In search of fair funding

Anchorage Assembly Chair Christopher Constant Legislative Chair Anna Brawley, U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola and Coalition Executive Director Meg Zaletel discussed how to realign federal funding for homelessness services to match the need.

We’ve long known that Anchorage is underfunded by the federal government for homelessness services. Last month, an Anchorage Assembly delegation joined by Coalition Executive Director Meg Zaletel pressed the case in Washington, D.C. Our congressional delegation stood alongside the Anchorage contingent in a meeting with the Department of Housing & Urban Development urging a change in the funding formula. Representing the Anchorage Assembly were Chair Christopher Constant and Legislative Chair Anna Brawley.

HUD distributes dollars to Continuums of Care to support the creation and ongoing operations of housing for people experiencing homelessness. That allocation is based on cities’ overall population rather than the population of people who are experiencing homelessness. Anchorage receives much less than communities with similar numbers of people experiencing homelessness. In 2022, for instance, Anchorage reported 1,494 people in its annual Point in Time Count compared to 1,665 in Fort Worth and 1,597 in Baltimore. Yet Anchorage received just over $4 million while Fort Worth received nearly $16 million and Baltimore over $26 million, according to an Assembly analysis.

ACEH is grateful for the ongoing collaboration and support of the Anchorage Assembly and the Alaska federal delegation to right size Anchorage’s allocation so that homelessness can be rare, brief and one time.