Donation Match
Dear Editor: One of the great things about living in a small town is that people know and look out for each other. Living in a caring community is one of the best insurance policies a person can have. Right now, we have an opportunity to truly make a difference and show what a compassionate community we are. For decades, a percentage of our fellow Sitkans have lived in our rainforest without basic shelter. This situation creates a myriad of problems for the individuals as well as the community at large.
Fortunately, chronic homelessness is a solvable problem. The lasting solution and proven fix are found in the Housing First model. The HF model began in 1992 in New York and has since expanded across the U.S., Canada, and to other parts of the world because it works so well. Once a person gets a warm dry place, they can rebuild their life.
Right now, the Sitka Homeless Coalition, is working on an important community goal: building 12 basic HF dwellings at the top of Jarvis Street. Many things have lined up to make this a successful project. The Sitka Homeless Coalition has been working tirelessly on this issue for five years and last year the Agnew::Beck Consulting Group prepared the “Sitka Housing Report of Adults Experiencing Homelessness” document. You can read this report on our website, www.sheltersitka.org. Additionally, the staff at Juneau Housing First are providing great ideas and support from their local success story in addressing homelessness.
We can build the cabin community which will be a tremendous community asset that will serve Sitka for decades to come. The three biggest tasks we are working on now are:
1): Create a professional business plan that develops the ideas from the Agnew::Beck study,
2): Demonstrate that this project has broad community support,
3): Procure funding to finance the business plan and the initial costs of the project.
All three of those building blocks can be simultaneously achieved this year. Our current goal is to raise $20,000 by December 31. We have received donations from many individuals and organizations the smallest donation is as important as the largest! As of this writing $10,403 has been collected! Thank you to everyone who has donated. Donations from individuals and organizations within our community show potential supporters outside Sitka that this is a priority to our community and our citizens are willing to step up to make it a reality.
Finally, imagine going to sleep at night knowing that everyone in town had a warm dry place. With your help we won’t need to imagine, we can live it! Please consider making a tax-deducible donation to this project to help our homeless citizens have their fundamental needs met. Donations can be made online at www.sheltersitka.org, by check, payable to Sitka Homeless Coalition, or anonymously dropped in the night drop box at Alps Federal Credit Union, 401 Halibut Point Road
Special Note: You can double your impact in the next two weeks. The Sitka Rotary club has offered to match all donations, up to $5,000 between now and December 17, 2021!
Sitka Homeless Coalition
Masking
Dear Editor: I was deeply disturbed to read the recent article on the School Board meeting in which a member of the public compared the local government pandemic response to Nazi Germany. The Nazi government had an official ideology of anti-Semitism and white supremacy, and they used this to carry out state-sponsored genocide, murdering 6 million Jewish men, women, and children.
Sitka’s School Board and Assembly actions requiring masks during defined circumstances to protect public health in the COVID-19 pandemic have no analogy to Nazism. Words matter. “Nazi” stands for anti-Semitism, white supremacy, and genocide; none of these are related to local mask policies or policy-makers. As a community, we can participate in the public process and respectfully discuss how and when to change rules to best serve our community. We can do this without invoking unwarranted, hurtful, offensive analogies.
My faith teaches me to walk the way of love, loving my neighbor as myself. The journey through the pandemic has been exhausting and frustrating, but I take heart in the many instances of our community caring for each other, day after day. I believe we can have difficult discussions with that same care and respect for each other, choosing our words to help build up community solutions.
Sara Beaber-Fujioka, Sitka
