By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
A blanket of snow adds a new layer of beauty to Sitka, but for the homeless, winter weather makes life difficult and sometimes dangerous.
Finding a housing solution for Sitka’s homeless remains a top priority for the Sitka Homeless Coalition, say board members Gayle Young and Peg Shea.
“The important thing is to give these guys a place,” Young said in an interview. “They’re not going to be able to heal as much as they can until there’s some acceptance of them in the community.”
A core program that the coalition already has in place is providing a place where the homeless can wash their clothes and take a shower.
“The showers and laundry project exists only because of the tremendous giving that the community has done to keep this project going for over a year now,” Young said. “The success and the continuation of this project is really a shining bright spot for the Sitka community. A sign of growing compassion for unsheltered people and a desire to help.”
“The laundry and the shower that we do ... provided some people an opportunity to try to get some employment because they look cleaned up and more presentable,” Shea said.
Hannah Blanke, left, and Dorothy Orbison clean up after volunteering at the Sitka Homeless Coalition’s biweekly showers and laundry program at the Sitka Laundry Center today. About six volunteers take turns hosting the program that offers free services for Sitka’s homeless population. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
She said much of the work undertaken by the coalition hinges on kind acts from community members. Those acts have included meals, she said, including those provided by a number of churches.
Young said there are 16 to 20 homeless men in Sitka, more than half of them over age 50, and many with disabilities that make employment difficult. However, she said, these disabilities open the door to aid from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, which is working with the coalition to find a location and funds for a homeless shelter.
The project has already received funding from the Trust, the City and Borough of Sitka, and the Sitka Legacy Foundation.
“Housing homeless residents is possible,” Young said. “Communities are finding that Housing First often works in that once someone is settled with reliable shelter, they are far more able to work on the remaining difficulties in their lives. And sheltering can be done for far less money than working on homelessness in the ways we are accustomed to.”
Young said the coalition has considered using small dwellings similar to the simple structures built by high school classes, complete with showers and laundry facilities, possibly on land owned by the Alaska Mental Health Trust.
The Trust undertook a similar project in Juneau, Young said, with positive results.
Young and Shea said that locating a place for a homeless shelter is difficult, but SHC continues to work on that front.
In the absence of a shelter the homeless take refuge wherever they can, without the permission of the property owner, which causes many problems, they said.
“One of the things that happens when you’re homeless is that you leave your camp and you come back and your camp is gone,” Young said. This causes stress, which would be eased by having access to a shelter.
The homeless coalition is looking for volunteers at the moment, and is hoping for men in particular. Young wants to create a list of volunteers who would be willing to be night attendants at a shelter, once one is built in Sitka. Those interested can reach Gayle Young at (907) 747-7879, or sithc@gmail.com. Donations to the Homeless Coalition can be made at Northrim Bank.
