Anchorage’s emergency cold weather shelter planning is on track

As the days and nights get colder and there’s termination dust on the mountains, the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness (ACEH) has been very invested in ensuring there is an adequate plan for emergency cold weather shelter this winter. This year, we have been encouraged by collaboration between the Anchorage Assembly and Anchorage Health Department (AHD) that resulted in an Emergency Cold Weather Shelter Plan in August and a funding proposal that will come up for a vote on Sept. 12. This is the earliest an Anchorage cold weather shelter plan has been accomplished and relies on non-congregate shelter as the primary path forward, a model based on proven national best practices that have demonstrated better outcomes.

An emergency shelter, even when offered seasonally, should be a place where someone can stabilize, make concrete steps to secure their own place to live, and access the support they need to maintain their housing. The use of non-congregate shelters will help caseworkers, service providers and people experiencing homelessness on a track toward housing. Non-congregate shelter means that everyone has a door, sometimes a roommate, and can provide safety and security – compared to large, shared spaces like the Sullivan Arena. When shelters are safe for residents, they are also safe for the wider community.

- Letter to the editor, submitted to the Anchorage Daily News 09/11/2023, by Meg Zaletel, ACEH Executive Director, and Nathan Johnson, Chair for the ACEH Board of Directors.

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities

Outreach Kit-Making Event

• Monday, October 9th, 6:00 –8:00 PM
• Monday, October 23rd, 6:00 –8:00 PM

Sign up for one, or both events! Join us to assemble outreach item kits for our unsheltered neighbors!

At the ACEH office:

3427 E Tudor Road, Suite A
Anchorage, AK 99507

Mini Project Connects

• Wednesday, September 27th, 10:30 AM - 6:30 PM
• Wednesday, October 25th, 10:30 AM - 6:30 PM

We are looking for volunteers to help distribute:

food
snack bags
minor first aid
hygiene items
potable water
harm reduction supplies
tarps
blankets & sleeping bags
clothing

Alaska Public Media

Talk of Alaska: Alaska's chronic housing shortage 

Improving health and housing outcomes

A case study on how data-sharing between health and homeless systems helped two communities serve their unhoused neighbors

Health systems have a transformative and catalytic role to play in solving homelessness. One important step toward unlocking the full potential of a collaboration between these two systems is the ability to share a real-time, person-centered line of sight into a community’s unhoused population.

Major health systems — including CommonSpirit Dignity Health, Kaiser Permanente, UC Davis, Sutter Health, and Providence Health — have facilitated data-sharing agreements with the homeless response systems in Sacramento, California, and Washington County, Oregon.

These partnerships have worked to improve: 

homelessness data so that all unhoused neighbors are accounted for
2️⃣ health outcomes and care for people experiencing homelessness
3️⃣ housing outcomes
4️⃣ the process of discharging people experiencing homelessness from a hospital

New Report Discusses Homelessness Data Reform

New Voting Rights Legislation Promotes Access to Voting among Unhoused Individuals and Federally Assisted Renters

Representative Nikema Williams (GA-05) introduced a comprehensive voting rights legislation package on August 25 that includes two NLIHC-endorsed bills to promote voter participation among unhoused voters and federally assisted renters. The introduction of the package coincided with the 60^th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a landmark event in the movement to enact civil rights legislation like the “Voting Rights Act of 1965” and the “Fair Housing Act of 1968.” The package includes the NLIHC-endorsed “Unhoused Voter Opportunity Through Elections Act” (Unhoused VOTE Act) (H.R. 5294) and the “Voters on the Move Registration Act” (H.R. 5290).