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Coalition Update

December 18, 2025

Continuum of Care grant competition update

The Anchorage Continuum of Care is continuing work on a community-wide grant application to support housing and services for people exiting homelessness, even as HUD has temporarily rescinded the current funding opportunity. HUD has indicated it will re-issue the Notice of Funding Opportunity, but hasn’t said when other than before Sept. 30, 2026. 



During this period, the CoC is pausing the ranking of individual projects while partners align around shared priorities and roles. Work on the collaborative, community-wide application continues. In the coming weeks, agencies including the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness will reach out to partners to confirm roles and relationships within the Continuum of Care.  

Anchorage is positioning itself to respond quickly and competitively when HUD re-issues the funding opportunity, ensuring local projects are aligned, effective and ready to serve people with the greatest needs.

Point-in-Time Count coming in January

Our community, along with others around Alaska and the country, will conduct our annual Point-in-Time Count of people experiencing homelessness in January. The survey will be conducted the early mornings of Jan. 27-29, asking our unhoused neighbors where they spent the night on Jan. 26. It covers those who are sleeping outdoors as well as those in shelters, hospital emergency rooms (and no fixed address) and other gathering places.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Development directs continuums of care — the local networks addressing homelessness — to conduct the count to monitor trends and provide data on the state of homelessness. ACEH is the lead organization supporting the Anchorage Continuum of Care. 

Our street outreach team and partners will be canvassing Anchorage ahead of time to collect up-to-date information on where people are camping and sleeping. Teams surveying those who are unsheltered will receive training in January.

Agencies that are participating should review their Point-in-Time Count contact information stored in the Alaska Homeless Management Information System. The Institute for Community Alliances, which manages Alaska HMIS data, created a helpful how-to for agencies on checking and updating contact information for the Point-in-Time Count.

Season of Warmth

Some people living outdoors have no gloves. Some don't have boots that fit properly. One young woman recently showed up at an Anchorage shelter with no shoes at all.

Help our unsheltered neighbors stay safe and get warm. Our Season of Warmth campaign is raising funds for outdoor gear including coats, snow pants and winter boots.

For just $10, you can provide a hat, gloves and handwarmers for someone. For $120, you can get a person outfitted head-to-toe.

Make an impact this December. Click here to learn more.

Another way to help comes when you apply for your Permanent Fund Dividend. Anyone who gets a PFD can become a philanthropist through Pick.Click.Give. It feels good to give back! Give it a try if you haven’t already. Please keep the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness in mind as you make your selections.

And to all who have given, thank you! Your support reaches those who need it most.

‘Low-cost, low-barrier recovery program right here in Anchorage’

Dozens of individuals experiencing homelessness soon will be able to get off the streets and into a new treatment-focused project sponsored by the Municipality of Anchorage.

The project, Microunits for Recovery Residences, will feature 32 microunits, each with a bed, microwave and mini fridge for temporary living. There will be a community gathering space, offices, bathrooms and showers.

A community health provider to operate the Recovery Residences will be announced soon, and the project should open early in 2026, Thea Agnew Bemben, a special assistant to Mayor Suzanne LaFrance, told an Anchorage Assembly committee. Participants are expected to stay 6-12 months, then transition to permanent housing. The Anchorage Community Development Authority is overseeing construction by local builder Visser Construction and will manage maintenance of the site.

Officials expand emergency shelter as cold winter settles in

As winter settled into Anchorage, more people living outdoors sought warmth and safety indoors. Municipal officials responded by quickly expanding emergency shelter capacity — part of the city’s evolving approach to getting people inside and on a path toward stability.

There are now 425 Municipal shelter beds across three locations. Three hundred year-round beds were initially supplemented this winter by 100 planned cold-weather surge beds. When extreme cold and wind pushed demand even higher, the Anchorage Assembly approved 25 additional emergency beds. Even so, many people remain unsheltered, facing barriers such as limited space, discomfort with congregate settings, or reluctance to leave trusted companions behind.

To close gaps, the Anchorage Safety Center is now open to anyone needing a safe place to sleep when space allows, with transportation to shelters as beds open. Outreach teams, shelter providers, and the Anchorage Police Department’s HOPE team are coordinating daily. Temporary hotel stays — funded through private donations — are helping some people stabilize.

As Assembly Member Felix Rivera noted, the system today is “night and day” compared to just a few years ago.

Good Neighbor Fund fills the gaps

A project that started during the pandemic to help people leaving the Sullivan Arena mass shelter has grown into a community-wide fund to help our unsheltered neighbors in a variety of ways.

The Good Neighbor Fund, officially launched in November with support of the Municipality of Anchorage, has amassed more than $112,000 in donations from 204 individuals as of Dec. 17. Funds are held at The Alaska Community Foundation. Donations help with medicine, IDs, birth certificates, phones, meals, temporary hotel stays, transportation and other individual situations. The goal, say organizers, is to help people be safe and improve their lives.

“This is a fund for you, and for the people,” Midtown businessman Kenny Petersen said at the Town Square launch event. “Have you seen a neighbor in need on the street corner or laying on the side of a street or even downtown here, sheltering in a tent and wondering who is responding?”