‘Waiting is not an option’: Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness raises alarm on housing emergency

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The nonprofit Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness said Friday it was alarmed after a surprisingly high number of residents applied for emergency rental assistance in less than three days last month.

Executive Director of the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness, Meg Zaletel, held an emergency press conference after their application window for limited rental assistance closed on Feb. 20.

More than 1,300 applications came in over 2 1/2 days, according to the ACEH. Zaletel said each application represents one household, and estimates at the most conservative guess at least 2,600 Alaskans are represented in those applications.

The pool of households who applied have been identified by the ACEH as either 14 days from losing their current housing arrangement (1,008 households in Anchorage) or are experiencing homelessness (375 households in Anchorage).

“It feels like a giant wave of need is about to hit us, and all we have is a small one-cup measuring cup to catch those who are in need,” Zaletel said, describing the shock the organization felt when they grasped the “sheer magnitude” of need in the community.

Zaletel believes the cause of the current state of Anchorage’s housing — or unhoused — dilemma is a culmination of issues, saying the perfect storm of “soaring rents, stagnant wages and limited housing supply has left many residents unable to afford even the most basic housing opportunities.”

The coalition’s proposed solution is immediate rental assistance to help people at risk remain housed, and rapid rehousing services for people who are currently experiencing homelessness. Zaletel said by acting as preemptively as possible, she believes it will be more cost-effective for Anchorage than retroactively assisting people after they become homeless.

She described their current position as calling 911 in a crisis, and said while the municipality is working on mid and long-term solutions, they need to buy themselves more time to escape working in crisis mode.

“We know what to do, we know how to do it. It’s just, how do we scale it so that we’re not scrambling and dealing with these other effects?” Zaletel said, referring to the difficult situation of preventing incumbent homelessness while also trying to offer aid to people who are already homeless.

Zaletel said if they hadn’t administered the rental assistance application, she’s uncertain the coalition would have understood the full situation and believed it was best to publicize the situation further.

Currently, the coalition expects funding will be available to assist 500 households, but Zaletel estimates “tens of millions” in funds are needed to offer the support the ACEH believes is necessary.

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