The Juneau community is being asked to come up with $100,000 in donations toward the $7.3 million Housing First project under construction in the Lemon Creek area.
Mariya Lovishchuk heads the Glory Hole, downtown’s emergency shelter. The shelter is managing the new project to provide permanent housing and support services for 32 of the most vulnerable people in Juneau’s homeless community.
“They will have medical attention. They will have mental health care assistance if they want it,” Lovischuk said. “And yes, definitely, they will be permanently housed. It won’t be a shelter like the Glory Hole.”
She said the 32 people who’ll be housed have been homeless for an average of 9-and-a-half years. The facility is slated to open in late spring.
“We have walls and we have rough framing done for rooms. We have the majority of the roof done, which is great, because it’s definitely snowing outside,” Lovishchuk said.
Amy Skilbred heads the Juneau Community Foundation, one of many nonprofits helping out. She’s working on raising the money for the community’s portion of the project.
Skilbred said the Benito and Frances C. Gaguine Foundation helped out with a $45,000 matching grant.
“It’s great to have that so that we can spur on community donations to help meet the cost of the — the sort of the final cost for this project,” Skilbred said.
Skilbred hopes to hit the $100,000 goal in January, ahead of the May opening. As of Tuesday, they’re about 3.5 percent of the way there.
Skilbred and Lovishchuk were speaking as guests on “A Juneau Afternoon” last week.
The Juneau Community Foundation is taking donations for the project directly, and through the crowdsourcing site YouCaring.com. You can find out more about the project at JuneauCF.org.
