Hey, all! I hope you’ve been having a healthy, enjoyable January despite the meteorological mood swings. Like seriously, it’s like it can’t decide whether it wants to try to rip the door off my house or knock on it gingerly and sell me cookies. I have the fortune, however, of not having windows in my office. See, I don’t have to watch the tumultuous perpetual gray on the one hand, and on the other I don’t have to feel bad about being inside when it’s sunny. I just turn on my Costa Rica webcam and put my shades and Pet Sounds album on and party with those spreadsheets all day long.
But I was reminded of the great blessing of having doors and walls at all, and in general, the ability to ignore the weather at all, when the annual Juneau Homeless Coalition came together recently. Some really great pieces have been written on it already, but suffice it to say it was apparently an impressive alliance of 50 some organizations all together at once to provide much-needed services for Juneau’s homeless population.
It only makes sense to me, the Guy About Town, that other guys and girls about town might like to know more about some of those services, or similar ones. Sometimes you may find yourself with very little, or perhaps you’re having a kid and don’t know where to start, or maybe you are wanting more resources to help accommodate your accessibility need. Or maybe you really want to help some people out but want to know what organizations you can trust. There are lots of services, some from the government and some from non-profits that are there to help you to be about town.
First, if you’re thinking of coming into Juneau, yes the airport and ferry are ADA compliant, and so is our bus system. Downtown is built on a hill, which you might have to take in consideration, but if you have a physical disability or something similar, you can get ahold of the Juneau Travel Information Center at 586-2201 if you’ll be here for a short while, or Southeast Alaska Independent Living at 586-4920 if you’ll be here longer. If you’re in need of a relay service, like if you’re hearing impaired, you can get ahold of one at 800-770-8973.
Well what if you’re a Juneauite but you’re about to have a baby, or you already have one. Or three. Believe it or not, there are people out there just waiting for a chance to help you and your little bundles of joy. You can apply to WIC at 463-4099, and you can get ahold of the local Planned Parenthood at 800-230-7526. Should it ever be necessary, the AWARE (Aiding Women in Abuse and Rape Emergencies) shelter can be reached at 586-6623.
Juneau’s homeless population, which was the subject of the recent coalition, is an essential target for many of our local groups and services. Sometimes we are put in situations like homelessness solely because of poverty, or perhaps also because of health concerns such as addiction, physical disability, or mental illness. Should you find yourself or someone you know in a situation like that, or perhaps know someone who just need food or other basic services, they can reach some of these services through these numbers: The Juneau Food Bank at 789-6184, the Front Street Clinic for Homeless Persons at 586-4230, and a needle exchange you can get ahold of at 586-6089.
Recently the city council voted to pass a measure that allows law enforcement to assume that private property owners do not want anyone on their property, including stoops on the sidewalk, however there is some limited housing available at the Glory Hole at 586-4159. If you want to get ahold of your city council representative, you can find them at www.juneau.org.
It’s occurred to me that, as much as it may seem like simply the subject of lead-ins and small talk, the weather is actually an integral part of our community. I feel like it would be so easy in a warm, year ‘round inviting environment to loosen the ties of our community. After all, when your surrounding environment is not a danger, you can pretty much trust everyone around you to do their own thing and survive just fine. But in Alaska, we live closer to dangerous environments and deadly weather by default, so we have even more reason to take care of each other and pay attention.
As a really young teen, I got the opportunity to work as a volunteer in one of Juneau’s best organizations developed for essentially that very reason. At Love INC, I mostly folded newsletters, entered data into computers, and collected donations from various churches. But I got a glimpse into a really cool program, where peoples’ donations were often immediately matched to other peoples’ needs. I’d be folding newsletters on a sunny day with the dusty blinds drawn, the only sound for hours being the soft folding of paper and someone opening a soda can. Then the phone would ring. BRRRRRING. It would be someone with a bed to donate. Then the phone would ring again. BRRRRRING. It would be a single mother in need of a bed. It was those sorts of “miniscule miracles” that would really shape the way I viewed excess and need in a small community, for the rest of my life.
You can get ahold of Love INC at 780-4090 for a better, more robust explanation of their services. Other multi-faceted service centers are the Catholic Community Service at 463-6100 and Saint Vincent de Paul Society at 789-5535.
This town is made of people, even more than it’s made of mountains, buildings, or history. I hope that these numbers are helpful. I’m so proud of the many people I know who work hard to take care of our town, and I hope that we can continue to do so, come rain or shine.
• Guy About Town appears the first and third Sunday of every month and includes seasonal musings on what changes and what doesn’t in a small town. Guy can be reached at unzicker.music@gmail.com.
