ACEH Updates

The Anchorage Coalition to End Homlessness (ACEH) works with allies in the community to design, create, and lead implementation for the Anchorage community plan on homelessness.

More about ACEH

Coordinated Entry & Shelter

Family Emergency Shelter
Families that are unsheltered are encouraged to call 2-1-1. From there they will be given a referral to either Safe Harbor or Clare House depending on current vacancies. If no vacancies are available the family will get a referral to the Aviator or Aspen Hotel. We know that this is not ideal, but it is a temporary solution to help families in need.

Case Conferencing and Coordinated Entry (CE) Training
If you have any questions, or are interested in coordinated entry access point training for you or your team, please contact Mac Lyons at: mlyons@aceh.org

Outreach & Resources

This Friday, October 1, VISIT Healthcare will be hosting a free COVID-19 testing clinic for unsheltered individuals from 1-2 PM at Peratrovich Park downtown.  Outreach workers will be on site to offer resources and services.

Exciting outreach updates: 

• CHOICES received funding for a Coordinated Entry based Rapid Rehousing program and has already been successful in housing several individuals. 
• Covenant House is participating in daily outreach with RuRAL CAP and CHOICES.  This is a very exciting step forward in growing our outreach efforts. 
• There is now a formal partnership with Providence’s Community Health Worker program. CHW’s will be able to assist clients with Food Stamps and Medicaid applications, as well as offer low-level onsite medical treatment for cuts, wounds, and frostbite.

Reminder: The next Outreach Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 6^th at 10 AM.

Please reach out with any questions or comments: jrutz@aceh.org 907-312-9478

Local Housing & Homelessness Highlights

Inspiring stories from the Anchorage community, news and information about housing and homelessness, and tangible ways you can get involved and help people in need. View ACEH Members

Committee on Housing and Homelessness

Monthly Update from the Chair of the Assembly’s  Committee on Housing and Homelessness

Update Highlights

• New Contractor in Place as Sullivan Arena Mass Care Facility
• Family Shelter for Winter Challenges
• Budget Priorities
• Important Upcoming Dates

View full update here

MACK House is now open! MACK House is a program of Covenant House Alaska, which serves young people ages 13 to 18 years old experiencing homelessness. 

Food Bank of Alaska

The Food Research and Action Center is currently circulating a sign on letter to Congress and the Biden administration urging them to protect the anti-hunger and anti-poverty provisions of the Build Back Better Act.

The legislation is a historic investment in critically-needed anti-hunger programs which would ensure children have access to the nutrition they need year-round during and after the impacts from the pandemic. It has a short turnaround with a deadline to sign on of COB Monday. – Ron Meehan, Policy and Advocacy Manager, Food Bank of Alaska

National Housing & Homelessness Highlights

Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

House America Initiative
House America: An All-Hands-on-Deck Effort to Address the Nation’s Homelessness Crisis is a federal initiative in which the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) are inviting mayors, city and county leaders, tribal nation leaders, and governors into a national partnership. House America will utilize the historic investments provided through the American Rescue Plan to address the crisis of homelessness through a Housing First approach.

National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC)

‘Build Back Better Act’
The House Budget Committee voted to advance the “Build Back Better Act,” a $3.5 trillion comprehensive infrastructure and economic recovery package, to the House Rules Committee in preparation for a full vote on the House floor. The full vote in the House could take place as soon as the coming week.

The bill currently includes $327 billion in affordable housing investments, including robust funding for the HoUSed campaign’s top priorities:
$90 billion for rental assistance, including $75 billion for Housing Choice Vouchers and $15 billion for Project-Based Rental Assistance. See the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ state-by-state breakdown of how many people would be assisted through this voucher expansion;
$80 billion to preserve public housing; and
$37 billion for the national Housing Trust Fund (as a set-aside within the HOME Investment Partnership Program). See NLIHC’s state-by-state estimate of this investment.
Read NLIHC’s full analysis of the legislation here.

U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH)

The latest federal guidance and resources to prevent and end homelessness
Coronavirus variants and the hurricane season present unique threats to people experiencing homelessness and threaten to force more Americans into homelessness.

To help communities plan for, respond to, and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and environmental disasters, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) recently updated two collection pages of federal guidance and resources.

The COVID-19 page includes information, sorted by department and sub-sorted by agency/program, on:

• Protecting people experiencing homelessness from coronavirus; and
• Relief funding provided by the CARES Act, the American Rescue Plan, and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 that can be used to
• help people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Visit the COVID-19 collection of federal guidance and resources.

The disaster page features information from:

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC);
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA);
• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS);
• The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD);
• The National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE); and
• The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Visit the disaster collection of federal guidance and resources.

View this news on the USICH site.