Housing

Due to a shortage of assisted living homes, some of Southeast Alaska’s aging residents can’t stay in their home communities. Residences in Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka and Petersburg provide assistance to seniors needing help with daily activities, such as cooking, dressing and medication management.

The region isn’t keeping up with the demand for assisted living, and that demand is only expected to grow.

On a recent Tuesday morning, Jacque Farnsworth and Jack Brandt play piano and sing at the state-run Juneau Pioneers’ Home. A number of residents seated in a semi-circle of couches and chairs in front of the piano join in. They have music stands in front of them so they can follow along. A few play maracas.

Down the hall, Irene Cashen sits in a recliner watching TV. The 87-year-old moved in last March and doesn’t miss living alone.

“Look at me. I have my room over there and I do beading. I could do things by myself. I could come over here in my lounge and watch the news and go out in the other room and there’s always something,” Cashen says.

Group activities scheduled for later that day include a history talk, card games, exercise called “Fun & Fit” and more music. Cashen can join in or do her own thing.

“I made up my own mind to come in because I know I have beginning Alzheimer’s and I know about it and I don’t want my children to have to take care of me at home. I can take care of myself here and it’s been a wonderful experience,” Cashen says.

Up to 90 percent of Juneau Pioneers’ Home residents experience memory loss. Memory loss can lead to behavior changes that make living at home unsafe. Assisted living is sought out when a person’s care needs exceed the support and resources available at home.

Cashen has spent almost her whole life in Juneau. Kids, grandkids, great grandkids also live here. It’s where she wants to remain, and the home means she can.

That’s not the case for many of Southeast Alaska’s senior citizens. The demand outweighs supply and many communities in the region don’t offer any assisted living options.

The region’s geography and rapidly aging population creates challenges that don’t exist in more populated parts of the state.

“We’re not connected so if somebody from Prince of Wales needs help, they’re basically giving up their home and having to move and may never go back,” said Dee Wright.

Wright runs The Manor in Ketchikan, the only licensed assisted living home in Southeast run by a private individual. She says some of its dozen residents are from Prince of Wales Island, Metlakatla, Sitka and Juneau.

She said people who can’t find placement in Southeast often have to leave.

“There are people up north and down south that could come home if we have the housing,” Wright said.

Haines and Petersburg also have assisted living homes and Sitka and Ketchikan have pioneers’ homes. Altogether, they house about 210 older adults. All have long waiting lists.

“The calls that I’m fielding, at this point, I’m saying to people, if you haven’t applied to the pioneer home and you’re 86 years old and you need to move in right now, there’s the possibility that I will not be able to serve you in your lifetime, and that’s very hard to say, ” Julie Sande, administrator at the Ketchikan Pioneers’ Home. “For individuals who just get on the waitlist, it can be years before they move to the top of my list.”

In Juneau, a nonprofit is working to build a new assisted living community to meet some of the need.

Senior Citizens Support Services Inc. President Sioux Douglas is among those tired of seeing people leave because of the shortage of assisted living options.

“That’s the last thing we want (happening) in our community. … They want to age here and they want to die here,” Douglas said.

A recent market demand study on Juneau senior housing said the city needs an additional 327 assisted living beds over the next 30 years to meet projected demand.

Douglas expects residents to come from all over Southeast, with most from Juneau.

She said the nonprofit has secured land in Vintage Park in Juneau’s populous Mendenhall Valley, close to amenities. The project would have about 90 apartment-like units with a projected monthly cost between $5,000 and $7,000.

A developer is helping the group move forward. One of the major hurdles is finalizing the financing. Douglas said it could cost up to $30 million.

“The biggest message to the people in Southeast Alaska right now is just knowing and feeling confident that this project will get completed. We will do this. We’ll have it available,” Douglas said.

Back at the Juneau Pioneers’ Home, Irene Cashen says she’s happy she chose to move into assisted living. Her mother had lived in the pioneers’ home in Sitka, so she knew it was a good option. And she thinks others will make a similar choice if they can.

“It’s fun. It’s real life and it’s still your life. You’re not taking away from your own children’s lives. I see them as much as I did before and they don’t have to worry about me,” Cashen says.

A new assisted living community in Juneau could be complete as soon as fall 2017. The Manor in Ketchikan also hopes to build a new assisted living home that could house up to 28 people.

Living on the streets is tough enough in a city. But when you’re homeless in rural America, it’s even harder to pull yourself out of poverty.

In the small town of Flagstaff, Ariz., one woman tried to make a difference, and flipped an old motel into transitional housing.

