Assembly Member Rivera on Food Insecurity at Emergency Shelter Locations

At an Assembly worksession this afternoon, the Anchorage Assembly heard from community providers and Bronson Administration staff in response to community concerns over shortcomings in food provisions at the emergency shelters and housing facilities provided by the Municipality of Anchorage.

In response to a question about the benefits of meal-on-demand programs over set meal times, Beans Café Chief Executive Officer Lisa Sauder said, “when we made the switch, it enabled clients to go look for a job, go to a doctor’s appointment, go look up their SNAP benefits, clear up legal issues, and not have that fear of not getting back to make mealtime…people stopped hording food, it helped reduce incidents between clients and it reduced food waste.”

“Based off the continued concerns I have heard over food service and the tens of thousands of philanthropic and federal funds that are being spent on food service in addition to what the Assembly has approved, I am calling on the Bronson Administration to fix this broken system,” said Assembly Member and Chair of the Assembly Committee on Housing and Homelessness Felix Rivera.

Specifically, Member Rivera is suggesting the following to better streamline the food system at our emergency shelter locations:

• Bean’s Café to provide all food service at the Sullivan Arena shelter and warming areas

• Henning to continue providing food service at the Aviator and Alex Hotels

• Implementation of systemic food service inspections to ensure that all emergency shelter locations are following nutritional guidelines in their contracts
  

“This will allow for adequate food service levels to be maintained and for the Municipality of Anchorage to meet its responsibility to provide basic services at these emergency shelter locations rather than relying on one-time funding which could meet other critical community needs and the good will of our neighbors,” said Member Rivera. “Food is a basic human need, right there with shelter, and we need to ensure that the most vulnerable members of our community don’t have to worry about where their next meal will come from.”

Contracts will be introduced during the February 7 Assembly Meeting and scheduled for public hearing on February 21. You are invited to provide public testimony.

Options to Provide Testimony

• Provide in-person testimony during the February 21 Regular Assembly Meeting at the Loussac Library Assembly Chambers

• Sign up to provide testimony during the meeting by phone: ancgov.info/testify 

• Provide written testimony: ancgov.info/testify

• Email the Mayor and all Assembly Members:

• mayor@anchorageak.gov

• wwmas@anchorageak.gov