By Jasz Garrett
Juneau, Alaska – Since opening on Oct. 20, 163 individuals have come through Juneau’s cold weather emergency shelter (warming shelter).
Steven, who wanted to go by his first name only, has been homeless for 10 years, he said, mostly living in the woods.
He said the shelter is a very good place for everybody who needs it, and the staff are good people. He’s known them for a long time because he’s stayed at previous shelters in Juneau.
When it comes to being homeless, Steven said people don’t understand that the cold can set in quickly. They don’t know what it’s like to wake up every day not knowing what’s next.
“On the streets it’s hard. If you aren’t in that crowd, you just don’t know. People just don’t know,” he said. “And I’m just a guy. A homeless guy.”
St. Vincent de Paul will operate the shelter until April 15, 2024. Deputy City Manager Robert Barr said that it’s likely St. Vincent’s would operate the shelter next year. He said it works well since their staff has experience when dealing with a vulnerable population.
The warming shelter is in the City and Borough of Juneau’s Thane Warehouse at 1325 Eastaugh Way near the Rock Dump. It was previously used as the Ballot Processing Center. The shelter’s hours are from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily.
In October, the facility averaged 32 residents a night, according to City Manager Katie Koester.
Now it averages about 40 residents, its maximum capacity. During a Nov. 20 blizzard, the shelter reached 45 residents.
At the beginning of this year, a Point in Time Count (PIT) and Housing Inventory Count (HIC) recorded 220 homeless people in Juneau. Juneau is second only to Anchorage which recorded 1,425 people on Jan. 31.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires both a PIT and HIC for one night each year. It assists in measuring the extent of homelessness in Alaska.
United Way and the Juneau Coalition on Housing and Homelessness supported by a Wells Fargo Grant conduct the PIT on Jan. 30 for the night of Jan. 29, and shelters conduct the HIC to show how many beds are available.
Between Nov. 30, 2022, and Nov. 30, 2023, Alaska had 18,118 homeless people according to the Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness.
But only people who use services for the homeless are counted, said the Coalition’s Owen Hutchinson. Some people may use the services only in the winter.
While there are a variety of reasons someone could be homeless, the coalition is seeing a common factor, Hutchinson said.
“Statewide, there is a thing we are seeing across the board, which is significant behavioral health challenges around mental health and substance use disorders,” Hutchinson said. “And until we can scale up the services needed to meet behavioral health needs, we’re gonna continue to see prevalence in the unsheltered community.”
Hutchinson said it’s important that shelters have staff who are trained in de-escalation and have consistent relations with unhoused community members like St. Vincent’s does.
He said that in most places in Alaska, a municipality will be a partner in setting up and funding shelters.
Juneau’s first warming shelter opened in 2017, operated by the Glory Hall and AWARE at the Public Safety building that was located beside Zach Gordon Youth Center. The Public Safety building has been torn down since.
In 2018, St. Vincent’s joined the operation.
In 2019, St. Vincent’s operated the shelter by itself at its community center in the Mendenhall Valley. St. Vincent’s Community Navigator and Shelter Manager Jackie Bryant said it was too crowded, with over 50 people, it was sitting room only.
The community center shelter was only open for a few weeks before COVID-19 hit.
Social distancing guidelines led the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) to choose the Juneau Arts and Culture Center (JACC) as the new shelter location in March 2020.
Bryant said the JACC could fit 70 people with the cots spaced six feet apart. She said they averaged about 60 people a night. St. Vincent’s operated the shelter there until Aug. 1, 2021.
The only building with space available to use after that was the Resurrection Lutheran Church, which chose to operate without St. Vincent’s.
Resurrection Lutheran Church operated the warming shelter during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, but this year, the church chose not to bid.
This left the city in a scramble to find people who were willing to take it on, according to Deputy City Manager Barr.
St. Vincent’s stepped back in and Executive Director Dave Ringle said the city approached him to bid on it.
“I told them I would have a staff but not a place. We were looking at solutions that would be collaborative where we would work with other agencies. And where we would take some of the lessons we learned working closely with the city at the JACC during COVID,” he said. “I felt like we could work with the business community and the social service agency providers and make the warming shelter a collaborative effort.”
