By WIN GRUENING
In January, 2017, I penned a Must Read Alaska column defending then-Mayor Koelsch’s sponsorship of an anti-camping ordinance needed to address public health and safety concerns caused by a growing homeless population downtown.
Prior to that, I had written a column supporting Housing First in their effort to raise awareness and funding for a housing solution for the chronically homeless in Juneau. Since 2015, tens of millions of dollars have been spent under that program and almost 100 permanent housing units for the homeless have been built or are slated for construction in Juneau.
Similar projects have been constructed in Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Much has happened since then, but the homeless challenge remains, and, some would argue, it has gotten even worse. Going forward, is it time to consider a different approach?
Juneau is not alone in tackling this dilemma. San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle, come to mind as cities that have poured billions of dollars into non-profit entities that have offered housing, counseling, treatment programs, and endless studies.
City police forces have been overwhelmed by so many citizen complaints of panhandling and shoplifting that many calls go unanswered. Downtown areas that were once thriving office centers and shopping meccas are now largely deserted at night, beset by crime, rampant drug use, and public disturbances.
Due to safety concerns, Microsoft, the crown jewel of Seattle’s business community, recently canceled a nation-wide conference in Seattle that hosts over 4,500 attendees and would have given the city an economic boost in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
In Alaska, Anchorage continues to make headlines with its homeless problems that to some have reached crisis proportions. Recently, after the police cleared a massive homeless encampment in a public park, vagrants there set multiple fires in protest.
In Juneau, a similar action to clear unlawful camping on public property didn’t result in violence. But the action was necessary to address the enormous amount of trash being generated, open drug use, vandalism, and generally unsafe conditions prevalent in the camp and nearby neighborhood.
Some blame the increase in homeless problems on the decriminalization of petty crime and drugs as well as lax law enforcement. This is unfair to our police who don’t make those decisions but are forced to deal with the impacts of policies enacted by elected officials.
Juneau’s primary emergency shelter and soup kitchen, the Glory Hall (now located in the Mendenhall Valley) is also sometimes unfairly blamed. It has provided meals and other critical services to the homeless since 1981. It operates as a nonprofit organization, relying on community donations and grants. While homeless individuals tend to congregate around the Glory Hall facility, anyone under the influence of drugs or alcohol is not eligible to utilize their services.
The homeless deserve compassion and may be homeless due to circumstances beyond their control. But they are not helpless and must be willing to respect municipal and private property and not be a threat to the general public.
What seems clear is that just providing housing and throwing more money at some of the same solutions hasn’t worked.
Certain states have already reached that conclusion and have begun channeling funding away from subsidized housing programs like Housing First. These states believe that programs where recipients aren’t held accountable don’t get results.
Housing First serves chronically homeless individuals who are high utilizers of emergency and public safety services. They are offered permanent housing but are not required to be sober or participate in treatment to qualify. Instead, the model uses a harm reduction approach, offering optional on-site services such as medical care, counseling, and substance use treatment.
Initially, this approach did take homeless people off the street. But with Juneau’s population declining, why is the community’s homeless population increasing? Are individuals coming from other towns in Southeast that lack homeless services? Are the community’s generous and compassionate programs turning into magnets?
Florida, Georgia, and Utah, for example, are now taking steps to fund policies built on rehabilitation and behavioral health treatment, aiming to free the homeless from government support. More states are now opting for transitional housing and other treatment-oriented programs.
Perhaps it’s time for Juneau and other communities in Alaska to focus their efforts there.
After retiring as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in Alaska, Win Gruening became a regular opinion page columnist for the Juneau Empire. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is involved in various local and statewide organizations.
These miscreants choose this lifestyle. Those who suddenly find themselves homeless do everything they can to claw their way back out. The people we see around town are broken, addicted or just plain crazy. Many do everything they can to make as big a blight as possible – even leading to burning parks. Remember Homeless Jesus who used to camp outside the entrance to City Hall. The bum was making a statement, with the help of the ACLU, I might add. He could have used The System to get out of the hole he had allowed himself to fall info. But, no, he chose to stain Anchorage with his shenanigans. The intervention for the homeless (we should refuse to call them ‘people experiencing homelessness’ or what ever drivel the thought police are currently forcing on us) should be swift and it should be relentless. That’s the only way to avoid being forced to watch a grown man pull his pants down and drop a deuce on the sidewalk in front of Town Square.
