Three years ago, a group of volunteers hit the streets and interviewed some of Juneau’s most vulnerable homeless, those at the greatest risk of dying prematurely. An estimated 60 individuals fall into that category.
Juneau’s shelter and soup kitchen, The Glory Hole, is trying to find out what has changed by doing another survey.
“How many people who were on our Vulnerability Index Survey in 2012 are still on the survey? How many of them are still alive? And what happened to their lives since then?” said Mariya Lovishchuk, director of the shelter. “Also, it’ll be interesting to see if new people are now part of Juneau’s chronically homeless population,”
Many surveyed this year will likely be residents of Juneau’s 32-unit Housing First facility, which is scheduled to open June 2017.
The Glory Hole needs 40 volunteers to help conduct the survey. That entails going to where homeless people sleep in the wee hours of the morning.
“It really helps to have good manners because we are waking people up. And then the interviewers ask folks very intrusive questions about their income levels, about their history, about demographic factors, criminal history, health,” Lovishchuk said.
The experience can be profound, she said. Lovishchuk helped survey homeless people in 2012 and said it was eye opening, even for her.
“A lot of people who worked a lot of their lives lost everything and just were never able to recover. And I know those people as people who are patrons of The Glory Hole who are chronically homeless and I never pictured their life before, as not homeless,” she said.
Lovishchuk said several of the people who were surveyed in 2012 have died. But the survey also helped connect vulnerable people to social services. She hopes it can do that again.
“Winter is coming and last winter I think we had four people die, and so we really want to create this connection prior to the cold coming so people know that we are there,” Lovishchuk said.
This year’s Homeless Vulnerability Index Survey is on Sept. 29 and 30. To volunteer or for more information, contact Trevor Kellar at The Glory Hole, email tghoutreach@gmail.com or call 907-660-7466.
