Warming Center Report
/It is April in Fairbanks in the Interior of Alaska. Though other states are experiencing the flowers and green leaves of spring, Fairbanks still lays under a deep layer of winter snow. The days are chilly with several days of wet spring snow adding to the snowpack. Temperatures fall to freezing or below almost every night during the month of April.
Being homeless in the harsh reality of an Alaskan spring is never easy. During the Covid-19 pandemic the thin protection against the elements of warm buses, libraries, coffee shops, business bathrooms, access to waiting rooms, and dinners at the Rescue Mission has been removed. The existing warming center has had to cut back to only nine spaces. The homeless are left with nowhere to go, nowhere to rest and limited food resources.
The Encampment Outreach Program (part of The Bridge) whose mission is outreach to homeless camps, sprang into action with support from the Fairbanks Housing and Homeless Coalition, the AmeriCorps Fairbanks VISTA Program, Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living, JP Jones Community Center, the Fairbanks Community Foodbank, FNA Community Services, churches and the Peer Support and Employment Specialist Programs which are also a part of The Bridge. Within a few days a new warming center was created at the JP Jones Center which offered a place to use the bathroom, wash hands, and get warmed up. A sack lunch, warm dinner, clothing, bedding, masks, toiletries, kindness, and case management were also provided to people who found their way to the south Fairbanks location. The need for communication was not forgotten as people were able to charge their phones through the provision of chargers and outlets and Madden Realty donated 10 tablets that folks could use to check for messages and to apply for benefits and jobs.
Numbers can tell part of the story. 126 individuals found respite at the Warming Center while we were open from March 31 through May 1st, with many coming back often to get warmed up, get a meal, and talk with someone. There were an average of 25 individuals visiting the Center every day we were open. Over 1800 cups of coffee took the chill off, 987 sack lunches were given out along with 744 cups of soup, and 748 hot meals were distributed. Even after the warming center itself closed, 95 hot meals to go were provided the first week of May with 460 sack lunches plus cups of soup and coffee handed out to people between 3-5 PM through May 29th, continuing to cover the gap in food resources.
Several people were helped in applying for stimulus checks and others received referrals to services in the community for housing, recovery and treatment resources, veteran services, legal help, employment, and public assistance. Help was given in making phone calls and in filling out application forms. Over 6 individuals were entered in Coordinated Entry in HMIS. Others received over 600 pieces of clothing, bedding, and masks. Toiletry items were given to 72 people.
But of course, the numbers don’t tell the whole story. They don’t tell about the kitchen volunteer who made the meals and the church who made the sandwiches for the sack lunches or about how the Community Foodbank along with other agencies and individuals gave food, toilet articles, and clothing. They don’t tell us about one of our case managers working hours to obtain medical care for a man with frostbitten fingers and limited ability to communicate. Or about the young man with schizophrenia who felt safe to keep coming back to see us or about the friends from a village trapped in Fairbanks by Covid-19. Or about a whole staff who stopped what they were doing, safely working from home to do the most needful thing in what were scary and trying times.
We are proud that our agency stepped up and made a difference in lives over this cold and difficult spring of the Covid-19 pandemic.