Advisory Council applauds Assembly for adopting right course on homelessness
July 26, 2024
For immediate release
Contact: Anchorage Homelessness Prevention and Response System Advisory Council, info@hprsadvisorycouncil.org
Our community’s strategic plan to address homelessness details actions to add housing for unhoused neighbors, promote equity, seek new funding sources and build from data and evidence.
And on July 16, the Anchorage Assembly adopted Anchored Home 2023-2028 “as the official action plan of the Municipality to address homelessness through 2028.”
Alison Kear, chair of the Anchorage HHPRS Advisory Council and CEO of Covenant House Alaska.
“We applaud the Assembly action as a step forward for our community,” said Alison Kear, chair of the Anchorage Homelessness Prevention and Response System Advisory Council and CEO of Covenant House Alaska. “This plan will provide an important framework from which we can create and improve services for populations from young adults to families to seniors. This will ensure all of our neighbors have opportunity to thrive.”
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires a strategic plan for communities to receive funding for their Continuum of Care, a suite of services and strategies to address homelessness and to direct funding to house those who are unhoused. This plan focuses on getting individuals housed using the same progress standards as HUD.
Anchored Home is a tool that will inform more detailed workplans for specific goals, such as housing people who are unsheltered. Progress and challenges will be reported to the community twice a year, and the plan will be evaluated annually. It is a living document that can be adjusted as it is put into operation.
This plan builds on successful strategies of the prior version of Anchored Home that resulted in the 3rd Avenue Resource and Navigation Center, the Complex Care facility, coordinated street outreach, 271 units of low income and extremely low income housing, and unprecedented housing-focused shelter. It calls for public and private partnerships to add needed housing with tailored supports. It emphasizes person-centered services so that no one has to navigate services serially and to ensure that those who have been housed, stay housed.
Robin Dempsey, vice chair of the Anchorage HPRS Advisory Council
Anchored Home was developed with input from service providers, community councils, people with lived experience, Assembly members and the community at large. The Assembly resolution says it will serve as a framework to guide the Municipality’s public policies and actions “long into the future.”
“This plan sets the stage for continued collaboration, an essential piece of addressing homelessness. With the support of our government, nonprofit and business community partners, we can help our neighbors experiencing homelessness transition to permanent stability,” said Robin Dempsey, vice chair of the Anchorage Homelessness Prevention and Response System Advisory Council and CEO of Catholic Social Services.
The Anchorage Homelessness Prevention and Response System Advisory Council earlier adopted the plan. The advisory council, which holds monthly public meetings, serves as the governing body for the Anchorage Continuum of Care, and the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness is the lead agency.
To help implement Anchored Home, the Continuum of Care and ACEH are seeking partners from various sectors including finance, business, philanthropy, health care, faith-based, government and more. Interested in a partnership? Reach out to communications@aceh.org.
Advisory council committees will align with the focus areas of Anchored Home. Community members can join a committee or simply attend a committee meeting to stay involved. Learn more by clicking here or email info@HPRSadvisorycouncil.org.
“Ultimately, we want to prevent anyone from falling into homelessness,” Kear said. “Many steps are needed to operationalize Anchored Home, and community participation is key. We pledge to be transparent and accountable as we address homelessness.”
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