Community Engagement Calendar

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** Homeless Prevention & Response System
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Weekly Digest
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** Anchored Home 2023-2028
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** View Community Engagement Calendar Updates on the ACEH Website ([link removed]) .
60 day community engagement period ends April 12, 2023
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March 6, 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM | Provider Input Online Session on Data, Equity, Funding, and Coordination Click to join meeting ([link removed])

March 13, 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM | Provider Input Online Session on Housing, Supportive Housing, and Support Services Click to join meeting ([link removed])

March 15, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Federation of Community Councils (Open to Public)

March 20 | Brother Francis Shelter: Lived Experience Input Session

March 29 | Covenant House Alaska: Lived Experience Input Session

April 5 | GuestHouse: Lived Experience Input Session

April 17, 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM | BP Energy Center (Open to Public)
Please continue to check back at aceh.org/anchored-home ([link removed]) for calendar updates.


**
We want to hear from you!
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If you have comments or feedback on the Anchored Home plan please send them to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

Thank you for your participation. We look forward to addressing homelessness together as a community.

View Anchored Home 2023-2028 ([link removed])
ACEH News & Updates
Clients line up outside of Sullivan warming area at the 02/22/2023 Outreach Pop-up.


** February Outreach Update
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Total Client Contacts in February: 480
Harm Reduction Kits Distributed: 61
Clients Assisted by SALA Medical: 81


Outreach pop-ups are from 1 PM – 4 PM
* Tuesdays at Midtown/Cuddy
* Wednesdays at Sullivan Warming area
* Thursdays at Davis Park

At these events, outreach teams provide Coordinated Entry assessments and information regarding available services. SALA Medics are on location to provide First Aid for clients as needed. Snacks, coffee, and other items will be distributed to unsheltered individuals.

The following organizations participated in the events:
* Alaska Behavioral Health ([link removed])
* Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness ([link removed])
* Beans Cafe - Streets to Success ([link removed])
* Catholic Social Services - Alaska ([link removed])
* Covenant House Alaska ([link removed])
* First United Methodist Church - Anchorage ([link removed])
* Food Bank of Alaska ([link removed])
* Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association (Four A's) ([link removed])
* Anchorage Health Department ([link removed])
* Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc. ([link removed])
* SALA, LLC ([link removed])
* United Way of Anchorage ([link removed])

Special thanks to the following volunteers:
* David Hembree
* Julie Graham
* Mary Cates
* Roger Branson


If you are interested in donating your time or resources, please reach out to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

This project was supported by a grant awarded by the Municipality of Anchorage, Anchorage Health Department.


** Alaska Homeless Management Information System (AKHMIS) Update from Institute for Community Alliance Alaska (ICA)
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The AlKHMIS Policies & Procedures ([link removed]) now require data entry staff to log in at least once every 45 days. If they do not log in for longer than 45 days, their access to AKHMIS is suspended, and they have to correctly complete a practice case to regain access. The reason for this policy is that data entry staff who only enter data infrequently have lower data quality; interacting with the database at least every 45 days can help ensure they maintain their familiarity with it.
View Updated Policies and Procedures ([link removed])
Local Housing & Homelessness Highlights
Children’s Lunchbox, a Program of Bean's Cafe


** Feeding Hungry Families
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The Children’s Lunchbox is distributing or partnering with other agencies to distribute pantry boxes to food-insecure children and families.

Each pantry boxes provides a breakfast, lunch or dinner meal for a family of four and are given out in multiples to feed entire families. The below distribution sites are open to anyone, no questions asked.

Locations and times are as follows:
* Lighthouse Fellowship, Mon, Wed, Fri, 3–3:45 p.m
* Loussac Place (NOT Loussac Library), Mon, Wed, Fri, 3–4:15 pm
* Spenard Rec Center, Mon, Wed, Fri, 3–3:45 pm
* Fairview Rec Center, Mon, Wed, Fri, 4–4:45 pm- Back of building
* Penland Park, Thursdays 2:30 - 4pm

Food donations can be dropped off at Bean’s Cafe Administration office Monday - Friday 8am – 4pm. There is a doorbell, and you may phone 907.433.8601.

The schools and special programs we currently provide pantry boxes to, for distribution to enrolled students are:
* Mountain View Elementary
* Muldoon Elementary
* Williwaw Elementary
* Northstar Elementary
* Tyson Elementary
* Lake Otis Elementary
* Klatt Elementary
* Northwood Elementary
* Benny Benson Secondary
* Chester Valley Elementary
* Mountain View Boys and Girls Club
* CITC & CITC Schoolyard
* Ridgeline Terrace
* Stellar
* Hmoob Cultural Center
* Step-Up
* Safe Harbor
* Power Youth Center
* If you attend Tudor Elementary or Creekside Elementary, speak to the school directly about how to obtain pantry boxes in the future.


