ANCHORAGE — Mayor Ethan Berkowitz has announced plans to provide hundreds of housing units for homeless people living in the city within the next three years.
The 300 units will provide “safety and security, and importantly, dignity, for all of Anchorage,” Berkowitz said Tuesday during a conference at Sitka Place, which opened 56 new housing units this summer, The Alaska Dispatch News reported.
There are between 300 and 400 “chronic homeless” people in Anchorage, said Berkowitz. A person is chronically homeless if they have been homeless for more than a year or multiple times in the past two years, according to city homelessness coordinator Nancy Burke.
Berkowitz said the goal of 300 new housing units was chosen because it seems achievable.
“It’s important as a measure of our moral strength to provide housing for those who need it,” he said.
Berkowitz said the city is looking to partner with nonprofits, businesses, the state and the Alaska Housing Finance Corp. to build new housing structures and house people in existing facilities.
Berkowitz said funding for the project is held in various state and private entities, but those organizations are not spending money in conjunction with one another.
“But is it enough to get us started?” he asked. “Absolutely.”
Tuesday’s announcement comes as part of Berkowitz’s recent efforts to attack the city’s homeless problem.
This summer, Berkowitz appointed Nancy Burke as homeless coordinator, a position that had been vacant since 2012.
Burke said one of the first steps going forward will be to get a more accurate count of the city’s homeless population.
