A New City-Funded Plan Aims to Keep Shelters Open Year-Round, Offering Stability for Unhoused Residents and Relief for Outreach Teams
Anchorage, Alaska, is piloting a new shelter strategy that will allow people who are homeless to access beds year-round instead of only during the cold winter months, according to reports.
The new strategy follows the opening of a 100-bed shelter called Linda’s Place, one of three shelters funded by the municipal government. In total, the city operates about 300 shelter beds—just a fraction of the need, as nearly 1,400 people are experiencing homelessness, according to local data. Approximately 300 people are unsheltered, while the remaining individuals reside in shelters operated by other organizations or in transitional housing programs.
Agnew Bemben, a special assistant to the Anchorage mayor’s office, told Alaska Public Radio that the plan is to keep the shelters open year-round, making it easier for city staff to conduct outreach and address public camping. In previous years, the city would close its shelters in warmer months, Bemben said.
“When shelter gets turned on and off, it just means that people get used to going inside for the winter and then coming out and camping in the summer,” Bemben told the outlet. “And I think we’ve been pretty clear that the mayor’s goal is to have way fewer people sleeping outside.”
The plan also includes avenues to increase surge capacity, a term that refers to a sudden spike in demand typically driven by extreme weather events. Linda’s Place can house an additional 50 people during those times, manager Jessie Talivaa told Anchorage Daily News.
Improving Winter Shelter Access
Anchorage is not the only city in the U.S. that struggles to provide sufficient shelter for people experiencing homelessness during the winter, but it does provide a prescient example of the challenges many cities face.
The city has just 1,287 shelter beds available, according to the latest federal Housing Inventory Count. That includes 617 beds in emergency shelters and 304 transitional housing beds. However, about one-third of the beds are not available year-round, which means people who are homeless have limited options when the shelters are closed.
Worcester, Massachusetts, has had similar issues providing year-round beds for people who are homeless. During a city council meeting in April, local officials weighed opening a year-round shelter as cold-weather emergency shelters closed. The closure would take away 78 beds from the city’s capacity, according to the Worcester Guardian.
Part of the issue cities are facing is that the federal government has reshaped how it funds shelter programs. President Donald Trump has signed orders prohibiting organizations that receive federal funding from practicing Housing First or implementing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, both of which are widely practiced in the homeless services industry.
“This surpasses an emergency, surpasses a crisis,” Worcester councilor Etel Haxhiaj told The Worcester Guardian. “Those words feel completely inadequate to describe what I think will be a situation that will probably see a lot more people on the street, in parks, and in areas of public use.”
Issues to Overcome
Opening Linda’s Place seems to be a great first step toward providing additional shelter options during the winter months, but some advocates say there are still some issues to overcome.
For instance, Linda’s Place is being converted from a strip club into a shelter. There are still numerous markings from the old club in the building, including neon LED lights and brushed metal walls.
The site of the shelter also appears to have been selected with little public input, which could threaten its future viability. Anchorage Assembly member Daniel Volland told Anchorage Daily News that he’s heard concerns from constituents about the shelter, specifically about activity in and around the shelter parking lot. He said limiting the impact of the shelter on the surrounding neighborhood will be a key to its success.
“I wish there had been more public process when the location was selected,” Volland told Anchorage Daily News. “I think some of my constituents were a little caught off guard in terms of how quickly the location selection was made.”
Even so, the shelter appears to be having a positive impact on the local unhoused population. Starla Smothermon told the Anchorage Daily News that the shelter is the only one that has accepted her and her two dogs. Linda’s Place has a designated area within the shelter where animals can be kenneled.
During her time at the shelter, Smothermon said she received a call back for a job opportunity and learned she has been placed at the top of a subsidized housing waitlist.
“I use my dogs and my daughter and my niece as a push to keep going,” Smothermon said.
What You Can Do to Support Smarter Shelter Investments
Now is not the time to be silent about homelessness. Unhoused people deserve safe and sanitary housing just as much as those who can afford rent or mortgage.
Poverty and homelessness are both policy choices, not personal failures. That’s why we need you to contact your officials and tell them you support legislation that:
- Streamlines the development of affordable housing
- Reduces barriers for people experiencing homelessness to enter permanent housing
- Bolsters government response to homelessness
Together, we can end homelessness.