The holiday season is in full swing.
This is the busiest time of the year at the Glory Hall, Juneau’s emergency shelter, soup kitchen and care center. TGH staff work hard every day to carry out the organizations mission to provide food, shelter and compassion to those most in need. December is the time when the majority of contributions from the Juneau community, individuals and local businesses come in to make this work possible. As board members, this is the time of year we do what we can to help raise funds and also reflect back on the work we have done in the last 12 months.
2018 marks the first full year of operations for the Juneau Housing First Collaborative, a project which provides 32 apartments to chronically homeless adults. TGH board and staff led the effort to develop this facility, coordinate operations and provide the majority of staff in the building. Evaluation of the project conducted by the University of Alaska found that people who are housed at Juneau Housing First Collaborative reduce their usage of emergency services such as ambulance response, Rainforest Recovery Center, Juneau Police Department and the Bartlett Hospital Emergency Room by over 60 percent. We are thankful to the Juneau community for supporting this life saving project.
With a staff of just eight full-time employees, TGH was able to provide over 50,000 meals and over 11,000 safe emergency shelter beds this year. This would not have been possible without the help of many volunteer groups who prepare dinner at The Glory Hall most nights of the week. TGH truly is a community organization. Here, we provide most basic service to people in need and ensure that people can exit the cycle of homelessness and despair.
This year is the second year of the warming shelter partnership with the City and Borough of Juneau, AWARE and Saint Vincent dePaul Society. The warming shelter is open for people who cannot be at TGH emergency shelter due to substance use and behavioral health issues. The shelter is open on the nights the mercury hovers around freezing. Together with our partners, we continue to ensure that Juneau is a community where people do not die on the streets.
As we look forward to solstice and the returning of the light, celebrate the holiday season, and reflect on what we have and how we as a community take care of one another, we consider how fortunate we are to have a roof over our heads each night and warm bed to sleep in. We think about everything TGH does throughout the year, the meaningful work that takes place every day to make sure that Juneau has the most basic safety net.
About 30 percent of the Glory Hall budget comes from community contributions. During this holiday season, we ask you to please reach out to support The Glory Hall so that on the coldest nights and during times of crisis, our fellow community members have the option to receive the most basic and fundamental of human needs, those of food and shelter.
Donations to TGH can be made online by going to www.feedjuneau.org, by mailing a check to The Glory Hall, PO Box 021997 Juneau, AK 99803, or by dropping the donation off at 247 S. Franklin St.
• Bruce Denton is a Juneau businessman and owner of the Senate Building, as well as a board member for Juneau Housing First Collaborative and Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce. Jorden Nigro is a lifelong Alaskan who has worked in human services in Juneau for the past 20 years. She is the Youth Services Manager for the City and Borough of Juneau’s Parks and Recreation Department.
• Bruce Denton is a Juneau businessman and owner of the Senate Building, as well as a board member for Juneau Housing First Collaborative and Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce. Jorden Nigro is a lifelong Alaskan who has worked in human services in Juneau for the past 20 years. She is the Youth Services Manager for the City and Borough of Juneau’s Parks and Recreation Department. My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire.
