By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Plans for a small community of dry cabins to house Sitka’s homeless people were presented to the public at a meeting under the Crescent Harbor shelter Wednesday evening.
The Sitka Homeless Coalition’s project to build a dozen small cabins for the homeless was selected as a community goal at the 2021 Sitka Health Summit in September.
Speaking for the Homeless Coalition, Hannah Green said the cabin project represents a realistic step forward.
“One of the things that’s really important to me regarding homelessness is being able to do something practically,” Green said. “So we can talk about this issue, it’s a global issue, so most people know about issues of homelessness, but not how to do anything about it… That’s what this is all about, giving a realistic, logical next step. So we have a problem, we are creating our own solution and we would love for everyone here to join us in that.”
Kathy Ingallinera, at left, shows a drawing of proposed cabins for the homeless Wednesday night at the Crescent Harbor shelter. Sitka Project Homeless Connect is spearheading an effort to build shelters on Alaska Mental Health Trust land at the end of Jarvis Street. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
The plan suggests constructing 12 small cabins around communal kitchen, shower and laundry facilities at the end of Jarvis Street. The cabins will be ‘dry,’ which means without running water, though they will have electricity. Green estimated that the initial build cost will be about $1.2 million. The cabins would have electric heat.
“Basically they’re detached bedrooms,” said Green. “A lot of people were calling it a tiny house community and that really is not accurate.”
Rachel Moreno, a former STA Tribal Council member, said that a strong community serves its people.
“You lead by example, you serve your people. Our people have always lived communally. So I don’t believe there is a word in Tlingit for ‘homeless,’” Moreno told the assembled crowd of dozens. “I don’t know that our people would have ever had that kind of a situation...A lot of people who find themselves homeless don’t deserve it, they don’t want to be, but circumstances bring them to that point.”
Moreno encouraged Sitkans to act quickly to get the cabin project underway.
“Tonight I really do hope that when we leave here we come back together very quickly with help, with ideas, with our own labor and with newfound dedication to our fellow human beings, because there’s not that many degrees of separation that separate us from anyone who is out there who is homeless,” she said. “Any one of us at any part of our lives could be in that situation and we still could be, there are no guarantees.”
To close out the event, STA Cultural and Community Liaison Chuck Miller sang a song.
“It’s like a protection song over everyone that is here and the things that you are going to be doing to help out our community, to make it a healthier community, so that people are safe here, for our homeless folks,” Miller said.
He translated the Tlingit words into English: “It means, ‘We’re all moving forward, we’re all moving forward, we’re all moving forward. Let’s move forward together, take strength, be brave.’”
Gayle Young, who has worked for years with the Homeless Coalition, said Sitka needs to pull together as a community and house the homeless.
“It became clear that our little group needed to become a community group, and I didn’t know how that was going to happen (prior to the Health Summit)… The community has got to come together, and to volunteer their time, has got to look for the funding. All we’ve done is kept people alive as best we could and supported them and given them hope… How long is it going to take us to get 13 people in cabins?” Young told the Sentinel after the event.
The project is premised on the ‘Housing First’ model. This concept “prioritizes providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness, thus ending their homelessness and serving as a platform from which they can pursue personal goals and improve their quality of life,” the National Alliance to End Homelessness says in a pamphlet that was distributed at Wednesday’s event.
Young said the cabins will offer warm, safe spaces for people in need.
“When we go home at night, we want our house warm, we want to be able to lock our door and not worry about our stuff or about our safety. That’s all they want too,” Young said.
She hopes to have construction underway in the spring of 2022.
She said donations to the project can be made at the ALPS Federal Credit Union.
