An ambitious survey is getting set to kick off in Anchorage Tuesday morning.
The goal is to find the most vulnerable homeless people in the city and get them off the streets and into housing before they die.
It’s part of a national program call “100,000 Homes.”
Here in Anchorage, it involves more than a dozen different agencies and more than 100 volunteers.
The plan is to find homeless people where they sleep and interview as many as possible.
Teams of volunteers will work between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. both Tuesday and Wednesday, visiting not only homeless camps and shelters, but also places like the Covenant House and the Alaska Psychiatric Institute as well as the local Sleep-off Center.
Organizers say they expect to locate and interview approximately 400 homeless people over the two-day period. The survey includes questions on their mental and physical health, substance abuse and history as a homeless person.
The goal is to identify five of the most needy individuals and work to get them into housing programs as soon as possible. Organizers say they will use the data collected to try and help as many people as possible with the goal of providing housing options for as many as possible.
