KUTV: Utah woman transforms old blue bus into mobile warming shelter for homeless

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Kseniya Kniazeva is from Russia but lives here in Utah. She has quite the amazing background. She has worked as a finance director for congressional and senatorial campaigns but has also worked in the slums of Cairo, Mexico, India, and Honduras.

In 2020 she had to confront some poverty of her own and she bounced back by starting The Nomad Alliance. Her charity now reaches out to Utah’s homeless in a unique way. It’s called “The Warming Bus.”

What is it?

“It’s our big blue bus. It’s the first warming bus in the nation as far as I know," Kseniya says. "We park it at various locations around the city and the homeless come to us. We have people coming to us during all hours of the day and night. We have about a dozen people sleeping on the bus at any given time.”

It’s just not sleeping, the bus has a wood stove and heater for warmth, a small makeshift food pantry for the hungry and plenty of blankets and quilts. Previous homeless volunteers help Kseniya run and manage the bus.

Brandy was living in a tent when she was 8 months pregnant, and she says “Kseniya and the bus probably saved my life. “She convinced me to go to the hospital, and while I was there my water broke, and I gave birth to my baby boy Kendall. She helped me find some temporary housing. She is amazing and does it all out of the kindness of her heart."

Kseniya has a vision for her “Nomad Alliance”

“I would love this to be a model for the homeless that goes viral and nationwide," she says. "I would live to see hundreds of buses helping the homeless. It makes sense and is a lot cheaper than running a shelter.”

She is hoping to possibly get a decommissioned UTA bus to replace her big blue bus. It would be bigger and safer and could house more people during Utah’s cold winter nights.

To watch the video of the full story, please click here: https://kutv.com/features/pay-it-forward/utah-woman-transforms-old-blue-bus-into-mobile-warming-shelter-for-homeless