When former financial planner Lori Barlow moved to Flagstaff, she volunteered at the emergency shelter. She was overwhelmed by the number of people stuck in poverty.

“I was surprised we had people staying there that had jobs,” Barlow says. “And that just amazed me. What’s happening to these people that are trying?”

Barlow now houses about 50 of those people at the old 66 Motel, now called “ANEW Living Community.” Many work seasonal jobs or rely on Social Security or disability checks to pay the rent — people like Hans Pap, who moved here from Baltimore after he’d been diagnosed with lung cancer.

“It was one of my dreams to come out West,” he says. “So I figure before I die I’d at least come out here and see the West.”

Being homeless in Flagstaff was harder than Pap expected. He says there were few places to go to escape the cold. Things are a little better now that he has a key to a room at “ANEW Living Community.”

“That’s a propane camping stove I use to cook with … usually hamburger, chicken, cheap stuff,” says Pap, showing us his room.

A few doors down, William Fulton works on one of the old motel rooms. Fulton had more than three decades of experience as an engineer, but then he was injured on the job.

“[I] just fell into a state of depression, not been able to get steady work,” Fulton says. At 58, he says many people think he’s too old.

“Right after the housing bust, the economy went down,” he says. “Everybody’s just trying to survive. And so I got into the handyman service. I didn’t really like the title handyman because I’m an engineer, I’ve done so much.”

Out of work and living in a van, Fulton met Barlow. “She asked, ‘You want to come in here and fix these rooms up in exchange for rent to help you get back on your feet?'” Fulton says. “And I said, ‘Yeah!’ So yeah, sorry, I’m getting choked up.”

Julie Bowman, whose friends call her Red, crashed a motorcycle 20 years ago. Red’s a self-described biker chick who used to be a bartender.

“I broke my back, smashed my face, I flew off a bike at like 80 miles an hour, face first 100 feet,” Bowman says. “It was really cool.”

But the accident left her broke, partially deaf and no longer able to lift cases of beer. Now she takes community college courses online.

Bowman says everybody at the motel looks after each other.

“That older lady, she told me a couple days ago she’s usually broke by the end of the month and doesn’t have much food,” Bowman says. “She told me that and I about came unglued. And I’ve taken her dinner every single night since she told me that.”

Bowman says that’s the way she was raised. And she’s got a lot of grit.

“All I’ve ever wanted is a house of my own — and not to worry about whether I’m gonna pay my electric bill,” Bowman says. “I see myself not giving up until I get it.”

That kind of determination is the spirit that drew people to Route 66. A lot of people still move along the old Mother Road and wind up in small towns, where you can find people who may have lost hope before they found each other.

Copyright 2016 KJZZ-FM. To see more, visit KJZZ-FM.
Read original article – January 30, 2016 3:02 PM ET

Not Giving Up: Arizona Residents Get A New Start In Refurbished Motel 

Alaska now has a more localized way of looking at homelessness data. Instead of gathering information that reflects the state as a whole, some municipalities can see their own data that gets reported to the feds. That could mean more funding for housing in some communities.

At Juneau’s Project Homeless Connect event, people were getting help in a number of ways.

John Ross hasn’t had a haircut in a while. His hair is black with wisps of gray feathering from the temples. He says he wants something polished — just nothing high and tight.

“I was in the service, I’ve had everything cut off. I don’t want that again,” Ross said.

He’s waiting with three other people at the Zach Gordon Youth Center. A salon called Shear Design is volunteering staff for the day, and so far, they’ve been busy nonstop giving people cuts.

Ross has been sleeping at the Glory Hole on-and-off for about four years. In the summer, he works at Taku Smokeries.

“Soon as they open up the campground, I’ll go back there, and I’ll be going back and forth to Taku working and having a place to stay,” he said.

He works the most during salmon season, even doing double shifts. But in the winter, when there’s little seafood coming in, he goes back to being unemployed.

“It’s rough right now so this is really good timing for me. I really do appreciate it. That’s why I like to give something in appreciation of what they’re doing for me.”

He gives away tiny dream catchers, the kind you can hang on a rearview mirror. He made one last year for the woman who cut his hair. At that point, he hadn’t had it cut in seven months.

“And I was really shaggy so I really appreciated it at the time and it’s whole different person who came out of here,” Ross said. “And I was looking for work and a couple of weeks later I did get some work and it’s kind of nice to look good before and when you’re looking, gives you confidence, gives you better chances.”

Just across the parking lot, more than 200 people experiencing homelessness filtered through the Juneau Arts and Culture Center. Booths line the walls of the old gymnasium. You can sign up for Medicaid, have your blood pressure taken, or pick up a pair of socks and gloves.

