An affordable housing project built specifically for people in recovery from substance misuse received funding support from the Juneau Assembly this week.
On Monday, the Assembly unanimously approved a grant of $2 million to Gastineau Human Services, a local nonprofit that works to help people affected by homelessness or addiction. The funding will help the nonprofit construct a three-story building with 51 long-term housing units in the Lemon Creek area.
Dave Ringle, the executive director of Juneau’s St. Vincent de Paul chapter, was one of the multiple people at the meeting who testified in support of the grant. He said the project is critical to getting people out of homelessness and into stable situations.
“This is a long-term, cost-effective way to work with the root causes of homelessness and provide a home and support so people can work their way out of the terrible conditions,” he said.
Usually, affordable housing projects like this one have to apply for money through the city’s Affordable Housing Fund, competing against other projects for funding.
But Gastineau Human Services was facing a tight deadline to submit its application for other grants it was pursuing to fund the project. So the Assembly agreed to fund it anyway.
The nonprofit will still need to puzzle together another $9.5 million from other sources.
Lauren Connolly is a nurse at the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s Front Street Clinic. It’s geared toward assisting homeless and low-income patients in Juneau. During testimony, she said there is an urgent need for housing units like this in Juneau.
“In my job — even before I knew anything about this project — you can definitely recognize the need for more supportive, sober living here in Juneau,” she said.
The nonprofit’s goal is to have construction begin in 2025 with housing available in 2026.
