Organizers of the Juneau Project Homeless Connect outreach event held last month have released numbers and related data on who attended. Most were in their 40s and identified as Alaska Native.
In the data released Friday, 238 people were counted, including 50 people living in a place federal housing authorities says are not meant for habitation.
The Juneau Assembly is slated to debate an anti-camping ordinance on Monday that would ban people from camping in the downtown core. Merchants say it’s necessary to prevent homeless people from sleeping on private property and so employees feel safe.
The Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness opposes the ordinance. Executive Director Brian Wilson says the latest numbers run counter to the perception that the homeless population downtown has become younger.
“There’s a narrative going around that this is a new phenomenon in Juneau,” Wilson said. “But overall if you look at the numbers, it’s primarily individuals who have been experiencing homelessness for more than a year. … Two-thirds identify as Alaska Natives and are over 43 years old on average.”
Four Alaska Native institutions have also come out against the proposed ordinance and asked the Assembly to abandon it.
Numbers from a more comprehensive count of Juneau’s homeless population conducted the night of Jan. 24 are expected to be released soon.
