The Point-in-Time Homelessness Count is Underway!

Meg Zaletel, Executive Director, Mac Lyons, Coordinated Entry Director, with the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness, Ray Gilkey, Safety Team Lead, and Radhika Krishna, Executive Director, with Anchorage Downtown Partnership, conducting the Point-in-Time Count this morning in Downtown Anchorage.

If you are feeling the bite of winter, think about our friends and neighbors who have no home. Dedicated outreach teams are fanning across Anchorage, making sure no one is overlooked. We are part of a national effort to understand the scope of homelessness.

We are asking those without a place to call home where they slept the night of Jan. 29. Tent, vehicle, pallet, shelter? For the first time, we are also asking why they believe they are experiencing homelessness. Our message: Your story matters. Your experience counts.

Accurate data is a powerful tool that helps secure necessary resources and support.

While collecting data, we're delivering HOPE and CARE. Our community volunteers have lovingly assembled care kits for those in need, filled with hats, gloves, snacks and other essential items to provide comfort and safety in challenging times. Thank you volunteers for extending kindness to those who are vulnerable.

Whatever the count shows, it would be even higher without our Next Step project that already has helped 33 citizens transition from homelessness to housed. We are so proud they are taking this step!

Together, we're more than a count. We're a community taking a stand, ready to make a difference.