City seeks plan to keep shelter at Sullivan running through 2023

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The Municipality of Anchorage’s price range for homeless providers is stretched skinny following will increase within the variety of homeless residents staying on the Sullivan Area.

Final Tuesday, the Anchorage Meeting voted to extend the Sullivan Area mattress capability by 160 beds for a complete of 360 beds. For the reason that improve, the municipality’s Homeless Coordinator Alexis Johnson stated they’ve seen each mattress stuffed.

However because the variety of Sullivan Area dwellers will increase, so do the variety of hungry stomachs. Meal service is supplied for these within the enviornment, however the metropolis says it solely has funding to final till January. Over the last assembly, the Anchorage Meeting board authorized as much as one million {dollars} in funding for use in direction of emergency chilly sheltering, however it is probably not sufficient.

“We nonetheless haven’t discovered funding all over April,” Johnson stated.

Proper now, the town is working with two important meals suppliers, Henning Included and Little Miss Cafe. These companies present each breakfast and dinner for the purchasers on the Sullivan Area. With volunteer donors like Bean’s Cafe and Spenard Roadhouse, drop off lunch snacks throughout the day. Subsequent yr, the town says, they’ll nonetheless be working with Henning to offer meals for the Sullivan Area.

“The funding is there by way of the top of the yr. That was one thing was not funded by the meeting into the brand new yr,” Johnson stated.

In line with an earlier report by Bean’s Cafe, it will price simply $15 a day to offer three meals per individual. If all 360 folks on the Sullivan had been fed utilizing related pricing, the shelter would solely have the ability to present 18 days price of meals for the world.

For the previous three months, Adam Shapsnikoff has been a kind of purchasers who’ve known as the Sullivan Area dwelling. Every day, he is aware of he’s going to be receiving a meal.

“Who doesn’t like a heat stomach?,” Shapsnikoff stated. “I bless every one I get.”

Town stated they’re wanting on the price range to see the place they may doubtlessly pull funding from to assist assist the shelter. One of many choices they’re wanting into is funding from alcohol taxes.

“There are alternatives for us to faucet into alcohol tax, however we’ve got to attend until the top of the yr shut out to see how a lot within the alcohol tax bucket,” Johnson stated.

The funding for these meals, Shapsnikoff stated is essential.

“I wouldn’t be getting it from anyplace, man. I might be in a ditch someplace,” Shapsnikoff stated.

With out realizing the place these meals will come from sooner or later, Shapsnikoff has considerations.

“It’s an actual concern, the place am I going to go after,” Shapsnikoff stated.

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