This is where Bronson’s idea for a center would have been ideal, to weed out those that want help from those that are unwilling to be helped.
I think that the Assembly went against him, primarily because they had one of Their Own, Zaletel, spearheading the thing that ended up being a huge waste of time and money…though, I don’t remember anyone asking for her salary back.
Rural Alaskan communities were also sending their problems to Anchorage, by way of tickets and pocket cash ( So I’ve heard ).
Democrats exist to harvest. Think K-12, college, BIA, sports & entertainment. The Great Society has been great for the employment side. But a disaster for those supposedly intended to serve.
She spear headed it, because she knew she there were ways she could make money off of it (as we have seen the past few months or so) verses Bronson’s idea had where the money would have gone straight for the project.
The Assembly went against Bronson because they did not want to let him have a win.
Two really good books for anyone seeking a change to a more effective and ‘hand up’ system of accountability are both by Robert Lupton – Toxic Charity and Charity Detox. Both on Amazon.
Thank you for writing this article and offering practical solutions to the homelessness in our cities! I often express my disillusionment over Anchorage’s policies, and still do. Anchorage voters allow it. Nay. Reward it. Zalatel should have been booted eons ago when she went up for recall. But WE kept her. Same with Judge Zeman, Forest Dunbar, etc etc etc. every single one of our elected officials in Anchorage can continue to get away with bad public service records and KEEP their job. Only the voters and change that. And sadly they do not want to!
DeeCee, you mention “practical solutions to the homelessness…..” In reality, solutions are to solve problems. Homelessness is not a problem but rather a symptom. There are numerours problems combining to cause chronic homelessness. Among them is the dysfunctional, broken, education bureaucracy which, in itself, is showing many symptoms of underlying problems. We’ve got to identify problems at their basic level before we can then try solving them.
Hooo boy. I bet that Juneau soup kitchen’s name gets butchered badly. Ouch!
Until recently it was the Glory Hole. Proudly.
Oh my.
” Juneau’s primary emergency shelter and soup kitchen, the Glory Hall (now located in the Mendenhall Valley) is also sometimes unfairly blamed… While homeless individuals tend to congregate around the Glory Hall facility, anyone under the influence of drugs or alcohol is not eligible to utilize their services. ”
It’s not the ones allowed to utilize the facilities that are a problem (at that particular time). It’s the ones who are doing the congregating. And so, GH is somewhat to blame, albeit indirectly and not intentionally, since the congregating is a side-effect of GH merely being there. Although eagles and bears are not “allowed” to enter the premises, bears and eagles tend to congregate around the landfill. Take away the landfill, take away the congregating eagles and bears. Moving out by the airport into an already developed area just shifted some of the burden from impacting downtown to impacting residents/businesses in the valley. It didn’t solve anything; although it may have increased Juneau’s overall “carrying capacity” for the “domicile challenged” since the openings initially created downtown by the move seems to have quickly filled in with yet even more.
Bum issues metastasize.
One thing the move did was get everyone to realize it is an actual problem. People in the valley did not give 2 squirts when it was a DT problem.
There are three very simple solutions as to the homeless situation within any community within Alaska or anywhere else, for that matter.
One, for those with addiction problems, offer a remote facility for them to voluntarily reside within until they become sober and become a productive member of society, say the facility at Point Woronzof.
Two, for those with mental issues, offer a facility such as API for them to reside within until they are either able to be a productive member of society, or if not, to be a permanent resident of said facility.
Three, for those that choose not to seek help from the first two options and chooses a lifestyle of ‘freedom’ from societal rules, they may occupy land or housing freely within the yards or houses of the political members of any assembly or political member that foments or profits from the homeless population.
Why is the homeless population rising while sane people are getting out? It’s simple.
Juneau invests in homelessness. It does not invest in our citizens.
