Some Anchorage homeless shelter providers harbor concerns over Assembly’s proposal for licensing requirements
Alaska | June 4, 2021
Anchorage city officials say a proposed ordinance that would require homeless shelters to obtain a city license will help reduce a shelter’s potential negative footprint in neighboring areas. They say it would help to ensure that shelter users, nearby businesses and residents are all kept safe.
But some Anchorage homeless shelter providers say the proposal could stymie the city’s efforts to increase its shelter capacity at a time when finding more beds is critical. Several homeless service providers, including the Anchorage Gospel Rescue Mission and Bean’s Cafe, signed a letter to the Assembly asking it to postpone the licensing ordinance.
“This piece of legislation or ordinance will suppress — not help — the homeless people in this town,” Ralph Nobrega, vice president of the Gospel Rescue Mission’s board of trustees, told the Assembly on Tuesday at a town hall discussion on the ordinance.
Shelters would be required to be licensed by Jan. 1, 2023, as the ordinance is currently written. To get a license, shelters would have to have insurance, comply with a background check requirement and institute a “good neighbor policy,” outlining its plan to reduce impacts on surrounding areas, for example, among other requirements…
(Excerpts from the Anchorage Daily News)