To those who say the proposed large homeless facility is too big, I would ask, “Compared to what?” The better than 17,000 acres of municipal parks and public spaces that we currently maintain for the unsheltered? Not to mention the ongoing large expense of chasing campers and their waste throughout what should be the recreational reward for Anchorage residents and visitors — our precious and beautiful greenbelts, bike trails and parks.
Now is the time to take on our large-scale homeless problem with large-scale resources. Sprinkling limited capacity shelters and health resources at different locations all over the city is inefficient and wasteful of investment.We need a super-sized health campus with more than enough beds for the homeless population and ample nearby or on-site resources for treatment and therapies, given the wide range of challenges that this special population presents.
For the sake of our great city and our neighbors in need, lets support an Alaska-sized facility for this Alaska-sized problem. The bigger the better!
— Edwin Blair
Anchorage
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