Street outreach meets people where they are at
Outreach pop-up at Cuddy Park provides basic necessities and assistance.
“Handwarmers are the best!”
“Where’d you get the food from?”
“Can I have one of those blankets?”
Those are a few of the comments overheard at a recent street outreach event led by the Coalition’s street outreach crew and supported by a dedicated group of partners.
Anchorage neighbors who are living outdoors converge at regular pop-ups: Tuesdays at Cuddy Family Midtown Park and Thursdays at Davis Park in Mountain View. Other days, the outreach team fans out on trails and into urban woods to connect with those who are unsheltered. The Coalition has been leading street outreach in Anchorage since October 2022 — with lots of community help.
Mike Hill, the Coalition’s new outreach and housing navigation specialist, said his overarching goal “is to give people hope.” Outreach workers get help for people with medical emergencies. They provide gear like tarps to those whose tents have collapsed under the snow and other essentials. And they connect those most in need with resources.
At the Coalition’s pop-up table, visitors can get a cup of hot coffee, a food pack, hygiene kit, hat, socks and handwarmers. They also can get a housing needs assessment through what is known as Coordinated Entry. In Anchorage, that is the gateway to housing for people experiencing homelessness.
At one pop-up on a 4-degree January afternoon, Ziona Brownlow, a Coordinated Entry specialist at the Coalition, talked with a stream of clients about housing needs, challenges and assets to enroll them in the system or update the information already there. Pictured: Brownlow warms her hands in between enrollments.
SALA medics take part too, offering on-the spot assessments and care for frostbite, wounds, arthritis and other conditions. They hand out first aid kits and harm reduction kits with clean syringes and other items to keep people safe. They even drive individuals to shelters. The No. 1 item requested from the medics? Naloxone, which rapidly reverses an opioid overdose. It won’t work when frozen, but if it thaws, it’s still good.
Bean’s Cafe brings meals to the pop-up. FreeMō, a free wireless service for those who qualify, provides phones. Covenant House Alaska offers connection and resources for transition age youth. Cook Inlet Tribal Council has come to let people know about its services, including treatment for substance misuse. Volunteers from St. John United Methodist Church bring hats, gloves, socks, blankets and other donated and purchased items. Artist Duke Russell often cooks and serves hot food as do other community members. So many have stepped up.
“It started small, and it exploded. And it’s wonderful,” said Betty Hertz, a St. John lay leader and the Unhoused Neighbor Project organizer.
One day recently, SALA medics drove a medically fragile man to the Municipal Cold Weather Shelter. Hill provided him with a cell phone, then made sure the man was on the waiting list for the Complex Care facility, where he will be able to rest while awaiting permanent housing.
Want to learn what you can do to help? The Coalition relies on volunteers to assemble kits twice a month. Sign up at aceh.org/volunteer.