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Anchorage administration seeks Assembly approval for two 100-bed shelter contracts and a funding reappropriation amid debate over locations and housing trade‑off
Summary
The Anchorage administration recommended that the Assembly approve two short‑term contracts to operate 100‑bed, year‑round low‑barrier shelters and a reappropriation of a prior $1.3 million housing appropriation to fund case management and guaranteed housing exits for the winter season, measures the administration said are needed to avoid a gap in shelter capacity.
The Anchorage administration recommended that the Assembly approve two service contracts to operate year‑round, low‑barrier shelters and a reappropriation of previously approved housing funds to cover immediate shelter-related case management and guaranteed housing exits.
Thea Agnew Bevan, special assistant to the mayor, opened the presentation by reviewing local homelessness data and the administration’s approach. “We have just under 3,000 people experiencing homelessness,” Bevan said, and she summarized the municipality’s inventories and occupancy: an inventory of about 2,818 beds or units with roughly 92% occupancy on the night counted and a 2025 point‑in‑time count showing a 2% change from 2024. Bevan identified about 600 people counted as unsheltered and cautioned that that number is an approximation based on outreach reports.
Nut graf: The administration asked the Assembly to approve (1) a contract recommendation to have Henning Incorporated operate 100 year‑round beds at the East 56 (East 50 Sixth Avenue) location through Dec. 31 at a per‑person base rate the administration gave as $83.69 (the presentation said a factored per‑person rate that includes rent and utilities would be about $171.89); (2) a contract recommendation to have MASH operate 100 year‑round beds at an East Fifth Avenue site at roughly $108 per person per day; and (3) a reappropriation or “fund swap” of a prior $1.3 million municipal appropriation (originally intended for property rehabilitation via the Anchorage Affordable Housing and Land Trust) to be used in part for case management and guaranteed exits into AHLT units for the upcoming winter season. All three items were presented as recommendations for Assembly action the next day; no formal votes were recorded during the work session.
Most contested issues at the work session were location, funding source and timing. Multiple Assembly members asked for a map showing current shelter and supportive housing locations, breakdowns by district and a history of where the municipality has added capacity since 2018. Member Voland asked specifically what percentage of shelter capacity was located in…
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