But first, you have talk to Jackie Triplette, or one of the other volunteers, to take a survey.

“I take you through it question by question. Gender, race, whether it’s an adult or an adult with children,” she said.

There are also some very personal questions on it, like “Have you been a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault?”

“And some people want to talk more and discuss things which is fine,” she said. “It’s nice to meet these people and understand their issues. I think more people would understand what’s happening to these people if they came and volunteered to do this.”

This is Triplette’s second year volunteering to do this. Project Homeless Connect has been going on for five. Triplette says when people sit down with her, she tries to explain why the survey is important.

“We’re really collecting data so that we know how the community can help our homeless population,” she said.

Every year across the United States, that data gets collected and important policy and funding decisions are made by analyzing it.

“This year we’re working with our administrator to make sure that we break it down by communities,” said Scott Ciambor, the chair of the Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness.

Ciambor says, for many years, the state complied with just the federal requirements. Alaska was broken down into two categories: Anchorage and the rest of the state. Now communities doing the survey can have access to that data, which could help with getting funding for housing — especially permanent supportive housing.

“It’s a game changer,” Ciambor said. “When you’re trying to plan and advocate for resources, the first question is well, what do you have? … So it’s definitely giving communities a tool to address their circumstances for people who are experiencing homelessness.”

John Ross is finishing up his haircut. He’s probably had about an inch cut off. And it looks great. Most of the feathery white has been snipped away.

Before he leaves, he hands the barber a gift — the small dreamcatcher. And heads to the bathroom to check out his new look.

“It’s perfect. The length, everything. I feel better about going, even though I got the job at Taku, it’s still good to look good when you start a job. So I’m happy,” Ross said.

Down the line, he hopes to qualify for other jobs with the vocational training he learned about at today’s event. The results of the survey should be completed sometime in May.

When people had trouble paying the rent in the early 1900s, they might hold a party in their homes, with music and dancing, and sell tickets at the door. Now, a nonprofit group is holding a modern-day version of the rent party to shine a light on the growing lack of affordable housing.

The new parties aren’t exactly like the old ones, which were mostly held in Harlem. There’s no dancing, food or tickets. But there is music, as was the case recently in Annapolis, Md., where about 20 people gathered in Tom Wall’s small apartment to help him, and others like him, pay the rent.

Wall, 67, used to be a lawyer in the housing and finance industry. He had to quit when he had a stroke in 2011. But then he and his wife couldn’t pay the mortgage on their house, and the lender moved to foreclose.

The couple moved to the apartment last summer. But Wall’s wife, Peggy, died three weeks later of cancer. He now lives on $2,300 a month from Social Security, but his $1,600-a-month rent eats up more than two-thirds. Wall is like a record number of American families — 11.4 million — that spend over half of their incomes on rent. It’s especially difficult for low-income families, who have little left over for food and other necessities.

Wall used to be well off. Now, he’s barely making it.

“Stuff happens,” Wall says. “Nobody plans to fail. But sometimes circumstances beyond your control happen in life, and you’re challenged with what are you going to do about it.”

So recently he hosted a concert in his living room by classical violinist Tim Fain, who played music in the movies Black Swan and Twelve Years A Slave. The nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners coordinated the concert as part of its campaign, called Make Room. The event is being filmed and will be posted online, along with several other concerts highlighting families with similar housing problems. (You can watch some of the concerts here.)

Fain, who had just flown in from appearing with the Pittsburgh Symphony, told Wall’s guests — seated on folding chairs and two small couches — that he appreciates how scary it is not knowing when the next check will arrive.

“I think about this,” Fain said. “Being a self-employed artist, nobody’s looking out for me really.”

Housing experts say it doesn’t take much to get in a bind. Almost 2 million Americans who pay more than half their incomes on rent are seniors, often with fixed incomes. Others are workers whose wages have gone down over the past decade while rents keep going up.

In the audience was Donnie Lehman, who lost his masonry job in 2010 and has been unemployed ever since.

“I lost my house [and] found myself literally homeless,” Lehman said.

Then Wall invited him to crash at his place. Wall has been trying to make ends meet by bringing in roommates when he can, although Lehman has no money right now.

Everyone in Wall’s apartment appeared captivated as Fain played. No one passed the hat. Instead, there’s an online fundraising campaign to help Wall and the others with their rent.

The real goal is to get people talking more about what can be done to address the lack of affordable housing, whether it’s more public aid, tax incentives for developers or higher wages.

Fain ended to loud applause. And Wall is thankful for the support. But he says he isn’t sure the campaign will make all that much difference in the long run.

