CALL TO ACTION:
Public Testimony and Support Needed To Increase Homeless Services
The Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness (ACEH) supports AO 2020-66. This ordinance would authorize the Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) to purchase four properties. Three of these locations would directly increase homeless services in the community and the fourth would create a behavioral health treatment facility open to all community members, of all walks of life.
The Anchorage Assembly has extended public comment three times in the last week. While the testimony in favor of these acquisitions has steadily increased, we still need advocacy voices. ACEH was able to speak with the MOA team this weekend and get some commonly asked questions answered. Please click “ here” for more information in advance of the MOA sharing a more formal Frequently Asked Questions document.
We know that Anchorage has a growing gap between the demand for homelessness services and our capacity to meet demand. (For more information click here: Homeless Prevention and Response System Gap Analysis and 2021 Community Priorities). We have been working together with providers, funders and government partners to address the gaps and have been excited about new funding in the community to help us get to functional zero - to have enough services for our community. However, this forward momentum will not be enough as Anchorage adjusts to the impacts of COVID-19. National and local experts project that we will see a rise in homelessness as the economic impacts of COVID-19 unfold, particularly as individual assistance winds down and eviction moratoriums are lifted. We are concerned that we will see an increase in “new” homelessness - neighbors and community members who never anticipated losing their homes but who will not be able to get back on their feet without some assistance.
We ask that our partners lend their support to this important conversation in the following ways:
- Share your voice with the Anchorage Assembly by Tuesday, July 21, 2020, in one of the three following ways:
- Email your support for AO 2020-66 to the Anchorage Assembly at [email protected] by Tuesday 7/21 at 2:00 p.m. You are welcome to use the template below by clicking [email protected] for a pre populated email and are highly encouraged to add your own comments.
- Dear Anchorage Assembly Members,
- Thank you for extending the public comment period on AO 2020-66. I support this ordinance and the Municipality of Anchorage addressing the public safety and well-being of our community by caring for our vulnerable. Homelessness negatively impacts the housed and the unhoused alike - and the evidence-based, cost-effective solutions benefit all members of the Anchorage community. AO 2020-66 would help Anchorage address shelter and housing gaps in our existing system and help us get much-needed housing ready to support the new homelessness we expect to see as a result of COVID-19’s economic impacts. Please vote yes on AO 2020-66.
- Attend the Tuesday 7/21 Assembly meeting and provide testimony in-person at Loussac Library starting at 6:00 p.m. Capacity is limited in the Assembly Chambers so please consider arriving at the beginning of the meeting and don’t forget to check the Assembly website at www.muni.org/Assembly to learn about the protocols on testifying in-person.
- Provide phone testimony during the Tuesday 7/21 Assembly meeting. Sign up for phone testimony by emailing [email protected] by 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday 7/21.
- Click [email protected] for a pre populated email with the following:
- Subject line: Phone Testimony - Item 14.B, Ordinance No. AO 2020-66
- Your name
- Phone number
- The item you wish to testify on: Item 14.B, Ordinance No. AO 2020-66
- The Clerk will call you at the number you have provided during the public comment period, and you will have up to 3 minutes to provide testimony. This is first-come, first-serve and the calls can come as late as 11:00 p.m. or close to midnight, until the Assembly calls the meeting to an end.
- Share this information with your partners, team members and local advocates (see below for clickable links to share on Facebook, Twitter and to forward this email to a friend)
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