Funding More Housing First Facilities in

Anchorage: A Feasibility Study

English 212: Technical WritingKatie Erickson & Jill Robinson

Overview

•Introduction

•Criteria Questions

•Methods

•Results

•Conclusions

•Recommendations

Introduction•Examined the feasibility of funding

more housing first facilities in Anchorage

•Researched Anchorage’s annual cost of emergency services used by chronic homeless inebriates

•Researched Anchorage’s current housing first facility and its effect on the current residents

Criteria Questions

•Will the city of Anchorage be able to fund more housing first facilities?

•Would the cost of emergency service taxes decrease?

•Would the lives of people who are homeless increase and/or improve?

Methods• Performed both primary and secondary

research

• Primary research consisted of a questionnaire distributed to 20 fellow students

• Secondary research consisted of using multiple online databases to find six articles regarding our topic

• Researched the effect housing first facilities have had on individuals and the community

• Researched the effects on the cost of emergency services annually

Primary Research

Table 1. Severity of homelessness in Anchorage (5 being the worst)

# Answer Response %

1 1

1 6%

2 2

0 0%

3 3

2 11%

4 4

12 67%

5 5

3 17%

Total 18 100%

Results-Funding Housing First

Facilities• Current housing first facility, Karluk Manor is run by a non-profit organization and also receives grants from both private and public sources

• Asked participants of questionnaire if they thought facilities should be funded by public or private donations and grants

• Fourty-four percent of participants believed facilities should be run through public funds

Primary Research

Figure 1. Types of Funding for Housing First Facilites.

Results-Cost of Emergency Services• Using housing first facilities reduces the

annual cost of emergency services by $39,000

• Services commonly used include police and fire response, community service patrol pickups, emergency medical services, the criminal justice system and social services

Results-Improvement of Life• The amount of alcohol being drunk has

been shown to decrease for individuals staying in housing first facilities

• Residents are allowed to rehabilitate in a safe environment and receive positive encouragement

• Residents are required to volunteer 4 hours a month, helping to give them a sense of purpose

Conclusions

• At this time, it is not feasible to fund more housing first facilities in Anchorage

• More research needs to be done to see if the costly price of starting up a facility is worth the benefits to its residents

• In the questionnaire, participants answered they would be willing to pay increased taxes for more housing first facilities

Recommendations• More research must be conducted to

determine if there is an actual need for more housing first facilities in Anchorage

• Interviewing people who are homeless and chronic inebriates may provide better insight to determine if more facilities are needed

• Once a demand of need is established, more research can be done to determine paying for the startup of the facilities