For the Homeless in Anchorage, 'Winter is Coming'
In an increasingly politicized atmosphere, the issue of homelessness presents policy and political dilemmas in a country with the most prosperous economy in the world. Like most cities in the lower 48, Anchorage has individuals and families with nowhere to go and live on our streets, in shelters, and their cars.
Unfortunately, Anchorage has a problem with how homelessness is seen. Many don't want to see the issue at all. Anchorage politicians have sometimes done what they could to hide our most vulnerable population away — considering them blights on our city.
In November 2011, the Anchorage Assembly passed an ordinance that banned sitting or lying down on public sidewalks in Downtown Anchorage. The ordinance also banned panhandling downtown and restricted it to non-daylight hours across the rest of the Municipality. Former Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan, who never treated our homeless neighbors with one shred of decency or respect, sought the ordinance after one man had protested Sullivan's insensitivity to the homeless community in front of City Hall for roughly six months.
On September 25, 2012, by a vote of seven to four, the Assembly repealed the sidewalk-sitting section of the ordinance. Less than 48 hours after the Assembly's action, Sullivan vetoed the repeal. The Anchorage Assembly had 21 days to override the veto, which it did not do, leading the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska to file a lawsuit challenging the ban on sitting or laying on public sidewalks.
The U.S. Supreme Court later upheld a Ninth Circuit Court ruling which said that people experiencing homelessness could not be criminally punished for sleeping outside on public property if there were no available alternatives. That decision made the Ninth Circuit Court ruling binding for all states in the Court's jurisdiction; Alaska is one of those states.
In more recent times, Anchorage is now faced with an incoming Mayor whose public comments about homeless individuals have raised concerns after Bronson repeatedly referred to the homeless population as "vagrants" during the Anchorage mayoral campaign and trumpeted weaponizing law enforcement as a tool to be used against Anchorage's most vulnerable.
Last week, Anchorage Mayor-Elect Bronson announced that Dr. John Morris, a local anesthesiologist, would be the head of his homelessness transition team. After becoming mayor-Elect, Bronson said at his first press conference that his administration would be "very transparent both in our policies and the execution of those policies." Yet, the Bronson transition team has not released Dr. Morris' plan even though Bronson said that once his team saw the project as it unfolded, they "really kind of came to like it."
Morris recently wrote a lengthy opinion piece that was printed in ADN. He provided little insight into the elusive homelessness plan, and his opinion piece seemed more akin to heralding Bronson's imminent ascension to the mayoral throne.
We can only hope that Dr. Morris possesses some deep-rooted insight into homelessness and social services, as the issues facing the incoming Bronson administration are colossal.
Jasmine Boyle, Executive Director of the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness, told me that the number of homeless individuals increased in the Municipality during 2020. Boyle ascribed some of that increase to hardships caused by the Coronavirus pandemic and believes Anchorage could be facing a situation where roughly 1,000 vulnerable residents will need shelter in the upcoming winter months. Even still, Boyle says that shelter alone is not a solution for homelessness.
"While shelters are often the life-saving safety net for many individuals, they are not resourced to address the complex root causes that create homelessness or to end homelessness by transitioning individuals into sustainable housing. Without the resources to help people transition into housing, shelters can be a bandaid over a deep wound — important but not a full solution," said Boyle.
"Being able to house a thousand people is a big goal but one built out of necessity," says Boyle, explaining that it is the need in Anchorage's community based on the best available information.
That information includes those in temporary shelters, those who reside in unauthorized camps, and those in the larger Anchorage shelter system: families, youth, elders, and veterans. According to Boyle, the city will need shelter, housing, and service options when winter arrives to help individuals and the larger community remain safe and healthy.
Debates will continue about the significance of Anchorage's homeless problem, why people lose their housing, how best to assist them, and who should even be classified as homeless — but the Bronson administration will almost certainly need to admit that to tackle homelessness fully, a 'shelter only' plan isn't going to get the job done.
