Why is Homelessness a Systems Problem?

“Housing barriers are system barriers — they’re not people barriers. No one wants to sleep out in the street,” said Jaeger, Community Services Director at the City of Rockford in Illinois. 

Think of homelessness as a bellwether. It’s an indicator for how well our systems are serving the needs of populations who are often the most marginalized, oppressed, or disenfranchised.

If homelessness is the result of systems failing these individuals — the solution lies in fixing these systems so they are designed to continuously end homelessness for all populations.
 

The challenge is that homeless response systems in many communities have not historically been designed to drive and sustain population-level reductions in homelessness. 
 

Societal and structural forces make people vulnerable to experiencing homelessness. But systems can inadvertently keep them there. Here are some of the common challenges that keep these systems focused on responding to — instead of measurably ending — homelessness: 
 

• A lack of clear authority
• The lack of a feedback loop as dynamic as the issue
• An inability to identify and respond to racial disparities
• A lack of shared accountability for ending homelessness across upstream and adjacent systems

- Excerpted from Community Solutions blog post, August 25, 2021

September Outreach Schedule

• Every Tuesday
  3rd and Ingra
• Every Thursday
  Davis Park
• Wednesday, Sept. 6th
  Behind Ben Boeke Ice Arena
• Wednesday, Sept. 13th
  Cuddy Park
• Wednesday, Sept. 20th
  Behind Ben Boeke Ice Arena  

• Wednesday, Sept. 27th
  Near Cuddy Park

Available at events while supplies last:

• food, snacks, & water
• medical services
• hygiene items
• clothing
• harm reduction & first aid
• tarps/blankets/sleeping bags

Our community’s application to HUD’s annual CoC funding opportunity is due September 28, 2023!

ACEH will be hosting two stakeholder meetings, facilitated by Agnew::Beck Consulting, to help inform the Anchorage CoC’s consolidated application. These meetings will be a chance to talk about new work to highlight, areas for improvement from last year’s application, and how to put forward the best response we can for Anchorage. Your input matters!

• Friday, September 8, 2023, 11 AM – 12 PM

• Monday, September 18, 2023, 11 AM – 12 PM

Seeking Shelter/Seeking Solutions: The homeless students of Anchorage

Officials aren't certain exactly how many homeless children are in the Anchorage School District, but there are programs to help get them into the classroom.

Providence begins construction of $11 million crisis care stabilization facility in Anchorage

Providence Alaska broke ground last week on a new facility that as early as next year will offer walk-in care to Alaskans experiencing behavioral health and substance disorder-related emergencies.
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One population that could benefit from the new center is a small but visible subset of Anchorage residents experiencing homelessness alongside more serious mental health or substance disorders, said Owen Hutchinson, director of external relations with the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness.

Hutchinson said that a top concern that came out a survey the coalition did this spring of more than 90 people experiencing homeless in Anchorage was about mental health crises occurring in shelters, and contributing to others staying there feeling disrupted or unsafe.

“I think it’s difficult for homeless service providers who are not trained behavioral health clinicians to be responsible for addressing that community need, and it takes a lot of resources away from the people who are there temporarily to help them on their pathway to housing,” 

HUD Secretary Fudge meets with rural and urban Alaskans to discuss housing struggles

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, who accompanied Fudge on her visit, underscored that Alaska is different from much of the country. Rural communities here, many of them off the road system, have drastically higher costs of living.

“Most of America, as you go further out from the big cities, a lot of times housing and the cost of living actually decrease,” he said. “In Alaska, it’s actually the flip side.”

Fudge also visited Kenai on her trip to Alaska, where she announced millions of dollars for several tribal affordable housing projects across the state.

Meanwhile, concerns raised by urban Alaskans included what they describe as an unfair formula for distribution of HUD funding to address homelessness. Anchorage Assembly Chair Chris Constant said that the city of Houston, Texas, and Anchorage both have roughly the same number of homeless people — at around 3,200. However, he said, Houston receives more than $40 million in federal support, while Anchorage gets roughly $4 million. 

“That’s $15,000 per individual in Houston that they’re receiving to support the people unhoused in their community, where we receive $1,000,” Constant said.

Fudge said she heard a “good argument” from Alaskans in favor of adjusting the HUD funding formula to be more equitable. 

Spotlighting a leader in solving homelessness

Meet Dr. Curley, a leader in Detroit’s VA Health Care System and in the community’s efforts to reduce and solve homelessness. 

Inspired by his father who served in the military, Dr. Curley joined VA 11 years ago and has worked up the ranks into his current role as program director. 

Dr. Curley shares insights on his leadership approach, how Detroit is centering racial equity in their homeless response system, and more.

The Framework for an Equitable Homelessness Response Launches Healthy Parents Healthy Babies

Healthy Parents Healthy Babies was established to document and disseminate strategies to reduce racial disparities, increase housing stability, and improve maternal health, birth outcomes, and child health associated with homelessness and extreme housing instability among women and families of color. The recommendations were developed by people with lived experience of homelessness and extreme housing instability when pregnant. They focus on how to improve birth, health, housing, and other outcomes for pregnant people, parents, and their children.

New Report! Beyond Housing Stability: Understanding Tenant and Landlord Experiences and the Impact of ERA

NLIHC, the Housing Initiative at Penn (HIP), and the Reinvestment Fund (RF) released today a joint report on tenant and landlord experiences with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s (Treasury) Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Program. The report, Beyond Housing Stability: Understanding Tenant and Landlord Experiences and the Impact of Emergency Rental Assistance, finds that Treasury’s ERA program offered a vital lifeline to tenants and landlords during the pandemic, improving outcomes in areas well beyond housing stability, including financial security, child well-being, and overall health. 

New HUD Data Show Federal COVID Relief Prevented Rise in Homelessness

"While we didn’t solve the challenge of homelessness...these data provide valuable insights about how we address homelessness," said Secretary Fudge.