I am a customer of the Holiday station at Minnesota Drive and Spenard Road, and also the Pizza Hut in back. Early this morning, I stopped by to get coffee. Before COVID-19, even on weekends there would be workers and tourists stopping in as customers. COVID-19 has changed things, and the only customers this morning beside myself were the homeless. The homeless by themselves didn’t get my attention, but what they were doing sure got my attention.
Out in the back of the Pizza Hut on Greenland Drive, there was a drug-fueled bicycle chop shop going on. As I was running late for work, I was not able to take pictures of this, nor call the non-emergency police number. Next time I see something like this, I will be quicker on the phone call. I myself have had two bicycles ripped off in the past 5 years.
I have been in Anchorage since the early 2000s. I have been homeless, and at one time abused drugs. There is a lot more of homelessness (plus addiction) issues than in the past.
The mental health issues are one cause of homelessness, but the addiction issues (which help cause the mental health issues) among the homeless are an added layer of complexity. What if homeless addicts don’t want to be helped? Where will they go? Will they keep going around and ripping things off?I have been in the big cities, homeless. Anchorage is starting to look more like the big cities down south with the numbers of homeless addicts. Is this what we as a city want? I sure don’t.
The addiction issues are some of the toughest problems anyone can face.
Jack Frazer
Anchorage
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