Bec the X said on Monday, Jul 4 at 9:28 AM

If the Salvation Army, soup kitchen, and Food Bank all got together in one place, with some sort of housing, they could put some of the homeless to work. Many homeless people have useful skills, and many would be willing to work for a place to live and a chance for their kids to go to school.

B said on Sunday, Jul 3 at 2:15 PM

Instead of handing out change to a the homeless, off to take them somewhere for a meal. Or offer them a place to stay and clean up for a night or a week. Giving most of them money, not all, but most, is only enabling them to buy alcohol. Out of all panhandlers, maybe one out of 20 actually uses that money for food or for something useful. If you give them money you are only contributing to the problem.

D K said on Sunday, Jul 3 at 10:40 AM

There are plenty of homeless that are drunks and drug users but not all are. Think about how long you could pay your rent if you lost your job. I was close to being homeless when my husband was out of work for over a year and I was jobless for over 6 months when construction tanked in Nevada. Our adult daughter and her husband (and grandbaby) had moved in with us because her flight attendant job is gone (people aren't flying as much). Her husband got out of the military after three 9 month deployments in four years (took him awhile to get a job too). They would have been on the street if they could not have moved in with us. It wiped out our savings and we had to relocate to Anchorage just to survive. If we wound up on the streets it would not have been because of drugs, alcohol or by choice. So think about it … how far are you from the street?

Misty Circle said on Saturday, Jul 2 at 9:31 PM

No reason that the City should not be helping homeless people? How about money? Begitch left the City $17 million in debt. Many people, including my husband, have lost their jobs as a result, due to budget cuts. People make choices and those choices come with consequences. Homeless people, for whatever reason, have chosen a lifestyle that does not contribute to the benefit of society. If you feel so strongly about this issue then purchase the land, and build and maintain the camps yourself. Money is the way a society measures time and labor. In any society there is a finite amount of both these commodities. Societies must therefore make selective choices about where money is spent in order to do the greatest good for the greatest number. Funneling limited resources to non-productive people puts a strain on society as a whole; it is not the best use time and labor. But, as I said, you are welcome to do whatever you want with your time and labor.

Mary H said on Saturday, Jul 2 at 8:58 PM

Someone said city should set up a site, put fence around, and require these people to camp there. Well, I've been homeless and 'living on the streets' before, and I don't smoke/drink/drug, I'm quiet, keep a clean camp, have a 4-yr degree. And I can tell you there's no way I'd live in such a camp - messes, thefts, noise, and worse. Privacy and peace and quiet are wanted by many people, not just those who posess four walls and a roof. At least give those of us who are respectful and responsible some freedoms, and if we blow it, then mandatory camps.

K said on Saturday, Jul 2 at 3:47 PM

The City should set aside property, put a fense around it, and require the people to camp there. Arrest anyone camping elsewhere and clean up their area. We have a problem, might as well centralize it.

muldado said on Saturday, Jul 2 at 2:12 PM

I mean come on lets help these folks!

shane filomena said on Saturday, Jul 2 at 10:32 AM

There are ACTUALLY Legal responsibilities that come with being a Government and having Indigent persons on your Governed property. Theses Homeless persons HAVE been given the opportunity to have REASONABLE resources by the state ( Land Use Permits ) and IF they made use of them, the Issue would no longer be in the News. The fact that Republicans like to cast out anyone that is "not like us" as if Wacko Philosophy was a church group ; Your Government DID try. If these people are going to continue to purchase Alcohol and decline efforts to assist them, they need to be facing the consequences and their Property needs to go the way of Jail House Disposal ( donated or destroyed ) Crack it down or crack it up, If having things makes you sorry for the rest: let them live at your house.

paul peter said on Saturday, Jul 2 at 9:04 AM

let the churches take care of all the downtrodden it's why they are "tax exempt". Jesus would be quite happy if jerry prevo set up some of his compound grounds for the homeless. after all he is a preacher and believes the bible is factual word of a some deluded Hebrew who said a burning bush spoke to him.

Phil said on Saturday, Jul 2 at 7:13 AM

this is totally ridiculous. There is no reason that the city should not be helping the homeless people. They are only making things worse by closing down their campsites. With all the land there is it should not be difficult to establish a clean safe area they can camp in. With cops making over $100,000 a year, managers for different utilities making at least that amount than they are making tons of money there is money to help set up up such as place. Granted the campsites were not a very nice place but a lot of the blame has to go on the city for not helping making the campsite a better place. It would cost less in the long run to help them set up a decent camping place then it's going to cost them to arrest these homeless people who have to find other places for shelter. Most of those places they'll be arrested for trespassing. As I drive around Anchorage I see hundreds of acres of land that could be used to help build a campsite for these people.