Shelter Sitka Sleep-Out
Dear Editor: Please join the Sitka Homeless Coalition for our sleep-out on Friday, Aug. 5, at Totem Square (across from the Pioneers Home) to help spread awareness of the homelessness issue in Sitka and to raise money for our Shelter Sitka project. This sleep-out is modeled after thousands of them that take place across America every year.
Set-up begins at 4 p.m. Friday and will end at 9 a.m. on Saturday, the 6th. We will have some activities at 6 p.m., including speakers, so even if you’re not planning to sleep out, come and hear about the Shelter Sitka project and offer your support. If you’re planning to sleep out, gather financial sponsors from your friends and family!
Bring a tent, tarp or box to sleep in. No tent stakes, please. We will have a porta-potty and wash-up facilities. No food or drinks will be available, so bring your own, and no alcohol is allowed. No cooking on site. We will have volunteers from the SHC taking two-hour shifts as night watch people from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., keeping an eye on the sleep-out.
This also is a fund-raiser, so please visit our Facebook page or our website to access a form that can be filled out for sleeping out or for donating money. Website: https://sheltersitka.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SitkaHomeless
Questions? Call me, 907-738-2393.
Kathy Ingallinera, Sitka
Sitka Food Co-op
Dear Editor: I am writing as a member of the Sitka Food Co-op, a non-commercial entity that has been bringing on-demand organic and affordable foods to Sitka families for over 10 years. The group has been looking for a permanent location for years and is setting its hopes on the common area of the former First Presbyterian Church at the intersection of Sawmill Creek Road and Baranof Street.
As you reported on July 22, the Planning Commission declined a conditional use permit for the operation of the Sitka Food Co-op. There, a concern of the planning director was whether the cooperative qualified as a community activity, or is a commercial enterprise. For clarification, I quote from this Co-op’s most recent newsletter (available at sitkafoodcoop.org) about the seven Cooperative Principles: “Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members” (#4) and “While focusing on members’ needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies accepted by their members” (#7). The Co-op is not a business with the goal to maximize profit.
I understand the concern of neighbors about an increased amount of traffic in the area. It is important for the public to know that the Sitka Food Co-op will be open to the public on only three afternoons per month, for three hours each. It will most likely stay this way because the space at this location is too small to operate a full-fledged retail operation. The parking needs for picking up food boxes are minimal, and traffic jams on and around the parking lot can be avoided by allowing vehicle flow only in one direction. The neighbors are already familiar with this traffic pattern because the site served as a pick-up center for members in the past. And this is exactly what the Co-op will be: a distribution and pick-up center for healthy and affordable food brought to town, as pre-ordered by members. This will not be a buzzing community center open to the public on a daily, all-day schedule.
I recognize that the former church building will be a high-density residential area for 11 long-term and 5 short-term units. I applaud this model because that’s what we need in a town that lacks land suitable for creating low- and middle-income housing. Parking for these dwelling units will be provided not only by the existing parking lot but also by a new 20-vehicle lot behind the building.
I appeal to the Planning Commission as well as city administrator and Assembly members: Sitka is becoming unaffordable for some of us and families are moving away for this reason. Please be more flexible to accommodate entities that are working to mitigate this severe problem. I ask city officials and commission members to be proactive, flexible, and focused on finding solutions to making living in Sitka manageable. This location for the Co-op is one. It is your duty to serve all people, and not only the ones who are affluent.
In closing, I want to express my appreciation to the Daily Sitka Sentinel and its staff for keeping us informed for all the diverse issues that occur in this community. An independent newspaper is an invaluable asset. Thank you and gunalchéesh.
Martina Kurzer, Sitka
Sitka
Dear Editor: When tourists ask me what the best thing about Sitka is, they miss the point by thinking it is sportfishing and seafood, raptors or bears or even the history and scenery. How can we give them a synopsis?
They would have to send their kids to our schools and to Fine Arts Camp. They would have to know our neighbors. They would have to experience the effectiveness of our health care consortium. They would have to feel how our multicultural population, Filipino, Tlingit-Haida, Latino and European-derivative leavens our mix. In short, they would have to move here and spend a few years just getting started in comprehending Sitka. Sorry, there is no short answer.
John Welsh, Sitka
