Anchorage Assembly Chair Christopher Constant joined U.S. Secretary of Housing & Urban Development Marcia Fudge and leaders from across the state at Covenant House today to discuss the Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Continuum of Care funding formula and the need for more equitable federal funding to address the statewide homelessness crisis.
After the meeting, Chair Constant issued the following statement:
Today’s conversation is proof that the homelessness crisis facing Anchorage is bigger than us. Anchorage is home to 40% of the state’s population and serves 60% of those experiencing homelessness in the state. While our community struggles to serve the single biggest concentration of people experiencing homelessness in Alaska, there are more than a thousand others experiencing homelessness where services are even more inaccessible and housing is even more expensive.
Anchorage stands in solidarity with rural Alaska. We are here to serve as a resource, a hub and a safe place for Alaskans near and far but without greater, more equitable funding in Anchorage and throughout the state, our capacity to serve is squelched.
Assembly Leadership has worked closely with HUD to set out three shared commitments:
- The Municipality of Anchorage will leverage HUD technical assistance to maximize the efficiency of existing funds.
- The Municipality will work alongside HUD to activate new funds in the short-term to address our emergent needs as winter comes.
- HUD will work to evaluate options for revising the funding formula that drives investments in communities across the country.
I’m grateful to Secretary Fudge and her family for the effort to take time away and make this visit. Alaska is unlike any other place in the country; our environment, our climate, and our expansiveness demand perseverance from all of us. I wish Secretary Fudge safe travels home and wish Alaskans a better, brighter future soon to come.
This spring, the Anchorage Assembly and Mayor Bronson unanimously passed a resolution on May 9
asking for state and federal help on homelessness funding, which was sent to Secretary Fudge, Governor Dunleavy and the Alaska Congressional Delegation. In June, Chair Constant joined in a call with HUD Secretary Fudge and US Senator Sullivan and invited the Secretary to visit Alaska and see our unique housing needs first-hand.
The letter and additional information on the Anchorage Assembly’s work to combat homelessness can be found on the Assembly’s
Focus on Homelessness website.
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