“I have to say that, by and large, I think it’s going to fall on deaf ears,” he said.

Wall notes that the federal government has been cutting back on housing aid in recent years, and state and local governments are also strapped for cash. So, as he nears 70, he is looking for some part-time work to avoid eviction.

Two friends have also offered to let him live with them for free. But he says he is not ready yet to admit defeat.

Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

The Anchorage Mayor’s office is throwing its weight behind initiatives to end homelessness, a problem the administration says has intensified in recent years. As social service providers gather data on homeless individuals, they’re pairing new technology with an increased level of political support.

Just after 8 a.m. Thursday morning, city homelessness coordinator Nancy Burke stooped toward a snowy tent in the woods by Chester Creek, waking 58-year-old Duane English, who’s been camping in the area for the last month.

“My name’s Nancy,” Burke said. “I was wondering if we might visit with you?”

“Visit me for what?” English asked back from inside the tent.

Burke explained it’s part of a survey to figure out how many people are living outside of permanent shelter.

“Well why you gotta come now?” English asked, frustrated.

“We come in the morning because we wanna make sure people are in camp,” Burke responded almost cheerfully.

English tells her she should come back later. Burke is persistent, though, offering coffee and supplies.

“Can we leave some socks?” she asked towards the end of the short exchange, eventually handing a thick pair to English.

Burke and others are going to homeless camps across town to touch base with people about the upcoming point in time survey, an annual event where officials and volunteers try to get a census of who is living on the streets. This morning she’s joined by a small gaggle of guests, including two police officers, a radio reporter and Mayor Ethan Berkowitz.

“This is my first time doing the count,” Berkowitz said in a parking-lot by the trail as plows cleared away snow.

Berkowitz campaigned on overhauling how the city deals with homelessness. In the months since, his administration has directed money toward a supported housing project, re-established the homelessness coordinator position, and built capacity in city hall for coordinating with nonprofits.

When asked why he was here, Berkowitz said he wanted to see homelessness firsthand.

“Some administrations ignore problems hoping that they’ll go away. That’s not been a good solution for homelessness,” Berkowitz said. “Our effort is going to be to identify individuals who are on the streets or living in the camps, there’s only 300 or 400 people like that, we can get this done.”

That identification step is key in the administration’s strategy. Burke is in charge of an aggressive push towards the Housing First model, getting folks into homes and rental units as a starting point for plugging them into services, employment, and help.

Before all those steps, however, officials and nonprofit employees need solid information on how many people are are homeless and what their needs are.

“It will give us an idea of where folks are in the community,” Burke said, “so that we can allocate resources to do outreach and to find people and see what they need to get assistance back into housing.”

To get better at that information gathering, officials have switched from paper surveys to an app.

“So, your age, gender, race,” Burke said, scrolling through the app’s questions on her phone. “Homeless information: How long have you been homeless? And then we have some questions about whether people were homeless when they moved to Anchorage or moved to Anchorage and then became homeless.”

Individuals have to give a signature in a field at the bottom of the survey before the GIS mapping coordinates are transferred to the Homeless Information Management System. Location data cannot be gathered without explicit consent.

The administration’s model depends not just on identifying and mapping people, but knowing each person’s name and needs.

Terry Chubin supervises Homeward Bound, a transitional housing program within the Rural Alaska Community Action Program. She’s done outreach work for years, and said getting people plugged into resources comes from building a relationship.

“We just introduce ourselves. And sometimes it takes a few times going back and giving out a lot of socks, bus passes, McDonald’s gift-cards–whatever we have–and then just building that trust and that rapport with the person,” Chubin explained. “Because if you just go in and go ‘here you go’ and leave–you’re not doing anything.”

The point in time survey is Wednesday, Jan. 27. Information for volunteers can be found through the Anchorage Coalition on Ending Homelessness or by contacting the mayor’s office.

Despite dismal revenues from declining oil prices, the state’s largest real estate market remains strong.

In an annual presentation to city officials on property values, Anchorage’s municipal assessor Bryant Robbins showed a steady rise in overall property values.

Residential units are the bulk of Anchorage’s property tax base–assessed this year at $25.53 billion, a growth of about 3.5 percent over last year. On average, homes sold at $11,888 above their assessed values, indicating a healthy market, according to a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Administration. The average sale price in 2015 was $366,592.

New construction was down slightly from the year before by three percent. The total number of residential and commercial units brought online is still about half what it was in Anchorage before the financial crash in 2008.

Anchorage’s real estate market has historically tracked closely to the price of oil. That trend has come apart over the last year, as the per barrel price has plummeted to record lows, but the city’s total assessed property values have continued on a modest climb upwards.