There’s no truth to the rumor that a homeless person died of exposure in downtown Juneau last week.
“I spent half of Friday trying to track down the rumor because I was really concerned,” said Mariya Lovischuk, the director of the Glory Hole. “I did not come up with any evidence whatsoever.”
Neither did Polaris House, municipal officials, state officials or the Juneau Police Department. None had any knowledge of a death due to exposure in the past two weeks.
Asked about the rumor, JPD Lt. David Campbell said, “I think that’s what it is (a rumor).”
“I think it’s been a couple years since that happened,” Campbell said of a death from exposure in Juneau, “and that’s always big news for us.”
JPD investigates all unattended deaths in the capital city, including deaths from exposure, and it makes regular checks on the city’s homeless population.
After the exposure-death rumor was reported as fact on KINY-AM’s “Problem Corner,” the department did receive a call from an alarmed family in Hoonah concerned about the health of the man who had been identified on “Problem Corner.”
“He was fine, sober, and we said, ‘Call your mom over in Hoonah,’” Campbell said.
On Monday’s “Problem Corner,” a caller confirmed the man was fine.
“It was a misunderstanding,” the caller said.
If the death is a rumor, how did it get started?
Lovischuk has an idea. While trying to track down the truth of the rumor, she learned that some Glory Hole patrons had been discussing the death of an Anchorage resident from exposure in Anchorage.
Like a game of “Telephone,” the rumor was twisted until the events supposedly happened in Juneau.
Though it might be false, the rumor contains a grain of truth. Below-normal temperatures have blanketed Juneau, creating conditions for hypothermia and cold-related illness.
Lovischuk said that if Juneauites do want to prevent deaths due to exposure, they should donate to the two Juneau projects devoted to housing the homeless: The Glory Hole and the Juneau Housing First project.
The Glory Hole shelters the homeless, but it has a drug-and-alcohol policy that turns away anyone with a blood-alcohol level above 0.1 percent.
The Housing First project will not have such restrictions, but both efforts are short of operating funds. Glory Hole has not met its funding goals for next year, Lovischuk said, and even though construction has begun on Housing First, it does not have enough money to meet its construction budget.
Donations can be made to the Glory Hole directly at 247 South Franklin St., online at www.feedjuneau.org, or to the Juneau Community Foundation, which is supporting Housing First.
Clarification: This story has been edited to clarify the Glory Hole’s drug and alcohol policy.
