Services employees do isn’t glamorous. They pick up garbage, clean up homeless encampments, power wash streets of biohazards, shuttle people to and from homeless shelters, and more, depending on the contract. But the opportunity to work can be life-changing for people building their resumes and developing life skills. 

‘I feel betrayed’

Megan Belagam, who worked as Advantage Services’ office manager, was in tears after she learned that her employer would be shutting down and she’d be out of a job. 

“My heart stopped,” she said. 

Belagam said she’s worked in various roles for Advantage Services since 2013, when Ferris gave her a job during a time when she struggled to find employment. She said she was diagnosed with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, which affects ligaments, tendons and muscles in her feet, arms and wrists, creating mobility challenges. 

Ferris gave her a chance, Belagam said, and the job gave her “independence,” enabling her to get off Supplemental Security Income, federal assistance that’s offered to people with disabilities and older adults with little or no income. 

“The idea of possibly having to go back to that is paralyzing,” she said, choking back tears. “That’s what I’m looking at. Rob and his team saw past my hands and what I could do. They gave me a chance. And so having that taken away from me, I feel very robbed.” 

Belagam also grieved for her fellow employees, who she called “family.” 

“They don’t have anywhere else to go, either,” she said. But she said she’s urging her coworkers to “not give up hope, to keep moving forward. … I’m very scared right now and I know that I do not know what my future holds, but I’m going to keep trying.” 

Belagam said she’s devastated but also angry, especially because of the slashed Salt Lake City contract that in large part led to Advantage Services’ failure. 

“I feel betrayed,” she said, not just for herself but for the other employees. “I am damn mad that they took away their opportunity. I am damn mad at that.”

What angers her the most, Belagam said, is “this shutdown has dehumanized” Advantage Services’ workers, “and nobody cares.”