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Concern Over Proposed Housing for Homeless and Mentally IllLong House Project neighbors worry about facility’s locationRelated Content
ANCHORAGE - Community councils are asking the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority to a delay a decision to fund a housing project intended for the mentally ill. This comes after a meeting they had Monday night to discuss the Long House Project. If the proposal goes forward, it would transform the Long House Hotel into a place for chronically homeless and people with mental illness to live and receive treatment. The hotel is located on Wisconsin Street off Spenard, and is just a few hundred feet from Faith Daycare & Learning Center. The new project has some of the 100 parents that use the daycare concerned. "I just don't think it's a good idea," Tiarra Bradford said. She said that the facility is also a church, which means they're open to the community. She's concerned people could get in that shouldn't be there. Nancy Burke with the Trust said it could be good for the area. She said that the people at Long House would be permanent residents instead of transient guests. "We just need some time to prove up," she said. One teacher at Faith said it isn't just the daycare that concerns her. There are several other schools in the area. "I understand there is a need for that portion of the communities to have facilities and help. At the same time I also look at what there is in this area," Amber Kurka said. Burke said that similar programs in Seattle, Fairbanks and in Anchorage at the Karluk Manor downtown all faced criticism from their neighbors. She said people forget that the residents also have counselors and other people who work with them every day. Faith Daycare and Learning Center Director Mona Hundrup said the facility could mean higher overhead for the daycare. "There's a possibility we would have to spend more money on more personnel... to try to make sure we track who is around the building. Our level of awareness and safety gets heightened on a daily basis." "Being alert and being aware is always important," said Burke. |
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the Mental Health Trust is a Fraud! said on Tuesday, Jan 15 at 7:50 PM
Track the finances of the Mental Health Trust Fund... It has housing for the "mentally ill" in Sutton... Give me a break...what a crock of shat...the revolving door of criminal justice continues...they do that to INCREASE revenues for police and such...when you figure that out...then you can start to gain some traction to DEMAND and audit and YOU the voter start to DELEGATE where they go and what they do...not the other way around...but as long as your sheeple for people it will continue unabated...what is new...
111413911TedtheBear said on Tuesday, Jan 15 at 4:08 PM
Nancy Burke still haven't answered any of the fundamental questions regarding this facility. What kind of mentally ill will be house there? What will be the staff-patient ratio? Whether the facility will be open or fence in? And how security will monitoring the behavior of these mentally ill. It is utterly foolish for people to accept this facility without basic answers. It nice that Nancy Burke think so highly about her mentally ill but sad that she think so little about others thrown into harm's way.
111400681Can support housing, if I can support the comprehensive plan said on Tuesday, Jan 15 at 1:45 PM
ANC needs (more of) this type facility to provide housing for homeless/mentally ill. Presumably, purchase of Long House would lead to development of such housing, bringing this population into to a neighborhood that presently doesn’t host a concentration of mentally ill or homeless. Until funders/operators provide for public hearing(s) for all stakeholders, consider input, then set forth a COMPREHENSIVE plan addressing all areas of risk, including short- and long-term risk to proposed residents themselves, such as no guarantee that the long-term (or even short-term) funding/support/operation of the facility will be consistent and reliable, then backers can expect resistance from neighborhood stakeholders. Without engagement/support of neighbors, this facility cannot contribute to a vibrant and healthy community. The current vacuum of information and perceived recalcitrance of backers to share information and engage neighbors have fostered uncertainty and resistance.
111391781Concerned Mom said on Tuesday, Jan 15 at 11:54 AM
This is an awful idea and the Mental Health Trust is not being honest with the public. Leaks from their own personnel tell a different story of who is really going to reside at the hotel rather than what their appointed PR people are announcing. This population is supposedly those who are deemed too violent to reside at the Brother Francis Shelter and have been booted from a church where they were temporarily housed due to their behavior. There is the daycare center across the street, elementary schools with in blocks that children walk to and from, parks for families and children, and all sorts of places for the mentally ill to loiter and potentially harm these innocent people. Endangering the lives of the children and families around this location is totally irresponsible of the Mental Health Trust. Yes, these people need help, but not at the expense of the safety of the children and families who reside and recreate in the area. Recent national events clearly display this risk.
111383271TedtheBear said on Tuesday, Jan 15 at 8:53 AM
"Being alert and being aware is always important" said Nancy Burke who is pushing this project. It does sound like she understand that there might be risks involved here. So my question would be, why insert such risk into a neighborhood in the first place?
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