Another year, another lineup of meetings about homelessness in Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance’s increasingly dystopian realm.
Residents of Anchorage are invited to participate in a two-day summit focused on Anchorage’s coordinated response to homelessness, taking place on March 20-21, 2025, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
That’s right in the middle of the Anchorage Municipal election, which ends April 1.
The event is organized by the Mayor’s Office, the Anchorage Assembly’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, and the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness.
Although she ran on reducing homelessness and claimed former Mayor Dave Bronson was incompetent, Anchorage’s homelessness scenario has only grown since LaFrance took office. Streets and trails aren’t safe and children’s playgrounds are routinely taken over by drug-addled vagrants, who leave their needles behind. She scrapped the plans made by Bronson and started over.
According to the latest report from the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness, the current number of people homeless in Anchorage is about 3,070, a dramatic increase from last year and likely an all-time high.
The Anchorage summit is marketed as providing residents with an understanding of the systems and strategies that the Municipality and its partners are using to, without success, address homelessness in the community.
“We’re working every day toward the goal of seeing a significant reduction in the number of people sleeping outside in Anchorage. It’ll take a team to get there,” said Mayor Suzanne LaFrance. “I hear from so many people who want to contribute to the solution but don’t know how. This summit will help residents answer that question and identify how to help in the way that makes sense for them.”
Two days of talk
On Thursday, March 20, attendees will learn about Coordinated Entry (CE), the system used by Anchorage providers to transition individuals from homelessness to housing while prioritizing those with the highest levels of vulnerability. CE professionals can complete their annual training, while community members can gain insight into the process, best practices, and methods for building trust to connect people to necessary care and housing.
Friday, March 21, will bring together community members, leaders, policymakers, municipal departments, service providers, and media to discuss the community’s multifaceted response to homelessness. Topics will include shelter, services, housing, behavioral health, camp outreach, and more.
“I am proud to welcome residents and community members from across the Municipality to join in our coordinated response to addressing homelessness that puts people first,” said Assemblyman Kameron Perez-Verdia, co-chair of the Assembly Housing & Homelessness Committee. “From service providers and policymakers to neighbors and friends, we all know that one person can make a difference, but we don’t have to do it alone. Together, let’s build a system to make a difference – and lasting change.”
The summit will be held at the Southcentral Foundation Nuka Learning Institute, located at 4085 Tudor Centre Drive in Anchorage. The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited, so advance registration is encouraged here.