Juneau is a wonderful place to live and raise a family. It offers an idyllic waterfront setting with a majestic mountainous backdrop. Cultural and recreational activities abound and our sense of community is extraordinary. But there’s also a disturbing reality that people rarely talk about that plays out every day and night on our downtown streets.
Problems associated with Juneau’s chronically homeless, most of whom are also chronic inebriates, have persisted throughout the downtown area. In response to complaints by both residents and merchants, police have worked to stem the number of negative incidents caused by our homeless population. Yet visitor complaints are on the rise. This is an issue that reflects directly upon our community and affects all of us — whether we live here or are just visiting.
With few housing options available, the homeless population has increasingly burdened not only the police department but many other community services such as the fire and emergency department, Bartlett Regional Hospital Emergency Room, Rainforest Recovery Center and Lemon Creek Correctional Facility.
A 2011 Juneau Homeless Coalition study tracked the behaviors of just 10 homeless/chronic inebriates in Juneau over a two-month period. These 10 individuals accounted for 153 separate “sleep-offs” in Emergency Service facilities, 67 emergency room visits, 24 days of chemical detoxification and 20 days of inpatient treatment at Rainforest Recovery Center. The costs incurred by the City and Borough of Juneau amounted to $128,414. Extrapolating these dollars over 12 months on Juneau’s entire homeless/chronic inebriate population conservatively results in estimated costs of $1.4 million annually.
Following the success in other states with the Housing First model, a core group of people and organizations in Juneau tackled the issue and have been working to address it. Under the umbrella organization of the Juneau Housing First Collaborative, a host of nonprofits, government entities and supporters convinced the Juneau Assembly to commit $1.5 million to accompany a grant request to Alaska Housing Finance Corporation to finance a housing project in Juneau for the chronically homeless.
Since receiving $3 million from the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation and land from Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority, the Collaborative has also secured funding from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, the Juneau Community Foundation and a recent Rasmuson Foundation grant. Ground was broken earlier this year on a 32-unit housing project on Allen Court in Lemon Creek.
Yet, the project still remains $500,000 short of needed funding.
In Juneau, we will benefit more than most communities our size from recent projects completed or being planned such as our new State Library, Archives and Museum, waterfront seawalk complete with bronze whale sculpture and park, the Juneau Ocean Center, the Sealaska Heritage Building, and the list goes on.
Individual gifts, corporate fundraising efforts, grants and municipal tax monies help fund a variety of recreational, cultural and beautification initiatives throughout our community.
Yet, while Juneau is incredibly generous, some of the less recognized social services receive little publicity and often struggle for funding.
It is also an unfortunate reflection of our society that one whale death receives more media coverage and public outrage than the dozens of homeless deaths in Alaska each year.
Shouldn’t this generosity and concern for our quality of life also extend to the plight of our homeless population as well as how this reflects on our community?
Thankfully, current Housing First supporters in conjunction with the Juneau Community Foundation are now formulating a campaign to raise an additional $200,000 to help meet their project shortfall and will be asking our community to respond. In the meantime, details about the Housing First project can be found on the Juneau Community Foundation website at www.juneaucf.org/JuneauHousingFirstProject.html.
No doubt some may prefer to champion more popular causes that garner headlines rather than ones that address messier issues that are difficult to solve. But our downtown streets are as much a reflection of who we are as a community as our cultural attractions, parks and buildings.
Issues of safety, homelessness and dysfunction are foundational — and cannot be masked with a quick coat of paint. Without detracting from the importance of other causes, community recognition and support of the Housing First project can and must remain on equal footing with them.
• Win Gruening retired as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in 2012. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is active in community affairs as a 30-plus year member of Juneau Downtown Rotary Club and has been involved in various local and statewide organizations.
