Anchorage Daily News

Some villagers and other rural Alaskans stranded in Anchorage for lack of a plane ticket can get home through a new partnership of Cook Inlet Tribal Council and Lutheran Social Services. CITC is pitching in $25,000 to expand Lutheran Social Services' existing stranded traveler program, said the heads of both organizations.

For decades, Lutheran Social Services has paid for trips home for individuals stuck in Anchorage after being medevacked into the city or traveling there with an ill relative who needed medical care. They end up in Anchorage "through no fault of their own," said Garry Forrester, the agency's executive director.

The new effort will help people who are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, but who have a safe place to stay in their home village or hub community, said Gloria O'Neill, president of Cook Inlet Tribal Council.

The tribal organization anticipates the program helping homeless alcoholics who are ready to get help and start anew, she said. They may need to go through detox or treatment and then would get a plane ticket home.

It also could help those who arrived in Anchorage hoping to live in the area, only to be shocked at the cost of basics like an apartment and transportation, said Amy Fredeen, chief financial officer for Cook Inlet Tribal Council.

Lutheran Social Services will administer the program and will verify the person's need with relatives, treatment centers or others, Forrester said. The agency won't approve people for travel just because they want a free ticket home, he said.

People interested in the program should go through a social worker or case manager affiliated with an agency or hospital, he said.

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