Salt Lake City residents relying on trauma‑focused mental‑health services are facing a gap as Hearten House, a local provider that uses art, movement and other experiential therapies, announced it has paused admissions to its intensive outpatient program. The pause follows a lease dispute with the Salt Lake City Housing Authority over plans to remodel a room the provider shares on the third floor of the historic Oquirrh School at 350 S. 400 East.
Founder Aimee Hadfield told FOX 13 News that the dispute began on Sept. 22 when two contractors entered the shared therapy space while it was marked “occupied.” The contractors informed Hadfield they intended to gut the room and remodel a kitchen for the Housing Authority, a plan she had not been notified about. Although the sublease permits the authority to enter with reasonable notice, Hadfield said she received no advance warning of the construction scope or timeline.
After a second unannounced entry a week later, Hadfield emailed the authority on Oct. 21 stating that Hearten House had paused admissions for a month because it still lacked clear answers about the construction schedule. Housing Authority Executive Director Daniel Nackerman replied the same evening, describing the work as “nothing major,” promising the shared room would be scheduled carefully and remodeled “soon,” and suggesting a lease addendum to formalize a scheduling system. No specific dates were provided, and no remodeling has yet occurred.
Hearten House’s intensive outpatient program runs for eight to 16 weeks, and Hadfield said admitting new clients without certainty about uninterrupted treatment would be “unethical and unsafe.” Existing participants are allowed to complete their courses, but she and program director Syd Sneddon estimate that about a dozen individuals seeking the program have been placed on a waitlist or turned away. Sneddon noted many of those individuals are transitioning from inpatient care and need additional support.
The Housing Authority characterized the situation as a “minor lease dispute,” asserting that Hearten House had agreed to share the room and was refusing to honor the lease. The authority has not responded to follow‑up questions about the contractors or a definitive construction timeline.
What’s next: Hearten House says it will resume admissions once it receives a clear construction plan and schedule from the Housing Authority. The provider is awaiting a revised lease addendum that would outline a predictable scheduling system for any future work in the shared space.
Sources: fox13now.com, fox13now.com
