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Record of Proceedings

Assembly Housing and Homeless Committee Meeting - August 20, 2025

Assembly & Committee Meetings — Wednesday, August 20, 2025
BodyAnchorage, Alaska
SessionAssembly & Committee Meetings
DateWednesday, August 20, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
1:53

Feeling awful lonely here.

1:57

All right.

1:58

Is the record wrong?

2:00

Okay.

2:04

Okay, I'm gonna call to order this meeting of the Assembly Housing and Homeless Committee.

2:09

It is Wednesday, August twentieth at eleven oh two AM.

2:15

Um we'll start by uh by calling role.

2:17

Let's just start on the phone.

2:18

Uh Mr.

2:19

Rivera, are you are you there?

2:24

Mr.

2:25

Gecker, are you there?

2:27

Yes, sure.

2:28

Thank you.

2:29

Thanks, Mr.

2:29

Martinez.

2:30

Are you there?

2:32

Present.

2:33

Great.

2:35

Ms.

2:36

Silvers, would you like to say hi?

2:38

Yaro Silvers.

2:40

And Cameron Perez for Dia for the record.

2:42

Great.

2:43

Um thank you all for joining us today.

2:46

We've got a full agenda, so uh just jump right in for those of you on the phone.

2:51

If you um want to get in the queue, just please send me a text.

2:55

And for the record, we're being um joined by Miss Boblin Day.

3:01

Yes, great.

3:02

And the first item, Kathleen and Emily.

3:05

Welcome.

3:06

Hi.

3:06

Good to see you guys.

3:08

Okay, when you're ready, just go ahead and share your name for the record and you can start.

3:42

My name is Kathleen McLaughlin.

3:44

I'm the CEO of restorative and re-entry services, and this is Emily Robinson.

3:49

Uh, we wanted to come and um uh state the outcome of our third party oversight for the emergency coal weather shelter.

3:59

There is a PowerPoint that we have created that might be useful.

4:05

We're also open for any questions after we do a summary of what what we saw, what we learned, and next steps.

4:28

We were then asked to do coal weather shelter oversight last year, and then we were asked again.

4:36

What I can say, because I'm not going to bury the lead, that the question that we're always asked is um, was the system for twenty-four twenty-five operated in a manner that was consistent with the terms of the shelter contracts, the expectations of the shelter clients, and for the good of the community?

4:54

And the answer is yes.

4:56

We did learn a lot of things, and we have a lot of work to do.

5:01

But generally speaking, we firmly believe that every shelter operator acted in compliance with their contracts and that we have been able to integrate a lot more than we did before.

5:20

Just an example, Emily, do you want to talk about what we were overseeing?

5:25

Yeah, can we pop to the next slide, please?

5:27

Thank you.

5:28

Just a couple of things to note.

5:30

This is a summary of the uh capacity that we had this last shelter season, as well as the timeline for our congregate and non-congregate shelter.

5:38

When we look at the 532 beds, we actually had less capacity this year than we did the shelter season prior.

5:45

And we're going to talk more about that later in the presentation.

5:48

When we go to the timeline, something else to note is that the East 56 location was already running in October, but it was actually just the shift in operators from henning to Catholic Social Services.

6:01

And then following that, we folded starting October 15th, the non-congregate shelter capacity starting on October 15th, and then one at all.

6:13

Yeah.

6:14

Okay.

6:15

And then next slide, please.

6:19

So here is the targeted goals that RRS had for the shelter season.

6:26

Some of the main things are stabilizing, integrating, and synergizing.

6:30

The very first part of the season was the stabilizing targeted goal.

6:34

So setting up new sites, making sure that operationally we're getting what we need and everybody has what they need.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Homelessness█████████████████████████████████████████████60%
Public Safety██████████13%
Affordable Housing████████10%
Data Management██████8%
Grant Management███4%
Procedural██2%
Community Engagement█1%
Transportation Safety█1%
Parks and Recreation█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Assembly Housing and Homeless Committee Meeting - August 20, 2025

The Assembly Housing and Homeless Committee convened on Wednesday, August 20, 2025 at 11:02 AM to receive updates on shelter operations, camp abatements, and emergency rental assistance. The meeting featured presentations from restorative and re-entry services (RRS), MASH Property Management, the Anchorage Police Department, and the Health Department, along with public testimony.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Karen Barnard: Expressed frustration with shelter discharges, citing non-criminal house rule violations and lack of accountability. She reported being discharged while having COVID, and criticized enforcement of smoking distance rules at shelters.
  • Ryan Brinkman (Rovena Park resident): Reported dangerous encampments in Rovena Park, including a large bonfire and explosions from propane tanks. He stated that despite using city reporting mechanisms, the response has been inadequate and requested immediate abatement for the safety of his neighborhood.
  • Jamie Lopez (formerly homeless, former coalition member): Argued that abatements fail by simply displacing people. He cited cases where individuals were banned from shelters without being informed of the grievance process, and described a family with children left in a dangerous area despite outreach efforts. He also claimed that enforcement of the camping ordinance is used to threaten people rather than educate.