Learn More ([link removed])
UAA College of Health


** Call For Poverty Simulation Volunteers
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Event Date: Friday, 4/14/2023
Event Time: 8:00am - 11:00am
Event Location: University of Alaska Anchorage, Main Campus
* Volunteers will take part in a role-play simulation to sensitize participants to the realities of poverty
* Help shift the paradigm about poverty
* Inspire local change

FOR MORE INFO: UAA AHEC@ALASKA,EDU
Learn More ([link removed])
National Housing & Homelessness Highlights
Community Solutions


** Hear from veterans in the D.C. area
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"This is the best thing that ever happened to me in a long, long time."

Meet Ray, Marine Corps veteran, avid sports fan, and a tenant of the John and Jill Ker Conway Residence in Washington, D.C. He moved into one of the 60 units reserved for veterans exiting homelessness in January 2017.

“I have a good apartment, good people, and my case worker and the whole management is good to me. This is the best thing that ever happened to me in a long long time,” said Ray. “I’m just content, you know?”

Each resident has a unique story to tell.
Read Their Stories ([link removed])
www.Columbian.com


** Vancouver Housing Authority master lease agreement to add affordable housing
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As housing costs in Clark County become increasingly unaffordable for many residents, the Vancouver Housing Authority is using an innovative way to put more below-market-rate housing on the ground.

The housing authority recently entered into a master lease agreement for a 98-unit development project ([link removed]) owned by Briscoe Court LLC at 4902 N.E. 94th Ave., the current site of Golden Tent Mongolian BBQ. Construction will likely begin later this year and is anticipated to be completed in 2025.

Master leasing enables the housing authority to sublease units to low-income tenants. It takes advantage of private developers’ efficiency and speed— putting the building up in less time and at a lower cost than the housing authority can typically accomplish due to its federal requirements — while still ensuring units are affordable. Continue Reading... ([link removed])
View Full Article ([link removed])
Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA)


** Housing Instability Identified as Social Determinant of Heart Disease in New Study
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Social Determinants of Cardiovascular Health: A Longitudinal Analysis of Cardiovascular Disease Mortality in US Counties From 2009 to 2018

Disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes persist across the United States. Social determinants of health play an important role in driving these disparities. The current study aims to identify the most important social determinants associated with CVD mortality over time in US counties.
View the Study ([link removed](memo_022723))
www.opb.org


** Eviction prevention programs bring stability to those on the brink
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With the end of state and local eviction protections and the rapid rise in inflation, more people in the Portland metro area are teetering on the edge of homelessness. One of the ways to help keep people housed is to prevent them from losing their homes in the first place. Continue Reading... ([link removed])
Read Full Article ([link removed])
UAS Today Op-Ed


** Biden administration: We bent the curve on homelessness. Here's how we made progress.
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Until you turn off the faucet, a bathtub will never be empty. Until we prevent homelessness ([link removed]) from happening in the first place, it will not end in the U.S.

That’s why the Biden-Harris administration’s new homelessness plan ([link removed]) goes further than previous federal efforts to prevent homelessness before it happens.

The faucets that contribute to homelessness are criminal justice systems that punish people who have nowhere to live but the streets and make it harder for people to get housing and jobs, foster care systems that fail young people when they age out, health care systems that don’t provide insurance and treatment to all who need it, and a housing supply that doesn’t provide enough homes that people can afford. Unfortunately, there are many more faucets.

We know how to get people out of homelessness. Every year – thanks in part to the long-standing, bipartisan “Housing First ([link removed]) ” policy – the United States helps more than 900,000 people ([link removed]) get back into homes. But for every person who gets housing, another loses housing.


** Increase in homelessness is starting to slow
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After the Bush and Obama administrations embraced a Housing First policy ([link removed]) , homelessness in America began to decline. But in 2016, that progress stopped, and homelessness rapidly rose ([link removed]) in the years that followed.

Fortunately, we have begun to slow the rapid rise in homelessness – and we did it during a global pandemic and economic crisis. The number of Americans without a home remained largely flat ([link removed].) from 2020 to 2022, proving that we can make progress even during the most difficult times. Continue Reading... ([link removed])
Read Full Op-Ed ([link removed])

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ACEH Weekly Digest
Please reach out to ** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]?subject=ACEH%20Weekly%20Digest)
if you have questions, suggestions, or resources you would like to share in the weekly digest.
Copyright © 2023 Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness, All rights reserved.
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3427 E Tudor Road
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