VISTA Brynn Butler: Thank you

It has been my privilege to work with Brynn for the last year.  She had obstacles to overcome and did overcome them.  In telling her story she told us that she would no longer let anyone write her story for her, she would write her own story.  In many ways working with us in setting up a new program she has not only charted her own way but helped us write the story of the Reentry Coalition in Fairbanks.  Her authenticity and ability to share her life with us has made us more trauma-informed and sensitive to the re-entrants that we serve.  

In October 2019, we had the first Reentry Simulation with the US Department of Justice United States Attorney’s Office with the help of the Anchorage Reentry Coalition. Brynn was a participant in the first simulation. When we planned our second one with a UAF Social Work student we found we would need our own materials. Brynn worked tirelessly to make the participant materials, phony money and help station materials used in creating the Reentry Simulation.  In March, we held our second simulation at UAF with Justice and Social Work students.  This is something that will be used over and over again in the days to come.

Our offices closed temporarily in March and life as we know it ended as a co-worker was exposed and possibly had COVID19.  All groups, events and face to face halted due to COVID19 precautions. Our Reentry Coalition was presented with an emergency situation as the Warming Center was not able to serve all the homeless individuals coming for services.  Brynn helped open a second Warming Center at the JP Jones Center with our Encampment Outreach program and staff from various IACNLV programs and volunteers from the community.  Brynn was the friendly face at the door as we served over 126 different homeless individuals for two months. 

These are two unexpected highlights of the past year that Brynn was an integral part of making happen.  She has been flexible, moved work stations at least 5 times, was challenged in ways that show her determined heart.  All of us are better for the many ways she served and interacted with our staff and program participants.  We are grateful for her year of service and look forward to her continuing to work with our agency.

New Community Co-Chair

The FRC Steering Committee is happy to announce our new Community Co-Chair, Bobby Dorton.  He has been an active member of the Coalition since he joined us in September 2018.  He has been a statewide advocate for reentry and peer support and brings his experience as someone who took advantage of Case Management and all of the resources available to him during his reentry to the Fairbanks Community.  He is currently on the Fairbanks Diversity Council, the Statewide Peer Support Advisory Board and works as a Residential Aide at FNA Ralph Perdue Center.  He completed the Peerstar Forensic Peer Support training with our staff May 2019 and RADACT training last fall.  It's been very rewarding to see him in these leadership roles. Bobby, welcome to the position of Community Co-Chair!!

Our steering committee currently has openings for two at large members and chair of the transportation work group.  We will be doing strategic planning the week of the 20th and would love to have a full slate of steering committee members.  Please contact me if you have any questions. 

Save the date:  August 6, 10am FRC meeting on ZOOM (will send a link the first week of August)

A New Location!!

We are packing up today to leave our corner downtown. We will miss all the activity of our central location. To allow physical distancing and increase our ability to safely provide services we will be moving to office space at 724 27th Ave. Suite 2 with The Bridge Support Services. Suite 3 will be the Batterer’s Intervention Program. We have continued to expand services this year and are very excited to rent from our friends at the Food Bank. We will be moving in on Monday, June 15th. We will be seeing program participants by appointment. Please call our cell phone numbers to reach us… mine is 907-987-6045.

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. 

Warming Centers

No Limits has been running a Warming Center this winter for the homeless, they have had standing room only and had to limit their guests to 10 at a time with COVID19. About 10 days ago Fairbanks Rescue Mission started Shelter in Place and no longer allowed evening dining for folks not staying at their shelter. At the request of the Fairbanks Housing and Homeless Coalition FRC and JP Jones Center agreed to start a temporary Warming Center staffed by Encampment Outreach, IAC, The Bridge and volunteers. Donations have come from the Fairbanks Community Food Bank, FNA Community Services, The Landing Church, Alpha House, Angels in Motion and many community members. Guests to the Warming Center at 2400 Rickert, enter a side door, are screened for illness and temperature is taken. Part of the screening is ensuring that they are homeless. If they have a place to stay we are asking them to go home and shelter in place. Our staff can be contacted by phone. All staff and volunteers are also screened at the beginning of their shift. We are using masks and gloves, hand washing, maintaining a distance of 6 feet and cleaning the building frequently. At the Warming Center we have phone charging, supplies like new socks, case management, peer support as well as food and dinner from 4-6pm. Guests are allowed to rest, have a cup of coffee and understand why services in Fairbanks have changed due to COVID19. Supplies may be donated at JP Jones Center front (north) entrance between 10-2pm Monday-Friday. Call me, Linda at 907-987-6045 to find out current needs or check the United Way. Our community is strong in times like these. Remember to be kind everyone is facing this storm.

