Thirty-seven vulnerable residents woke up Wednesday at the Sullivan Arena and went to bed somewhere else that night. The Municipality of Anchorage closed the homeless shelter housed in the Sullivan for the summer, with many people hoping the closure will be for good.
The Sullivan Arena operated as the city’s only low-barrier, walk-in shelter since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, swelling at times to over 500 residents. It closed abruptly for three months last year when Mayor Dave Bronson’s administration bused people experiencing homelessness to the city-owned Centennial Campground.
This year, it closed again on May 1 to all but the most vulnerable and medically fragile residents, who were given another 30 days to make arrangements for shelter. Those that remained until the final closure Wednesday suffer from medical or mobility issues, severe mental illness, substance misuse disorders, or some combination.
While the Sullivan is largely unpopular, it has become the default option during winter because the Bronson administration has been unable to implement a different plan. Bronson’s homelessness coordinator, Alexis Johnson, recently signaled the Sullivan might reopen in a few months.
“We’re going to be putting people back in Sullivan, unless we all come together within next week, two weeks, three weeks, and start building a facility or identifying a facility,” she said at a recent public meeting. “Because right now, we are making plans for the Sullivan Arena. And that’s just unacceptable.”
Restorative Reentry Services, led by CEO Cathleen McLaughlin, was hired on a contract to oversee the winter shelter shutdown and advise on homelessness policy. McLaughlin said that 32 residents have transitioned to other programs, while five left the arena with plans to camp.
“Everyone was given an opportunity and some chose to accept it and some chose to go camping,” she said. “Everyone has agency … What I like about today was that everybody had a choice.”
According to McLaughlin, departing residents headed to hotel rooms paid for by donations from the community, Brother Francis Shelter, Downtown Hope Center, the Complex Care facility that opened for the medically fragile with 83 beds last year, or into a VA housing program run by Catholic Social Services.
“We had so many people that came in and stepped up and helped,” McLaughlin said.
She said that the five people who decided to camp out may need help in the near future, with some camping for a few days and then deciding to seek out support services.
“You have to let people make their choices and support them through that,” McLaughlin said.
The Anchorage Assembly is working to identify a location for permanent shelter. Assembly member and Homelessness Committee chair Felix Rivera has convened several community-based task forces to recommend locations for sanctioned campsites and identify the best location for long-term shelter. Currently, people experiencing homelessness are camped throughout the city’s green spaces, on empty lots, or wherever else they can take shelter or set up a tent. Privately run shelters are full and there are no sanctioned locations for camping.
Mayor Bronson is continuing to push for completion of his contentious navigation center at Elmore and Tudor, which met with skyrocketing cost estimates and controversy when he decided to authorize Hickel Contracting Inc. to begin construction without the required Assembly approval.
Bronson, along with Assembly members Kevin Cross and Randy Sulte, are introducing a resolution for $7 million for the Navigation Center at next Tuesday’s regular Assembly meeting. The last estimate for completion was $15.4 million, so it is likely additional appropriations would be necessary to complete the project.
While the Sullivan is empty today, cold weather could make it a potential shelter location again in the fall. Last year, the Sullivan reopened after Bronson’s last-minute proposal to use the Spenard and Fairview recreation centers was met with stiff opposition. The return of shelter operations at the Sullivan in October 2022 was largely viewed as a failure of policy and preparedness.
McLaughlin said that she believes that the municipality is failing in how it approaches people to offer services. She sees a frustrating process with sign ups, waitlists, a lack of transparency and homelessness services based on programs, instead of meeting clients where they are.
“Unless we change the system, we will be back in the same place every year,” McLaughlin said.
Others are more hopeful that the Sullivan era may be over for good.
“I’m choosing to remain optimistic that the clean slate approach will identify another location for permanent low-barrier shelter before winter,” said Assembly member Daniel Volland, who represents the area around the arena. “It’s a tough task, but I think participation from the wider Anchorage community can help us get there.”
McLaughlin also remains hopeful.
“This is the beginning of a new opportunity for us to rethink how we serve our most vulnerable,” she said.
