In her May 29 letter, Veronica Haberthuer chastised churches for not doing more to solve the homeless situation.
Obviously, Haberthuer does not attend one of the many local churches that put their time, money, and effort into serving the homeless population.
There are hundreds of members of local congregations who volunteer every single day to help the homeless population. Before COVID-19, many churches opened their doors to homeless families providing a warm place to sleep, snacks, assistance with getting children to school the next day and follow-up services by agencies that could assist with permanent housing.
Those shelters were open seven nights a week and were staffed by members of the sponsoring churches. Many of those same church members are now volunteer staff members at a shelter that is open every day for homeless families.
Some churches offer free clothing and run food banks; church members provide Clare House with dinner seven days a week. Another church hosts a foot and wound clinic to help heal the sores that many homeless individuals experience from constant walking and not being able to change shoes and socks often enough.
Many churches have an open-door policy during the day so that, especially in winter, the homeless can warm up and use the bathroom facilities. A coalition of churches statewide works on homeless
issues, and other issues that directly affect the most vulnerable members of our community.
I call on Haberthuer to call one of her local churches and ask how she can help. You don’t have to be a member of that church to volunteer — all help is appreciated.
Volunteer, and then see if you still feel that churches are not doing their share.
— Paula Zawodny
Anchorage
Have something on your mind? Send to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Letters under 200 words have the best chance of being published. Writers should disclose any personal or professional connections with the subjects of their letters. Letters are edited for accuracy, clarity and length.