COVID-19 Precautions

Like many people in our community we are listening to the caution by our leadership. Our physical office at 400 Cushman is currently closed so that we can keep each other safe. We are available by phone or email. We have an active Facebook page! We intend to have a Coalition ZOOM meeting on April 2nd at 10am. We will be sending out invitations to all of our partners, If you would like an invitation please contact Linda at reentry@iacnvl.org. With closures, interrupted services, social distancing it can feel very apocalyptic.

We are coming up with a list of things that we can do to help our community here is a place to start:

• Volunteer to provide emergency supplies for the homeless and vulnerable

• Drop off supplies at the shelters.

• Write a letter to an inmate in one of our institutions that can’t have visitors or groups

• Order food “to go” from your favorite restaurant, buy a gift certificate or two

• Listen to books, podcasts, Ted Talks and learn something new

• Laugh, listen to music, go for a walk

• List three good things that happened today in your journal

• Practice gratitude

• Be Kind to all

In all this give people their personal space of 6 feet, wash your hands and keep surfaces clean. I am sure that like me you can’t always tell whose immune system is compromised. I am supposing that I have been exposed and that I need to care for those around me like I am the carrier.

Stay well, we will get through this together as a community!

Encampment Outreach

Services at The Bridge are expanding with the addition of a new program designed to increase services to homeless individuals living in encampments in Fairbanks North Star Borough. The team will be led by a new Case Manager Lovonnya Hedgepeth. We are excited to add her to our team. We will be hiring a Peer Support Specialist for the Encampment team and will be forming an Encampment Work Group to collaborate with other agencies who desire to do outreach offering Health, Mental Health, Housing and other supports to vulnerable Alaskans.

One of The Bridge Peer Support Specialists worked with a man last fall who had been living in the camps for 20 years and was tired of being robbed. For the first time in so many years he now has a key to his own apartment. We hope to be sharing many more stories of fresh starts on this blog!

Public Service Announcements

We are very excited to share our new You Tube channel that will hold the videos about our reentry program! Special thanks to Mammoth Marketing for helping us capture the heart of our work, changed lives, new direction and the hope we have that when we work together good happens. Take a look and let us know what you think.

Reentry Simulation

Have you ever thought about putting yourself in the place of a reentrant? Considered what it might feel like to come back into community after 5-10 years in a correctional center? For two hours in October we are going to experience a reentry simulation! I had the privilege of attending in Anchorage, I can tell you that the frustration was real as I ended each week behind bars for technical violations.

The Fairbanks Reentry Coalition, in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, would like to give you an opportunity to learn more about the real-life challenges associated with reentry and invite you to participate in a Reentry Simulation.

 WHO:  The Reentry Simulation is for anyone that engages with reentrants or families that have been impacted by incarceration, for community and organizational leaders, and for those that are interested in learning about prisoner reentry or about the challenges faced by some of our most marginalized citizens.

 WHEN: Thursday October 3, 2019, 9:30 to 11:30 AM with lunch to follow.

 WHERE: JP Jones Community Center,  2400 Rickert Street,  Fairbanks

 In 2018, more than 700 individuals were released from incarceration back into the Fairbanks community. The Reentry Simulation is a participatory activity that seeks to raise awareness about the process of reentering the community from a correctional institution, and to educate participates about the barriers and challenges associated with reentry. This hands-on activity will put participants into the role of a reentrant where one must balance decisions regarding accessing social services, entering into the workforce, obtaining identification, and finding housing while simultaneously complying with supervision and managing limited resources. Light refreshments and lunch will be provided by the Fairbanks Reentry Coalition.