Welfare Square is a complex in downtown

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

owned and operated by

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church), to provide material assistance to poor and otherwise needy individuals and families. Welfare Square is part of the Church's Church Welfare System. It includes a grain silo, fruit orchards, a milk-processing plant, a cannery, a bakery, a Deseret Industries thrift store, a private employment office, and the LDS Church's largest

Bishop's storehouse A bishop's storehouse in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) usually refers to a commodity resource center that is used by bishops (lay leaders of local congregations analogous to pastors or parish priests in other Chris ...

, as well as associated administrative offices. Welfare Square provides regular employment for approximately 50 people, in addition to the 200 rotating volunteers needed to provide its services and run its operations. Fast offerings from local LDS congregations fund its operations.

History

Welfare Square was created in 1938, under the direction of the Church's General Welfare Committee, which itself had been formed just two years earlier. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, as the United States was experiencing the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

Welfare Square became the flagship of the Church's Welfare Program. A four-year renovation started in the late 1990s, and was completed in 2001. The 1940 granary building was the only structure on the site that was not significantly refurbished or newly built at that time. The concrete grain elevator can hold of wheat (about 19 million pounds). In 2011 the

Utah legislature The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 state representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 st ...

passed, and the governor signed, a bill commemorating the founding of the LDS Church's Welfare System, of which Welfare Square is the centerpiece.

Values

As part of the LDS Church's larger Welfare Program, all aid received at Welfare Square is based on personal responsibility, thrift, and work; recipients of aid may be asked to volunteer their time after receiving help.

Notes

References

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External links

* * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHOl9QwHsDc - YouTube {{coord, 40.753, -111.913, type:landmark_region:US-UT, display=title 1938 establishments in Utah Buildings and structures in Salt Lake City Economy of Salt Lake City Properties of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Significant places in Mormonism Squares and plazas in Salt Lake City The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah Tourist attractions in Salt Lake City

History

Values

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Notes

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External links