Despite the warmth of her dog, Bella, and the fur that lines the inside of her pale pink coat, Cosett Sudbury is feeling the sting of the early afternoon cold on a recent winter day in Salt Lake City.
The 54-year-old has spent the last five years or so living on the streets. And while she said she usually camps outside in the summer, she’s been seeking out shelter this winter as temperatures dip.
“It’s just too cold,” she said in an interview with FOX 13 News. “I’m getting too old.”
But Sudbury worries about those who may not be able to get inside, like she has. And she wants to see changes to a state law that requires Utah’s most populous counties to open additional shelter space for people experiencing homelessness only when temperatures are well below freezing.
The 18-degree threshold is “too cold,” she argued, noting that it’s “not that low” in other nearby states.
“That’s why I’m wondering why it’s that way in Utah,” she continued. “Who made it that way? The government?”
The Utah Legislature created the “Code Blue” designation in 2023, initially setting the threshold at 15 degrees . State lawmakers then raised the temperature earlier this year , which allowed shelters to relax and expand their occupancy requirements when temperatures in an area are expected to drop to 18 degrees or below for two or more hours during a 24-hour period.