On Thursday, The Municipality of Anchorage began its abatement process at Centennial Campground, sending campers experiencing homelessness back to the Sullivan Arena and to unsanctioned camps around town, the very places that the city had bused them from, just 4 months ago.
On June 30th, 2022, approximately 200 people experiencing homelessness had been directed and bussed to Centennial Campground from abated camps citywide, as well as the city’s mass shelter, which had been closed by the Bronson administration. Campers, some in wheelchairs and with walkers, spent the summer amongst bears and in the pouring rain, two miles from the nearest grocery store. Now that winter is upon us, with no sustainable solution in sight to the Bronson homelessness crisis, the administration changed course and re-opened the Sullivan Arena.
Around noon on Thursday, parks employees, under the watchful eye of several police vehicles, began clearing empty camps, sending campers scurrying out into a cold, drenching rain to attempt to salvage their belongings before the abatement crew reached them. As reported by the Anchorage Daily News, the abatement is expected to continue until the last camp is cleared.
The municipality offered rides to the Sullivan Arena for campers that wished to go there, but none of the campers I spoke with planned to return to the Sullivan. They instead planned to relocate to camps in Mountain View, Midtown, and other areas of town. Some did not know where their next move would be. One woman carried two of the city-provided totes back to her tent. Before she could start packing them, she began to cry as she told me that she was frightened to go to a large shelter like the Sullivan, or of being alone in the woods as a single woman.
“I like to be in the open where it’s safe,” she told me.
Although abatement notices were posted On Oct. 4, the process has been marred by confusion and uncertainty. The abatement notices were posted hours after the Municipality’s Homelessness Coordinator, Alexis Johnson, tweeted that the city was not abating, and after several days of media statements from members of the administration that the city was not focused on abatements.
As recently as Wednesday’s Committee on Housing and Homelessness meeting, the administration did not know if they had enough empty shelter beds to legally abate Centennial. The Sullivan was at full capacity, with all 150 beds occupied. And while the administration discussed plans to increase capacity at The Sullivan by 50 beds, over 90 people remained at Centennial that night. The 50 city-leased rooms in the Alex Hotel were also not yet operational, but during this meeting, the administration expressed hope that they would be by the next day. During this meeting, Assembly member Meg Zaletel (District 4) conveyed that it was difficult doing outreach to campers when outreach coordinators could not answer questions about abatement and people faced an uncertain future.
On Friday, with abatement expected to continue, the municipality’s shelter dashboard showed the Sullivan to be completely full at 150 beds and did not show the Alex Hotel as operational. The Current reached out to the administration for more information on bed availability, but have not received a response by publication time. We will update this article if we receive a response.
At Centennial, one couple, Andrew and Amy, whom we have followed since just before the park closure, started to pack when they saw the crews begin clearing. They were headed to Mountain View, Andrew told me.
Andrew and Amy became homeless in 2020 after extended health impacts related to COVID-19 illness with Covid. They lost their income, and their home.Their eight children, including a baby, were forced to move in with a family member while they were ill.
“In three months we lost everything,” Andrew told me.
Andrew and his wife have struggled to find housing and said they’ve been discriminated against by housing providers for being unhoused. One night they were so cold, Andrew believes they would have died if his wife had not broken into a car for survival.
“You do what you’ve got to do,” he said about the experience. “Literally, it’s that serious.”
Like many others still remaining at Centennial, they are facing many barriers to seeking shelter in a large facility.
“I don’t know what we are going to do. They don’t allow kids for one, then on top of that, they separate you from your spouse,” Andrew said. “It’s like it’s geared just to tear you apart and tear you down.”
Amy has continuing health issues and Andrew explained that he did not feel she would be safe if separated from him. The couple have experienced a downward spiral since becoming homeless two years ago and this time I saw them, their situation had grown even more dire. Andrew’s hands were bandaged and had been burned when his tent stove tipped over. He had been forced to quickly right it with his bare hands.
Andrew and Amy, as well as the other residents of Centennial Campground, face an increasingly precarious and uncertain future. But one thing is certain –they will be displaced again, with all the trauma and loss that comes with it.
Video courtesy of Nika Wolfe