Housing First might be the best thing since Adam ate the apple.
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Problem, Win, is how you’re gonna stop the Ruling class in Anchorage and Juneau, whose antipathy and contempt for their constituents is already well established, from doing something like this:
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“The farm is under threat of seizure by Cranbury Township after a town committee signed off on a measure that would pave the way for eminent domain seizure, NJ.com reported…. Cranbury Township is looking at building state-mandated affordable housing on a large portion of the farm’s land.”
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(‘https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/trump-administration-pushes-back-nj-town-moving-seize-175-year-old-family-farm-via-eminent-domain)
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Okay, Win… what’s Plan B when “They are offered permanent housing but are not required to be sober or participate in treatment to qualify” accidentally morphs into “state-mandated affordable housing”, eminent domain, because, just like Alaska’s education industry, nobody in the legislative half Alaska’s lobbyist-legislative team dares say NO to Alaska’s homeless-industrial complex
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…especially when the lobbyist half includes Mark freakin’ Begich?
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Can’t happen here, Win? Why not?
With respect to Win, who is an optimist…
It has happened here. And has been for a long time.
I love Juneau but we are a poster child for self inflicted wounds.
Housing First is a complete failure at reducing homelessness. Complete. The more charity given the more people who are on the street. Is it really compassion to do something so the giver feels good but enables homelessness and mental illness? There does need to be more mental health capacity in Alaska and also more effort to push people into work and being productive with consequences for those who just choose to disobey the laws of an orderly society. Man has the capacity to live like an animal, we don’t want to encourage that.
Great article Win. Last fall I met with the Glory Hall director and she recommended a book called the Least of Us by Sam Quinones. The author details a drug infested nation courtesy of big pharma, Chinese chemical factories and Mexican gang distribution networks. The “new” meth was introduced into our country about 15 years ago. Made from highly toxic chemicals like benzene, acetone, and muriatic acid it eats away the user’s brain.
It is also engineered to be highly addictive, increasing dopamine and suppressing serotonin. Its often laced into recreational drugs to get more people hooked. Chasing a first high they’ll never experience again, users want more and more and more. Within a few months they lose their job, then their friends, then their families who have to turn them out on the street.
Housing policies by liberal Alaska municipal governments not only enable use but they are no longer a safe haven for those who want to get away from it.
Juneau police officers were criticized by many local liberals after they shot and killed two people last year high on meth who were threatening others. The recent murder of a woman on a walking path in JNU also has the markings of being meth related. These people are delusional (Quinones talks about how they see monkeys in the room or think people are hiding in the walls) and have super-human strength. Police can’t reason with them.
I devoted 4-5 episodes of my radio show in JNU to bring public awareness to these facts and to warn the local government that unless their policies change there will be more deaths.
Rehabilitation is the only way out, but users’ brains are so corroded from this cr*p it takes a year of non-use just to get their mind to the point where several additional months of rehabilitation can actually work.
A good listen is Joe Rogan episode 2251 with guests former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Bryan Hubbard. They discuss their efforts on behalf of US Veterans like Marcus Luttrell to overcome helpless addiction courtesy of big pharma through the use of ibogaine, a natural psychedelic treatment available in Mexico but not the US. Perry and Hubbard discuss how their efforts to have clinical trials in the US for ibogaine have been derailed by big pharma.
I walked to Anchorage’s midtown Walmart yesterday. Along the way, I had a brief conversation with an older fellow who was carrying a stuffed duffel bag on his back; he said everything he owned was contained therein. He mentioned that he had been living this way for 18 years here in Anchorage; he noted his general disgust with the ordinary ilk we espy daily. I might have done myself a favor to spend a little more time with him, to educate myself on why he made this lifestyle choice. It was abundantly clear that it was a choice. Anyway, they’re not all drunken bums, mental defectives, or in a temporary state of economic despair.
Deport them all. Obviously not Real Americans.
Dear avoter1986, shame on you. I can tell by your simplistic solution that you are a very simple person. The exact sort of person who helped create this mess. Please do us a favor and keep your evil thoughts to yourself.