In a warehouse that was about 1 mile from the downtown area of Juneau, Julien Piccard sat on a bench near his bed, enjoying an evening meal of ramen and a sandwich wrapped in plastic.
Temperature was below freezing outside on Thursday, as the couple of dozen guests gathered for a night in The shelter. The city has a brand new shelter for emergencies, located near Thane Road.
Piccard hasn’t had stable housing since 2007 when he was without a stable home. Since 2007 Piccard has relied on the Juneau winter shelter a government-funded shelter that’s designed to be the last resort for homeless individuals to get through the night, when temperatures fall to below the freezing point.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”If it weren’t for this location I’m not sure what I’d do. It would be awful,” he said.
Piccard told me that this isn’t the place Piccard wants to be being surrounded by strangers in a warehouse designed for storage, not housing. If he’s determined to get through the winter, that’s where it’s best to be.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”I haven’t always been in this situation You know?” He said. “I worked before as a teacher, and I have a wife… If it comes to Juneau and you’re low regardless of how hard you try to fight and attempt to find your way back up it’s impossible.”
For the past two years the shelter for emergencies of the city was located in downtown Resurrection Lutheran Church in the Flats neighborhood. This summer, however the congregation of the church was divided on whether or not to continue running the shelter with the aim of reducing costs and the wear and tear on the church. There were no other organizations willing to help as they did not have an appropriate location.
With no winter plan for the coming winter, city officials made a decision in October to move this shelter into the municipal facility in Thane and collaborate together with St. Vincent de Paul to manage the shelter. The nonprofit previously operated the shelter from 2019 until 2021.
The building was warm inside Thursday night. A temporary wall of plywood divides the shelter from a portion of the building, which is used as the city’s processing center. The cold, chilly air outside quickly evaporated to the scents of soup, as well as low chatter.
The warehouse is heated electricity, insulation and heating but its bathrooms have port-a-potties which are situated outside. There is not running water. The facility is open all hours from nine p.m. to 7 a.m. and St. Vincent de Paul offers meals during the night and early in the morning.
Manager of the shelter Jackie Bryant said this winter when it was the busiest night more than 50 people have visited the shelter, and a total of 163 people have accessed this shelter in the time since it was opened in October. Despite the colder and more snowy winter that is expected, Bryant said after her first visit to the shelter she was certain that the shelter would be able to give people the basic necessities to make it through the night.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”That was my first thought: the temperature was hot this place,” she said. “That’s the thing they’re looking for. .”
Bryant stated that the warehouse is running more smoothly than she had hoped, but it’s not a permanent solution to the larger housing crisis.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”A warming shelter isn’t the answer,” Bryant said. “It simply keeps people alive. That’s the purpose of it to ensure they are alive in the winter months. It doesn’t replace housing in any way. However, there is a necessity for it. .”
Ogla Askoak who is a member of the staff members at the shelter is aware of the need. On Thursday, she sat at a table in front of the entrance to the shelter, and assisted new clients sign in as they arrived to check in for the night.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”I am really enjoying working with them. I am looking forward to coming to work each day,” she said.
Askoak said she understood the struggles of not having a home during Juneau because she’s on the other part of the tables.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”I was homeless prior to that me and my children. We lived in a small village and did not have help or someone to talk to,” Askoak said. “And the next day we arrived to Juneau without any where to go. .”
Askoak shared that the couple initially visited the AWARE shelter and then St. Vincent and found an environment of stability. Askoak has been working with those living in poverty for over 10 years. She says the shelter is working but she wishes that it had the kitchen.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”I find myself a little bored, as my only thing that I truly like doing, which is baking, cooking watching everyone smile because they had some warm food to enjoy home,” she said.
Julien Piccard said he wishes there were more blankets, cots, as well as an area to store things in the middle of the daytime.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”You cannot leave any thing here. Therefore, you’re unable to make anything from scratch for example, clothing or whatever,” Piccard said. “It’d be awesome to have a location where we could keep certain things, right? However, it’s what it is.”
The main issue that shelter employees and guests have mentioned is the area. St. Vincent de Paul and the city coordinate transportation between Mendenhall Valley to Mendenhall Valley and downtown to the shelter. This is done using an urban bus in the morning, and the 15-passenger van in the evening.
The city bus transports patrons to Glory Hall’s Teal Street campus, stopping at the request of passengers along the route. In the evening, a van manned by St. Vincent De Paul does a couple of laps of to the Glory Hall through downtown to the shelter. Staff members say it makes couple of trips back to downtown at night.
Bryant admitted that she’s not a fan the shelter’s location away from downtown, too.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”I really do not like the font. I’ll admit that I don’t. However, it’s functioning,” Bryant said. “We’re familiar with being centrally located in JACC or even the time it was located at St. Vincent’s. It’s true. .”
It also allows quick and easy access to the emergency service. The initial concern was that the distance could lead to more wait times in case assistance was required for medical or security reasons. She has reported that help has arrived promptly.
In the moment, Bryant said the shelter’s greatest need is socks and blankets.
