"Alaska Legal Services"

Providers say it helps clients access services more efficiently and helps nonprofits save on overhead costs.

Citizens have a right to a legal hearing when the state takes too long to get them food stamps or denies their application.

At the height of the backlog in February, the organization got nearly 500 calls for help with food stamps; this month they’re down to 166 requests. Last year at this time, they got five.

Alaska doesn’t guarantee legal help for Alaskans facing civil suits, so nonprofits bear an increasing burden.

Even Alaskans who have now gotten their benefits say that the months they went without left them with debt and fears for the future.

This is the first year services will be offered in-person since the pandemic began. Events will be held in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau and — for the first time this year — Bethel.

Tenants are frustrated with the situation, but it’s not necessarily illegal for a multi-story apartment complex to go without a working elevator.

Alaska Housing Corporation spokesperson Stacey Barnes says one-third of all renters in the state applied for rental assistance, and over 66,000 Alaskans benefited.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a two-month extension on the federal eviction moratorium, which had expired at the end of July.

United Human Services, in collaboration with The Glory Hall and other service providers, is coordinating the development of the Southeast Community Services Campus.