OPINION: 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.

Part of ACEH’s role is to assess how different programs function, focusing on the percentage of people who successfully exit those programs into housing. This metric helps determine how a program reduces the number of people experiencing homelessness. When we look at success rates for emergency shelters, we see significantly higher percentages of people placed into housing from non-congregate settings, illustrating where our investments make the biggest difference. The community benefits more when we invest in non-congregate settings.

Since last spring, ACEH has been talking with the public, Anchorage Assembly and AHD about the five keys to emergency shelter; a housing-first approach, safe and appropriate diversion, immediate and low-barrier access, housing-focused and rapid exits; and data to measure performance. A non-congregate emergency cold weather shelter option that is closely aligned with these best practices will function completely differently than emergency cold weather shelter has in the past – and based on data from previous years, we have reason to believe it will result in more people moving onto housing.

We applaud the cooperation of the Anchorage Assembly and AHD on finding a better option than the Sullivan Arena. ACEH is encouraged by the progress toward implementing non-congregate shelter and believes this is the sensible path forward this winter for people experiencing homelessness, and for the entire community moving forward as we look to add more year-round shelter capacity.

Meg Zaletel is the executive director of the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness. Nathan Johnson is the chairman of ACEH’s board of directors.

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