Chair Constant Statement on Homelessness Milestone

During the March 3 Regular Assembly Meeting, Assembly Chair Christopher Constant recognized a major milestone in local efforts to reduce homelessness: for the first time in over a decade, there are no major, entrenched homeless encampments within the Anchorage Bowl.

At a recent press event marking the rollout of the Municipality's second Healthy Spaces team, Mayor Suzanne LaFrance announced that Anchorage currently has no large-scale tent cities. Chair Constant independently visited former encampment sites to confirm the claim.

"I drove the Bowl myself," said Chair Constant. "I went to the sites that, for years, defined our homelessness crisis. What I found was amazing: the large, entrenched encampments are gone."

Locations that previously hosted persistent encampments - placing immense strain on public safety, first responders, nearby neighborhoods, and the individuals living in unsafe outdoor conditions - include:

• Third and Ingra at the old Alaska Native Services Hospital site.
• Coastal Trail and Chester Creek Greenbelt
• Sullivan Arena
• Centennial Park
• C Street Greenbelt near Central Lutheran Church
• Campbell Creek Greenbelt
• Taku Lake
• DOT Rights of way including 36th Avenue and Seward Highway, Rogers Park Greenbelt, Fireweed and Arctic, and many more
• Ure Park
• Northwood and 45th Avenue
• Denali Park Strip
• Cuddy Park
• Post Road and Commercial
• Russian Jack Springs Park
• Fairbanks Street
• Valley of the Moon Park
• Davis Park and the Snow Dump in Mountain View

"Isolated tents remain," Chair Constant noted. "Behavioral health gaps persist. Efforts to improve public safety Downtown are as vital as ever. But visible, entrenched encampments no longer define our parks and public lands."

The Chair underscored that visible encampments are not inevitable features of urban life but the result of policy choices, noting this year's work to increase system capacity across multiple administrations and community partners:

• Expansion of year-round shelter capacity
• Hotel-to-housing conversions recognized nationally by HUD
• Opening of facilities such as 56th Avenue and Linda's Place
• Development of recovery housing at Willow Commons
• Deployment of Healthy Spaces teams for rapid response
• Expansion of AFD and APD mobile behavioral health intervention units
• Strengthened by-name coordination through the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness
• Major behavioral health investment by Southcentral Foundation

"No single strategy solved this," Constant said. "Not enforcement alone. Not housing alone. Not treatment alone. The difference was a policy choice to coordinate the system: pairing public safety, outreach, shelter access, housing placement, and behavioral health investment."

Chair Constant also noted that progress required state partnership. In 2024, the Alaska Legislature approved $4 million for homeless shelters that Governor Dunleavy left intact. That funding reinforced Anchorage's ability to operate year-round shelter beds and reduced the seasonal displacement that historically pushed residents back into parks and greenbelts.

"Encampments are policy outcomes, and outcomes can change," Constant said. "I thank every partner, leader, and neighbor who is part of this effort. Our work is not done. But it is working."

Learn more about the Assembly's Focus on Homelessness at ancgov.info/FOCUS-Homelessness and the Mayor's Homelessness Strategy at muni.org/TurnTheTide.

###

Contact:

Christopher Constant, Assembly Chair
District 1, North Anchorage
[email protected]

​

​