Advantage Services, a longtime Utah social enterprise nonprofit, is shutting down effective Saturday, leaving approximately 125 employees without jobs, as Utah News Dispatch reported. Many of these employees are individuals facing significant barriers to employment, such as homelessness, disabilities, criminal records, refugee status, or poverty. The closure is expected to create a significant void in Utah's homeless services network, impacting cleanup contracts on city streets and state highways, as well as transportation services to and from homeless resource centers.
Rob Ferris, CEO of Advantage Services, announced the closure in an email to customers and partners on Thursday, stating the nonprofit would cease all services. Ferris told Utah News Dispatch that he and his team were "in shock" after learning on Thursday that their final attempt to save the 34-year-old organization had failed. He added that he believed the services they provided were "vital to the unsheltered community." The state Office of Homeless Services (OHS) confirmed in an email to Ferris that it could not provide "emergency bridge funding" that the nonprofit had requested to stay afloat.
Advantage Services had been grappling with financial difficulties for months. Utah News Dispatch first reported in August that the nonprofit faced unexpected cost increases, higher insurance premiums, and reduced contracts. A major blow came when Salt Lake City’s Urban Services Division slashed its largest contract with Advantage Services in half, from roughly $2 million to less than $1 million.
Ferris had actively pursued expanding contracts and merging with another nonprofit in an attempt to preserve the jobs. Earlier this month, he furloughed about 110 employees in a last-ditch effort to keep the company solvent after failing to meet payroll. The situation caught the attention of the Utah Homeless Services Board, which oversees the state’s homeless system. State Homeless Coordinator Tyler Clancy had expressed willingness to explore solutions, but no resolution was found before the shutdown.
Ferris emphasized the "devastating" effect of the closure on his employees, many of whom have overcome significant personal challenges to maintain employment. He highlighted concerns that some employees who recently secured housing after experiencing homelessness might now face the prospect of returning to the streets due to difficulties finding new jobs with criminal records or other employment barriers.
Since its formation in 1992, Advantage Services has provided "supportive employment" to individuals considered disadvantaged. This model included job coaching, mentoring, and other resources designed to help employees not just work, but "thrive." Their work, which included picking up garbage, cleaning homeless encampments, and power washing biohazards from streets, offered life-changing opportunities for individuals to build resumes and develop essential life skills.
Megan Belagam, Advantage Services' office manager, expressed deep distress and anger over the closure. Belagam, who has worked for the nonprofit since 2013, told Utah News Dispatch that Ferris gave her a chance when she struggled to find employment due to arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, a condition affecting her mobility. Her job provided her "independence" and allowed her to stop relying on Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a federal assistance program for people with disabilities. Belagam described the idea of possibly having to go back to that as "paralyzing."
She voiced anger at the slashed Salt Lake City contract, saying she felt "betrayed" and added, "I am damn mad that they took away their opportunity" from her coworkers, whom she called "family." She lamented that the shutdown had "dehumanized" Advantage Services’ workers, believing "nobody cares."
Over the next 30 days, Ferris plans to liquidate company assets, including a fleet of vehicles, hoping to use the funds to pay employees for unused vacation time as severance. He is also encouraging current customers and members of Utah's homeless services network to reach out to him if they are interested in hiring his former employees.
