Around 10:30 p.m. in a cloudy Thursday night, thousands of people poured to the lower level of Resurrection Lutheran Church in downtown Juneau to enjoy a late dinner and a bed. The temperatures were in the range of the freezing mark. It’s an emergency “warming shelter” an emergency, seasonal solution to protect the city’s homeless population from being frozen to death in the night.
The pastor Karen Perkins has managed the shelter for the church for the past two years. She had a glass of Diet Coke, and inspected those who came in at the entrance. She explained that the shelter was designed to accommodate approximately 40 people per night However, they’ve seen more than twice that number since January.
“We have just begun to see many more individuals — plus also more people who were experiencing their first experience of being homeless,” Perkins said. “People who were in a home for a long time that were not prepared to live on the streets. They were extremely vulnerable.”
There are a reported 2,000 people who are homeless in Alaska. They’re not all homeless.
When at 2:30 a.m. 60 people had entered the shelter eating, and then located a bed on a cot, or the floor. The shelter was shut this week, everyone were forced to find a new place to stay.
The emergency shelter issue is a state-wide issue that is managed at an individual level at the municipal scale. There aren’t any dedicated funding sources that provide these services, which means Alaska communities are forced to fumble each year to ensure the safety of the most vulnerable citizens. The pressure is acute throughout Anchorage as well as Fairbanks. Housing advocates believe that an injection of money from the state could spur much-needed housing development.
Annual scramble
Brittney Paul as well as Melody Bierely have been friends for a long time and consider one another “street families.” One of the last emergency shelter nights, they staked their spaces on blankets and cots against the basement wall and sat in a circle with the small dog called Shaggy.
“We all adore the dinner that they’ve had here. It’s going to be lost,” Bierely said. “People would like to claim that they don’t like it, yet they must be honest. And we do. It’s an opportunity for us to support one another.”
As did many other people in the shelter that night, had planned to go towards the city’s “campground” located in the woods that overlook downtown. There isn’t any recreational camping available It’s an emergency valve for homeless who don’t have a place into the permanent shelter for homeless and low income housing. It’s also a seasonal event; it is opened when an emergency shelter shuts down.
Bierely has admitted to having spent the summers in the camp before and enjoys it since she’s met people. Her friends and she have an informal roll calls to check on their neighbors.
“Just have to be sure everyone’s safe and is accounted for particularly recently. There’s a feeling that people are disappearing like Flies,” she said.
Derek Lepoidevin, who said that he went to the shelter after being in jail for a while He’s headed there as well, though it’s the first time he’s stayed in the area. “This marks my first year of being homeless, so this is completely new for myself,” he said.
Other patrons have said they could find themselves in the campground too however, it’s not a final hotel — it’s too busy and often stressful added.
The campsite is located in the woods just above the dock for cruise ships in Juneau; the first cruise ship of the season landed the on the same day that it opened. There is room for around 20 tents set up on wooden platforms that sit above Juneau’s soil that is damp. The people who can’t find a space there usually end up in the nearby forest close to the town. The first week following the shelter was shut the shelter, temperatures are expected to be in the 20s by the night.
The people who don’t want to sleep in tents or on the streets often find themselves at Glory Hall, the city’s homeless shelter.
“We had a full house, but but now we’re bigger,” said Mariya Lovishuk who is Director of Executive at the Glory Hall. “This occurs every year.”
This week, she’s been working to find a bed for homeless people in town. So far, she’s found shelter for a couple of dozen people through resources such as those provided by the Gastineau Human Services Corporation and through the Tlingit-Haida Region Housing Authority. She’s even purchased a few people flights from town, so that they can stay with relatives elsewhere.
“We’re in a bind at the moment but we’ll get over it.” the actress said. “We simply need longer-term, permanent housing.”
Lovischuk says she’s been seeing more families being removed this year. She added that it’s becoming more evident since the pandemic era expulsion moratorium was lifted in 2021.
Furthermore an entire year’s worth housing assistance is about to expire for around 90 Alaskans who are sheltered by a state-wide Housing stabilization grant. The program housed around 180 individuals in Juneau. Lovischuk stated that around 60% are able to hang on to the shelter and the remainder remain homeless.
Solution for Upstream
Brian Wilson advocates for better access to housing in his role as an executive director at the Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness. He stated that if Alaska was home to more people, there will be less need for shelters for emergencies like the one which just shut down in Juneau.
“We haven’t built any houses in any way, the majority of the homes that are in use across the country were constructed decades ago and are in a state of decline,” he said. “People simply are running out of funds to purchase what’s there, if it even exists within their communities at all.”
In Alaska, housing Alaska is pricey and difficult to build. This has led to a lack of vacant homes in the state which increases costs.
About a quarter of the adults who live in Alaska are behind in mortgage or rent payments that the possibility of foreclosure or eviction is a possibility in the latest data from the nation. The rate of overcrowding in Alaska is double those of national. This is why Wilson stated that the state has to be involved in the process of making housing developments happen.
“We are among three states that do not have the flexibility of a statewide housing fund,” Wilson said. “It’s an ideal method. It’s not about reinventing the wheel. It’s not a new idea. It’s an idea that’s new to Alaska. It’s essentially what you’re aware of most of the entire country does already.”
The fund is technically in existence However, there’s no cash in it at the moment. It’s known as”the Housing Alaskans Public Private Partnership (HAPPP) HAPPP and has requested $50 million for the capital budget of this year to help get housing projects up and running all over the state.
The new partnership was revealed its board of directors this week. Preston Simmons is the chair. “Housing is an important social factor in general health and wellbeing,” he said. “It is an essential requirement.”
He claimed it was because his experience managing Providence Alaska Medical Center showed him the necessity for housing within Alaska. “We are short of 2,750 units within Alaska,” he said. “And there are a variety of projects in the pipeline that only require some money.”
Simmons added that the construction of more housing in the middle and higher income levels, can reduce the need for homelessness since it eases pressure on all aspects in the system of housing.
Simmons said that Senator. Forest Dunbar’s Office has agrement to support the $50 million proposal and an amendment that acknowledges the state’s housing shortage. Simmons stated that HAPPP requested the Alaska congressman for another $50 million.
HAPPP has made a similar request from the state in the past, but it was not funded. Simmons says that this year’s application is different. It has a board as well as technical advisory committee, and is ready to begin.
Simmons stated that the state requires more housing across all income brackets and that the shortage of housing hinders the growth of the workforce as well as the economic. Housing advocates claim that people who are not housed have a better chance of returning to work when they live in stable housing.
“I am afraid for them”
One of the shelter’s final night, Karen Lawfer, the church council’s president, sip tea at the tables that was adjacent to the sleeping space. It was around 3:30 a.m. The shelter was as quiet as the shelter can get.
“A large portion of our patrons here aren’t prepared to go camping. They’re not equipped,” she whispered over the snore of a male who was sleeping on a couch. The dim light of the television reflected over his eyes. “I am afraid for them.”
At four a.m. Leora Barrett, one of the employees at the shelter began making breakfast. It takes around two hours to prepare food for 60 to 70 people. The cook mixed waffle batter, and listened out to hear any noises. She claimed that patrons were anxious because they were aware that they’d need in the future find another home to rest.
“A number in tears over the past week” Barrett said. “I’ve been able to console lots of people.”
At 6 a.m. the lights came on and the staff played the music of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” through the speakers. Everyone lined up for breakfast, then used the restroom before dispersing to the rainy, grey morning.
The story first appeared in Alaska Beacon and is republished here with permission.
