Mass exodus of Sullivan Arena leaves homeless residents on streets looking for housing

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The Sullivan Arena became a much lonelier place Monday afternoon.

The temporary emergency shelter officially closed to the majority of residents staying there, leaving many to fend for themselves on the streets of Anchorage.

Various parts of town — including Downtown, Fairview, Midtown, and other neighborhoods — have started to develop homeless camps as there is nowhere else for those experiencing homelessness to go.

Neal Reutov lives in a camp in the woods near the Ben Boeke Ice Arena, located adjacent to the Sullivan Arena. Reutov gave a reporter a tour of the camp and believes many people relocate to the woods in search of isolation and seclusion. There are some individuals that chose to not venture far from the Sullivan Arena.

“The reason why this is happening right by Ben Boeke — look at the pattern,” Reutov said. “It happened last year, it happened the year before, right after they closed the Sully. People don’t want to go far, they’re already at home here.”

Rob Seay is the Deputy Director for Henning Inc., the company managing the Sullivan Arena shelter, and said he’s watched the Sullivan open and close for all three years it has been used as a shelter.

Seay emphasized that while his heart is heavy, he is still hopeful. He described Monday as a hard day, as it was tough for him to watch more people head outside with nowhere to go.

“Right now it’s getting cold,” Seay said. “Right now, what I’m thinking about is the people that are coming out and how cold they’re going to be tonight.”

Others from the Sullivan have moved over to the Ship Creek area, where another homeless camp is forming.

“They’ve just kind of been coming in slowly and scattered, every day I wake up and see a new face,” said Jonathan Joseph, a resident who was formerly incarcerated and is now living on the streets of Anchorage.

He believes people need to focus more on helping those who are experiencing homelessness rather than on things they cannot control.

“We need transitional housing for people who are just getting out, or people that are homeless out here,” Joseph said.

“There ain’t a lot of things that will help these people out, you know what I mean?” said Robert Lavios, another homeless resident. “There ain’t no transitional houses, ain’t no huge homeless shelter. The Sully is even closing, so now this is just going to go everywhere in the city.”

With most places at full capacity and no other transitional housing opportunities ready to be utilized, many are having to stay in tents.

“They’re going to be everywhere,” Seay said. “If we don’t come up with adequate solutions for housing and support of housing, we’re going to see camps around the city.”

While solutions are sought, more tents will most likely keep popping up around Anchorage.

“It’s tough, I feel pretty emotional right now,” Seay said. “And I’m not afraid to say that because I’m invested into this. These are my people. I come from this, I’m a person in long-term recovery and I know what it takes.

“It takes someone to love you until you learn how to love yourself, to get out of this situation.”