That conversation spawned what has been perhaps the United States' most successful – and radical – program to end chronic homelessness.

Now, more than a decade later, chronic homelessness in one of the nation's most conservative states may soon end. And all of it is thanks to a program that at first seems stripped from the left-wing socialist manual. In 2005, Utah had nearly 1932 chronically homeless. By 2014, that number had dropped 72 per cent to 539. Today, explained Gordon Walker, the director of the state Housing and Community Development Division, the state is "approaching a functional zero".

For years, the thought of simply giving the homeless homes seemed absurd, constituting the height of government waste. Many chronically homeless, after all, are victims of severe trauma and significant mental health and addiction issues. Many more have spent thousands of nights on the streets and are no longer familiar with living in a home. Who, in their right mind, would willingly give such folk brand-new houses without any proof of marked improvement?

But that's exactly what Utah did.

First the state identified the homeless that experts would consider chronically homeless. That designation means they have a disabling condition and have been homeless for longer than a year, or four different times in the last three years. Among the many subgroups of the homeless community – such as homeless families or homeless children – the chronically homeless are both the most difficult to reabsorb into society and use the most public resources.