ANCHORAGE – Mayor Berkowitz is pleased to announce the Mayor’s Housing and Homeless Services Action Agenda received a major boost through a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Justice to alleviate chronic homelessness and reduce the community costs from frequent encounters with the criminal justice system.
"This innovative approach gives us a new tool that leverages public and private resources to resolve homelessness," said Mayor Berkowitz. "The partnerships in this approach expand our ability to improve safety and security for people in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley."
The grant will go to the United Way of Anchorage to implement a "pay for success" model to finance the development and/or leasing of housing and wrap around comprehensive social services that have demonstrated positive outcomes in assisting chronically homeless people to successfully live in the community. The work will serve people in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Borough.
"Pay for success" strategies are public-private agreements that help government test or expand innovative programs while paying only for those activities that achieve agreed-upon target outcomes. It’s a proven model that results in better outcomes for clients, investors, and the community.
"United Way of Anchorage is dedicated to achieving demonstrable change, improving lives, and reducing the public costs of social problems," said United Way President Michele Brown. "We are thrilled to partner with the Municipality of Anchorage and the Mat-Su Borough, and the many committed and highly engaged service providers, to bring "pay of success" financing to scale up effective interventions and test innovative models of service delivery. A laser focus on reducing homelessness, combined with innovative financing for agreed-upon results, will lead to improved lives and safer communities."
For more information, contact Nora Morse.
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