Karluk Manor would take homeless off streets

The problem of homelessness in Anchorage has been long-standing and well-documented. There are perhaps no lower-income or more disenfranchised Alaskans than the long-term, chronic alcoholic homeless people who inhabit our streets and shelters, parks and woods. In the past 12 months, the bodies of 20 homeless people have been discovered where they died on the streets and in the woods of Anchorage.

For years the members of this population have cycled through treatment programs, shelters, emergency rooms, the transfer station, the court system, and the criminal justice system at a staggering cost to society. Rural CAP estimates that the annual cost to society for one chronic alcoholic homeless person in Anchorage is $60,612 in public safety and health care costs.

Thus there is ample incentive, from both humanistic and economic perspectives, to find a better way for Anchorage to deal with its chronic homeless alcoholics. Rural CAP has found just such a solution. It's not new, it's not our idea, and it's not easy, but it works. It's called Housing First and it saves lives and it saves money.

Rural CAP has an opportunity to purchase the Red Roof Inn located on Karluk Street in Fairview and convert it to an apartment complex. Rural CAP has already received a "special needs housing" conditional grant award to pay for the property and operating costs to provide:

• 48 efficiency apartments requiring rent and lease agreements;

• A safe facility with 24-hour staffing, a single point of entry, a fenced perimeter and security cameras;

• Strict tenant codes of conduct inside and outside of the facility;

• Referral services, meals and transportation;

• Prohibition of loitering, panhandling or public nuisance behavior; and

• Requirements that all residents pay a share of their rent themselves and contribute to service projects.

The key to the economic case for this concept is that in contrast to the estimated $60,612 per year that the Anchorage community currently pays for each homeless alcoholic, the cost for housing one resident for one year at Karluk Manor will be $21,275.

Significant challenges remain before Karluk Manor becomes a reality. Earlier this year the Anchorage Assembly approved an ordinance requiring Housing First projects to obtain a "conditional use permit" from the Planning and Zoning Commission. Rural CAP has provided a detailed management plan to the mayor and the neighboring community councils. We are organizing a public meeting at the Fairview Senior Center on June 30th to address community concerns. We are inviting Karluk Manor supporters to send letters to Mayor Dan Sullivan and to turn out at the Loussac Library on July 19 to show their support at a public hearing.

In response to the sometimes harsh rhetoric from those who say "not in my backyard" to Karluk Manor, Rural CAP continues to answer questions with courtesy and professionalism. Our central office has been located in Anchorage since 1965 and in Fairview since 1984. I lived in Fairview for four years and have worked here for 22. I care about this neighborhood and want it to be a safer and better place for everyone. Let's let the voices of reason and compassion move ahead with a solution to one of our community's most persistent problems.

It was Abraham Lincoln who coined the term "the better angels of our nature" in his first inaugural address. What would Abraham Lincoln do? Would he listen to the better angels of our nature and house the homeless now when we have the chance? Or would he say that this is not an ideal location and wait a few more years and watch 20 more people freeze to death on Anchorage streets while looking for a better location in someone else's backyard? It's time to support Karluk Manor.

David Hardenbergh is executive director of the Rural Alaska Community Action Program Inc., which employs more than 900 people statewide on an annual budget of $35 million.