Ben McAdams, now a U.S. Congressman representing Utah, served as the Salt Lake County Mayor from January 2013 to January 2019. During his tenure, he did something few public officials would dare attempt — he disguised himself as a homeless person and spent three days and two nights living on the streets. His experience both shocked and moved him, reshaping his understanding of how to serve those without shelter.
Why he decided to live on the streets
McAdams explained: “I didn’t do this for publicity. I wanted to see firsthand what life was really like before building new shelters.”
For those three days, he blended in with the homeless community. Early on, some people noticed he was new to the streets and offered two pieces of advice: “First, never take off your shoes. Second, don’t use the bathroom after dark.”
He took those warnings seriously. On his first night, McAdams tried to sleep outside. He later described feeling deeply anxious and exposed. “I was extremely uneasy,” he said. “Sleeping on the street made me feel profoundly unsafe.” He estimated he slept only about four hours in what he called a “chaotic environment.”
The next morning, he was surprised to see so many people also sleeping out in the open, even though shelters were available nearby. When he asked why, several explained that it felt safer to stay outside. Shelters, they said, were often plagued by gang violence and drug use. Only then did he realize the depth of the problem.
Witnessing the harsh reality inside shelters
Determined to learn more, he spent his second night at the Road Home shelter. What he witnessed there left a lasting impression. The accounts he’d heard were true: Many residents openly used drugs, and the smell of narcotics filled the air. At one point, he watched helplessly as a man was dragged from his bed and slammed onto the concrete floor by another resident.
This experience solidified McAdams’s resolve. “I knew I had to do something,” he recalled.
Over the three days, he came to understand how relentless the stress of homelessness is. Every day was consumed by basic survival — finding food, securing a safe place to sleep, and making it through the night. This constant struggle left people with little energy or focus to look for work or stable housing.
He hoped that new shelters could offer more than just temporary refuge — a place where people could feel, at least in part, that they had a home. “I know three days isn’t much,” he said. “But it helped me better understand the reality. In the future, I want people to feel that if something goes wrong, they have insurance, they have family, they have a home — and they can pick up the phone and ask for help.”
Turning experience into action
McAdams made it a priority to improve the harsh conditions in existing shelters and reduce the lawlessness he had seen firsthand. He emphasized that while some shelter residents struggled with addiction, most of those using drugs were people living outside. He also announced plans to build three more comprehensive shelters and relocate the state-run liquor store as part of broader, long-term reforms.
Sometimes, it takes experiencing hardship personally to truly understand it.
Translated by Joseph Wu
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