Public-private leadership team appointed to guide the community’s plan to end homelessness
Updated “Anchored Home: 2018-2021” plan to launch in October
ANCHORAGE, AK - A new leadership team has been appointed to help address the persistent issue of homelessness in the Municipality of Anchorage (MOA), Mayor Ethan Berkowitz announced today. The Anchorage Homelessness Community LeadershipCouncil (HLC), co-chaired by Senior Vice President and Chief Executive for Providence Alaska Region Bruce Lamoureux and Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, for the first time brings together Anchorage business, government, health and faith leaders as the latest step in an effort with emerging, promising solutions. The primary responsibilities of the HLC will include monitoring and supporting the implementation progress of Anchored Home: 2018-2021; maintaining and guiding strategic vision; mobilizing and aligning resources; building public will and awareness; and advancing public policy around homelessness.
“A sustainable solution for homelessness works when the community comes together,” said Mayor Ethan Berkowitz. “The Anchorage Homelessness Community Leadership Council provides a partnership that brings together government, businesses and nonprofits—it’s people and organizations with vision, principle and perseverance that can marshal resources and expertise to get things done.”
The HLC members include Mike Abbott, CEO for the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority; Sophie Minich, President/CEO for Cook Inlet Region, Inc.; Carol Gore, President/CEO for Cook Inlet Housing Authority; Gretchen Cuddy, community member-at-large; Rev. Matthew Schultz, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church; Paul Landes for General Communication, Inc.; Diane Kaplan, President/CEO for the Rasmuson Foundation; Dr. Richard Mandsager, Sr. Fellow for the Rasmuson Foundation; Greg Cerbana, Vice President for Weidner Properties; and Joe Marushack, President of Conoco Phillips Alaska.
"Nearly all human endeavor is enhanced through community involvement,” said co-chair Bruce Lamoureux. “Our desire and intent to improve options for shelter will reduce the need for services such as law enforcement, corrections and health care, while reducing the suffering of people who are homeless. This is best achieved when we work together, including with the business community."
Anchored Home: 2018-2021, an update of the 2015 Anchorage Community Plan to End Homelessness, will formally launch in October, following a public input process for the draft plan. Outreach will include meetings with community councils, community support organizations and providers, business and industry leaders, and the public at large. This updated plan will provide timelines for specific project completion, assign responsibility and ensure accountability, and will further guide the work in addressing homelessness and housing issues in our community. Key pillars of Anchored Home include Housing and Support Systems, Public Health and Safety, and Advocacy and Funding. The public process on the draft plan, as well as the on-the-ground operational implementation of Anchored Home, will be jointly led by Nancy Burke, Housing and Homelessness Coordinator from the Municipality of Anchorage; Jasmine Khan, Executive Director of the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness; and Dr. Richard Mandsager, a new, three-year Sr. Fellow position funded by the Rasmuson Foundation. Supporting partners also include United Way of Anchorage, Rasmuson Foundation and Providence Alaska.
The HLC will meet approximately every other month, with the first convening to take place by October. The implementation team will begin meeting with community groups in September. A meeting for the general public to provide input on the draft plan will take place on Sept. 18, 5:30-7:30 p.m., in the Wilda Marston Theatre at the Z.J. Loussac Library. Comments may also be submitted through director@anchoragehomeless.org.
Link to draft plan: https://anchoragehomeless.org/anchored-home/
Link to mayor’s page on homelessness: https://bit.ly/housingandhomelessness
Link to Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness: https://anchoragehomeless.org/
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Media contact: Kristin DeSmith, Communications Director, Office of the Mayor, (907) 343-7133 or (907) 231-2226, desmithk@muni.org