Ringle explained that St. Vincent’s good relationships with other agencies are key when dealing with serious needs.
The Glory Hall brings people in need from the Mendenhall Valley, arriving at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. Shelter staff makes rounds of downtown at 11, midnight, and 1 a.m. using a Capital AKCESS van.
Anyone needing transportation during shelter hours can call 907-419-7660 to arrange pickup.
Food is provided by the Polaris House, an organization that aims to help people with mental health challenges. St. Vincent’s also works closely with other shelters, such as AWARE and Shéiyi Xaat Hít (the Spruce Root House).
The shelter has no plumbing and uses porta-potties outside the front of the warehouse.
Ringle said their staff would likely focus on implementing plumbing and better access to the building if they operate next year. He added that neither has caused significant issues.
“We try and work with even the people that are having problems,” Ringle said. “A lot of times there are reasons for that. And if you can get them the services to address the reasons they’re disruptive, we can help them stay sheltered. I think that’s where our connection with Bartlett Regional Hospital, with CARES—the sobering center—and other service agencies, helps.”
Bryant said so far, no one has been banned from the shelter. Some individuals have been refused entrance for a night if they are too disruptive. People are required to sign an agreement each night that they check in that states they won’t bring in drugs, alcohol, or weapons.
The shelter is warm and welcoming, Bryant added.
“I feel very strongly that this is a need. It’s really a need,” she said. “If nobody else will do it, I will. But I love doing it. The first thing is to make them feel welcomed, keep them safe. Let them know they’re seen here, they’re not invisible.”
Bryant added that all of the resources she offers as a community navigator, she can also offer during shelter hours if people are willing to sit down with her.
Ringle said not everyone who comes in is chronically homeless.
“There are people who are transitioning from one living situation to another. Some people are newly homeless,” he said. “They need a safe place for a day or two and then they find a better place.”
Those staying at the shelter are welcome to bring their pets inside, and they haven’t had issues with dogs yet. Juneau Animal Rescue donated kennels in case the dogs need to be separated.
While discussing possible improvements for the shelter, Ringle stressed that a long-term solution needs to be found.
“This is a band-aid that doesn’t solve the problem. But it keeps people alive, and we got to keep people alive,” he said. “But we’ve got to work for better housing and more housing in addition to this.”
Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness’s Hutchinson said shelters are often left by cities until the last minute to plan every year. He said it hurts the clients and inhibits the ability of the city to do consistent planning with funding, providers, and best practices.
“I say this because it’s a problem in Anchorage. It’s a problem in Juneau. It’s a problem in Bethel,” he said. “It’s a problem everywhere warming is.”
One of the biggest health risks homeless people experience in Southeast Alaska is getting wet and not being able to get dry, which increases their risk of getting hypothermia substantially, according to Hutchinson.
Juneau’s shelter has boot dryers and chairs to hang coats on to dry. The shelter always welcomes blankets, hats, gloves, and winter clothing donations. Their most needed items are warm socks.
Donations can be dropped off at the shelter during operation hours or at St. Vincent’s offices at 8617 Teal Street.
While donations are always encouraged, the shelter has enough staff and volunteers; some of whom have been homeless.
“I think it has an effect on the people who come here and see the potential to be more than just living in a shelter with some of these individuals who have made it out of homelessness and are giving back,” Ringle said.
“It gives them hope,” Bryant added. “Which, to be honest, a lot of these people don’t have.”
Ryan Travelstead brought beachcombed treasures to the shelter on Nov. 30. He enjoys finding minerals while walking along the Gastineau Channel.
He said he is finding hope in the form of blue heron and raven feathers. After divorcing his wife in Sitka, he took a walk on the beach and found a white plumage feather from a blue heron. It felt like a message that was meant for him to find.
After coming back to Juneau, he was walking near the Glory Hall when he found an injured raven. He tried to take the raven to the Juneau Raptor Center which was a few blocks away, carrying it in his arms. Once he got there, he discovered the center had closed.
He found out about his Tlingit ancestry on Nov. 30.
He was contemplating that while at the warming shelter, and what his spiritual connections with herons, ravens, and eagles could mean.
Travelstead said his cultural exploration is healing in a way he doesn’t expect people to understand.
“I’m going through a personal revelation of who I am,” he said.
