In advance of the Housing & Homelessness Committee Meeting this
afternoon, Assembly
Chair Suzanne LaFrance issued the following statement:
“While I recently scheduled a worksession on the potential purchase of the
Arctic Recreation Center, which is currently for sale, I have decided to
broaden the focus of the conversation to include all of our options to add
permanent low-barrier sheltering by September.
The Assembly and the Administration agreed to request $20M in capital
investment from the Alaska State Legislature, including $14M to fund low and
extremely low income housing and $6M to develop low-barrier shelter. Anchorage
is home to 40% of the State’s population and 65% of people experiencing
homelessness. As both the economic and social service hub of Alaska, Anchorage
is the catch-all for a statewide housing crisis. This is an issue that needs a
statewide response and statewide funding.
When the Emergency Shelter Task Force suggested the Arctic Recreation Center to
the Assembly Committee on Housing & Homelessness last month, several
members saw an exciting opportunity for statewide investment that offered a
near-turnkey facility for low-barrier sheltering and 16 acres of undeveloped
land, ideal for the development of a supportive housing subdivision. Several
members brought up the idea with legislators in Juneau, but the Assembly has
not yet taken any formal action to prioritize this project.
Bringing a new shelter online is a complex process that involves community
conversations and input, and it takes time. To bring a new shelter online, we
could reasonably foresee several months in navigating the process of re-zoning,
conditional use, replating, shelter licensing, and multiple appropriations in
addition to community meetings.
For now, our focus is on adding permanent sheltering capacity by September. The
2022 Gap Analysis conducted by the Coalition to End Homelessness shows that Anchorage
needs an additional 200 to 220 units of permanent sheltering capacity.
Sheltering at the Sullivan Arena is not a long-term solution and we need to
find a permanent low-barrier sheltering solution this year. We are starting
those conversations now, and we know what works: aligning public and private
dollars to provide housing first and invest in shelter capital and operating
costs that provide stability for those in need.”
The worksession, now titled, “Discussion on Permanent Year-Round Low-Barrier Shelter,”
will be held on Friday, March 31, 2023 at 12:40pm in City Hall, Suite 155.
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Contact
Suzanne
LaFrance | Assembly Chair
suzanne.lafrance@anchorageak.gov