ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Anchorage scrambled Tuesday to come up with more temporary housing for the homeless after back-to-back snowstorms dumped more than 3 feet of snow on the city in just nine days, an amount that is high even by Alaska standards.
The concern grows as temperatures are expected to plummet to single digits by the weekend.
Four people believed to be homeless have already died this month, part of a record 49 deaths of people living outdoors in Alaska’s largest city this year, according to a count kept by the Anchorage Daily News.
The Anchorage Assembly met in special session Tuesday and approved a contract to add 50 beds to a shelter that just opened in October.
The current shelter was initially set up for 150 beds in the administration building of a former waste transfer site, the city’s answer after the mass shelter established during the pandemic in a sports arena was closed. It’s part of a patchwork of shelters in old hotels, apartment buildings and social services facilities to attempt to house the city’s homeless population, estimated at over 3,100 people.
The new emergency cold weather shelter was above 90 percent capacity, leading the assembly to unanimously approve expansion.
Alexis Johnson, the city’s homeless director, said they are working with the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness to give the new beds to those most in need.
David Rittenberg, the senior director of adult homeless services for Catholic Social Services, said getting 50 news beds lined up is welcome.
“It’s tough for people out there, shelters are full,” he said.
