The Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness proudly welcomes Jessica Parks as the new Chief Operating Officer.

Jessica Parks brings compassion for people experiencing homelessness and a deep understanding of Housing First practices to the coalition. For many years she has been a champion for affordable and appropriate housing in Anchorage. She comes to the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness (ACEH), having previously served as the Homeless Prevention and Response System Advisory Council Chair, which governs the activities of the Continuum of Care. Her knowledge of federal, state, and local policy is a valuable addition to the team.

“I look forward to working closely with the staff and board of ACEH. I will continue to collaborate with homeless service providers and housing providers to improve the overlay of services and housing. Anchorage needs more housing and services to reduce the number of people experiencing homelessness. We know that it is the most cost-effective intervention available to our community."

Under Parks’ guidance, ACEH will convene people with lived experience, providers, policymakers, and the community to address the needs of our unsheltered neighbors. With the addition of Parks, ACEH is well prepared for the upcoming Notice of Funding Opportunity with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which brings in annual resources for housing and services for vulnerable people.

“Anchorage has made progress on bringing new affordable units online through hotel conversions and I’m excited to continue these efforts with an amazing team.”

During Executive Director Meg Zaletel’s medical leave through August 1, 2023, all responsibilities and duties will be fulfilled by Jessica Parks as Chief Operating Officer and Terria Ware, Senior Director of Policy and System Planning. 

Calling on the Anchorage Community!
Applications are now open to become a member of the Anchorage Homelessness Prevention & Response System Advisory Council

The Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness (ACEH) solicits applications for community members interested in serving on the Homelessness Prevention & Response System (HPRS) Advisory Council. Below you’ll find more information on the structure and role the body will serve for the Anchorage community.

About the Council

The HPRS Advisory Council is the collective of individuals (the planning body) appointed to provide oversight and governance on behalf of the Anchorage Continuum of Care (CoC). Areas of focus will include (but are not limited to):

• Annually establishing community priorities to share with funders and policymakers.
• Coordinated Entry system health and performance monitoring.
• Following Built for Zero initiatives.
• The implementation of the Anchored Home Strategic Plan.
• Alaska Homeless Management Information System (AK-HMIS) strategic governance and performance monitoring (in partnership with the AK-HMIS Advisory Board and the Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness).
• Communications & advocacy content oversight and creation.

We are looking for individuals who can share their experience and talent in any of the following areas: 

• Lived homelessness experience
• Housing entities or landlords
• Homeless service organizations
• Victim services
• State and local governments
• Educational organizations
• Healthcare organizations
• Law enforcement

We encourage you to submit your application for consideration by Friday, May 27, 2023.

• Apply: HPRS Advisory Council Application

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected] for more information.  

Please share this opportunity and help us to partner more deeply with the Anchorage community to make homelessness rare, brief, and one-time!

Highly Vulnerable Adult Case Conferencing Data Outcomes

1.5 Years of Case Conferencing

Highly Vulnerable Case Conferencing is for individuals experiencing homelessness who are medically fragile. It offers a pathway to apply for home and community-based waivers through the state and processes for obtaining wrap-around services once housed so individuals can maintain safe and sustainable housing. We partner with HPRS providers and the AHD ADRC (Aging and Disability Resource Center) to have experts in the room to find the best solutions that are person-centered.
 

This data represents our varied, transient, and highly vulnerable population living in the Anchorage area based on one and a half years of case conferencing with medical partners and service providers.

Data considerations:

• This is a varied, transient, and highly vulnerable population
  • For housed individuals, the process is already lengthy and is longer for those who are unhoused
• Changing shelter environment and changing provider
  • We have had three different Providers for the Sullivan Arena and Mass Care Shelters
• Loss of Case Managers
  • Experienced high turnover with Case Managers due to the changing Provider
• Barrier to Case Conferencing is having a Case Manager
  • In the first year and a half of the new case conferencing, those who had a case manager were the only ones who accessed the process 

An Opportunity to Get Involved

Pack a Care Kit for Families!

Due to year-round family emergency shelters in Anchorage being at capacity, there are many families with young children experiencing unsheltered homelessness. You can help! Organize a Family Outreach Event and get a group together to assemble outreach kits for families. Click here for a how-to post.

Do you know a family in need? Click Here for Resources

Anchorage Chamber Releases Community Care Kit

The Community Care Kit helps businesses and the Anchorage community compassionately and effectively respond to challenging on-the-ground situations. These situations include individuals and employees experiencing behavioral health crises or substance misuse as well as community members sleeping or congregating outside businesses. It is the result of a months-long effort that included feedback from over 150 Anchorage businesses as well as local experts in crisis response.

Assembly reports Anchorage homelessness investment much lower than similar cities

"The cities of Anchorage, Alaska, and Houston, Texas, may not be close in total population, but new data shows a similar number of homeless residents in both cities.

The Anchorage Assembly is using those numbers to argue that the municipality is not getting its fair share of funding to help solve the growing problem of homelessness.

Municipal documents show that Anchorage had 1,494 homeless residents in 2022, while Baltimore, Maryland, had 1,597, and Fort Worth, Texas, had 1,665. Those cities are much larger than Anchorage and are receiving millions of dollars more in federal aid to help solve their homelessness issues, in some cases around 15 times more per capita, based on homeless populations." Continue Reading

Affirming Truths About Homelessness

Solving homelessness requires us to understand the kind of problem that it is — and is not.

Solving homelessness will take the full force of a collective effort focused on combating the true causes of homelessness. Since that is the case, the American public’s beliefs and attitudes about homelessness matter profoundly.

You can use this evidence-based brief to affirm truths — not stereotypes — about homelessness.
 

Four truths about homelessness

1. Most people experiencing homelessness in a given area are either from the community in which they’re experiencing homelessness, or had been living there for multiple years.
2. The best predictor of homelessness is a lack of affordable housing, not mental illness or substance use.
3. Homelessness is not a  choice. Overwhelmingly, people say they would move inside if housing responsive to their needs were available.
4. People experiencing homelessness face disproportionate rates of violent victimization compared to the general population.

Solving homelessness will take a collective effort focused on combating the true causes of homelessness.

State of Homelessness: 2023 Edition

According to the January 2022 PIT Count, 582,462 people were experiencing homelessness across America. This amounts to roughly 18 out of every 10,000 people¹. The vast majority (72 percent) were individual adults, but a notable share (28 percent) were people living in families with children.

However, there is more to the story of homelessness in 2022. This section will delve deeper into questions of 1) who is experiencing homelessness, 2) where they are experiencing it, and 3) the degree to which people are living unsheltered.

Who is Experiencing Homelessness in 2022: Special Populations

For reasons rooted in practice and policy, the homeless services world focuses on specific special populations. Of people experiencing homeless:

• 22 percent are chronically homeless individuals (or people with disabilities who have experienced long-term or repeated incidents of homelessness)
• 6 percent are veterans (distinguished due to their service to the country), and
• 5 percent are unaccompanied youth under 25 (considered vulnerable due to their age)

2023 - The Year of Housing

In recent years, Cascadia has taken big steps away from sprawl and segregation and toward compact communities that welcome more neighbors of all ages, races, ethnicities, and incomes. Communities where cars are an accessory to life and not its organizing principle. The scale of the wins from our most recent legislative sessions are immense.

Register now to hear the behind-the-scenes stories from Sightline team members in Alaska, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. What makes 2023 "The Year of Housing"?