At the June Housing & Homelessness Committee meeting, Anchorage Health Department Director Kim Rash briefed the committee on an upcoming contract extension with Catholic Social Services, the organization currently operating the Municipality’s low-barrier shelter on 56th Ave.
Opened in November 2023, the 56th Ave shelter serves as many as 200 individuals and 20 animals in a decommissioned administrative building owned by Solid Waste Services. Approved at the June 24 Regular Assembly Meeting, the contract extension with Catholic Social Services pushes the contract end date from June 30 to August 31 as the Administration finalizes a proposal to open smaller shelters across the Municipality.
Summit on Anchorage's Coordinated Response to Homelessness
The
Summit on Anchorage's Coordinated Response to Homelessness was held in March 2025 by the Mayor's Office, Assembly Housing & Homelessness Committee, and the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness to discuss the progress, challenges, and strategies the Municipality and its partners are using to address homelessness in our community. Over two days, more than 300 participants came together to strengthen the network of service providers, policy makers, and community members engaged in the work to end homelessness.
This event was livestreamed and recorded on the MOA Meetings Youtube channel. Meeting information, presentation materials, and speaker biographies are
available online, along with a report published by the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness answering audience questions received during the event.
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Complex Behavioral Health Community Task Force
The Behavioral Health Task Force was charged with identifying immediate needs and evaluating and presenting mid-to-long-term solutions to Municipal and State agencies to support individuals in our community who have complex behavioral health needs. The task force presented recommendations s to support those impacted by the closure of emergency cold weather shelter plan locations, including the Sullivan Arena, on June 1, 2023.
Following a
leadership summit on August 29, 2023, the Task Force submitted its final report recommending solutions to policy makers and it was accepted by the Anchorage Assembly at the September 12, 2023 Regular Meeting.
Complex Behavioral Health Task Force Final Report
Allowed Camps Community Task Force
The Sanctioned Camps Task Force was charged with evaluating and presenting recommendations to the Anchorage Assembly and Municipal Administration regarding the feasibility of sheltering community options including allowed camps, pallet shelters, modular buildings and relocatable temporary buildings.
The group evaluated the feasibility of dignified, temporary sheltering options to make recommendations to the Assembly in alignment with AR 2023-167, As Amended, which declared a policy of dispersed placement of services and programs for homeless persons across the Anchorage Bowl.
On May 17, AHD Homelessness Coordinator Michael Hughes presented his research on models for sanctioned camping from across the country to the Sanctioned Camp Community Task Force. Review the presentation.
On Monday, May 22, the Sanctioned Camp Community Task Force announced recommendations for locating, developing and supplying sanctioned camps across the Municipality to address immediate needs. On Tuesday, June 6, the Assembly adopted an amended version of the Task Force's immediate needs recommendations.
The task force's final recommendations for allowed camps and other sheltering community options were finalized by their July 6, 2023 due date and accepted into the record at the July 11 Regular Assembly Meeting.
Allowed Camps Task Force Final Recommendations
Forest Park Trailer Park
The Forest Park Trailer Park suffered significant damage to its infrastructure during the 2018 earthquake and its water well sources, water distribution and teatment system and sewage infrastructure are in a state of disrepair. An AR laid on the table at the April 25 Regular Assembly Meeting charged the Housing & Homelessness Committee with reporting back to the full Assembly on the feasible short-term remediation options and the long-term solutions to resolve the current crisis at Forest Park.
The committee's final Forest Park Mobile Home Park Report was issued on May 25.
Forest Park Final Report
Clean Slate Strategy
At the March 21 meeting, the Assembly approved a resolution laid on the table by Member Felix Rivera to formally adopt a "Clean Slate Strategy" toward the Municipality's efforts to open a new permanent year-round low-barrier shelter in 2023. The strategy comes as the Assembly weighs options for potential locations of a new low-barrier shelter.