Discussion Items

  • Restorative and Re-entry Services (RRS) Oversight Report: Kathleen McLaughlin and Emily Robinson presented their third-party oversight of the 2024-2025 emergency cold weather shelter. They reported that the system operated consistently with contracts and client expectations. Key points included: 532 beds available (down from 574 the prior year), 2,193 unique individuals served (up from 2,022), and 5,626 unique stays. A new client-centered philosophy was implemented, moving from program-centered to real-time service delivery. The warming center at Henning House served 1,800 unique individuals with 9,677 visits. Challenges included real-time data gaps (shelters use incompatible systems like Apricot and HMIS) and bus passes being misused as currency. The committee noted the need for a sustainable coordinating entity and discussed data sharing improvements.
  • Year-Round Shelter Update – East 56th and Linda's Place: Thea (mayor's office) and Leslie Rydal (MASH) reported on the transition to 300 year-round shelter beds starting September 1, 2025. East 56th (100 beds) will be operated by Henning, Linda's Place (100 beds) by MASH, and Alex Hotel (100 non-congregate beds) continues. MASH is hiring 98% of staff from outgoing Catholic Social Services. Construction at Linda's Place includes adding showers and updating electrical systems. Good neighbor policies are being developed with Mountain View, Fairview, and Downtown community councils. Mr. Voland emphasized that individual council member views do not represent the full council.
  • Camp Cleaning and Abatement Update: Thea and Lt. Fuchs reported on recent abatements at North Russian Jack, West High School, and Chester Creek (three zones). Eleven people moved to shelter from North Russian Jack, seven from West High. Abatements follow a 10-day notice with intensive outreach. APD has made one arrest under the camping ordinance. A pilot program allows the Hope team to extend abatement timelines for acute cases like families. The next focus will be smaller areas near schools, then early September.
  • Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Update: Jed Drole presented the ERA2 tranche 3 ($5 million total) paired with HOME-ARP funding. Grantees include ACH, Choosing Our Roots, Henning, NeighborWorks, New Life Development, and United Way. As of August 12, 581 households had been assisted (306 eviction diversion, 275 homelessness to housing). Spending data as of June 30 shows about 10-15% spent, but July numbers are pending. The deadline for ERA spending is September 30, 2025. Concerns were raised about slow spending and what happens to households after the assistance ends. The health department is exploring using remaining HOME-ARP funds for ongoing support.

Key Outcomes

  • The committee received the RRS oversight report and acknowledged the progress toward client-centered services, while noting the need for better data integration and a permanent coordinating entity.
  • The year-round shelter transition was noted, with plans to continue community engagement and pedestrian safety discussions with DOT.
  • Abatement updates were accepted; APD will continue the pilot program for flexible timelines with families.
  • The ERA update was noted; the health department will provide updated spending data for July and a comprehensive report in October. The committee expressed interest in ensuring funds are fully obligated by the September deadline.

Meeting Transcript

Feeling awful lonely here. All right. Is the record wrong? Okay. Okay, I'm gonna call to order this meeting of the Assembly Housing and Homeless Committee. It is Wednesday, August twentieth at eleven oh two AM. Um we'll start by uh by calling role. Let's just start on the phone. Uh Mr. Rivera, are you are you there? Mr. Gecker, are you there? Yes, sure. Thank you. Thanks, Mr. Martinez. Are you there? Present. Great. Ms. Silvers, would you like to say hi? Yaro Silvers. And Cameron Perez for Dia for the record. Great. Um thank you all for joining us today. We've got a full agenda, so uh just jump right in for those of you on the phone. If you um want to get in the queue, just please send me a text. And for the record, we're being um joined by Miss Boblin Day. Yes, great. And the first item, Kathleen and Emily. Welcome. Hi. Good to see you guys. Okay, when you're ready, just go ahead and share your name for the record and you can start. My name is Kathleen McLaughlin. I'm the CEO of restorative and re-entry services, and this is Emily Robinson. Uh, we wanted to come and um uh state the outcome of our third party oversight for the emergency coal weather shelter. There is a PowerPoint that we have created that might be useful. We're also open for any questions after we do a summary of what what we saw, what we learned, and next steps. We were then asked to do coal weather shelter oversight last year, and then we were asked again. What I can say, because I'm not going to bury the lead, that the question that we're always asked is um, was the system for twenty-four twenty-five operated in a manner that was consistent with the terms of the shelter contracts, the expectations of the shelter clients, and for the good of the community? And the answer is yes. We did learn a lot of things, and we have a lot of work to do. But generally speaking, we firmly believe that every shelter operator acted in compliance with their contracts and that we have been able to integrate a lot more than we did before. Just an example, Emily, do you want to talk about what we were overseeing? Yeah, can we pop to the next slide, please? Thank you. Just a couple of things to note. This is a summary of the uh capacity that we had this last shelter season, as well as the timeline for our congregate and non-congregate shelter. When we look at the 532 beds, we actually had less capacity this year than we did the shelter season prior.

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