Anchorage shelters closing as homeless camps grow

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The Municipality of Anchorage is a week away from seeing three emergency shelter sites closing.

As of 4 p.m. Thursday, three of Anchorage’s non-congregate shelters and the East 56th Avenue shelter were at capacity.

At the same time, people have started to notice a growth in homeless camps.

“You’re going to see a lot of people in camps like this because of the constraints on the rules and regulations [of shelters],” said Allen LaVont Jefferson, who is staying at Brother Francis. “You also got to understand, we want to be around our friends, you know, our community, which is the homeless community. So yeah, when they get put out, some people, you know, want to be around the friends and comrades that they made in the shelters.”

Jefferson, who became homeless after losing his house to foreclosure multiple years ago, said this is why there tends to be a growth of homeless camps near shelters.

In downtown, that influx of the homeless population is felt by business owners on 4th Avenue.

“We were working in the wintertime and we saw less,” Andres Guarderas, the owner of Red Umbrella Reindeer, said. “I feel like there was more shelter for them during the wintertime.”

According to Guarderas, he has worked in downtown Anchorage for the past ten years. Over that decade, he said, he has seen a spike in homelessness.

“Especially with youth and stuff. It’s pretty sad,” Guarderas said.

According to the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness, based on its annual point-in-time count, it has seen the homeless population in Anchorage grow since 2019.

Another downtown business owner has also seen an increase in homelessness.

“It just seems like it’s more widespread,” Adam Rice, a gallery owner on 4th Avenue, said. “We’re finding more people, like in the doorway when we come in the morning.”

According to Rice, the homeless problem downtown is less prevalent during the summer months. He said there is a larger impact during the shoulder season.

“There are more people around. So, I think there’s less places to hide,” Rice said. “If it’s not our door, it’s our neighbor … very rarely do we come down in the morning and not see people, you know, somewhere nearby.”

Rice said that most of the time, the situation is fine. However, he said, sometimes he has to deal with angry people. This, he said, can cause visitors not to go into his store.

“Sometimes, if you have people that are angry or making a commotion, you know, you can see that people that are tourists that are visiting and stuff like that, they just won’t come down the block. They’ll cross the street or they’ll go somewhere else,” Rice said.

He also adds that he has heard from Anchorage residents that they avoid visiting downtown businesses due to the homeless situation.

“They just don’t want to come downtown and deal with it,” Rice said. “It’s very frustrating cause we really want to be part of the community and, you know, make things better and lift up the community around us.”

Meanwhile, for Guarderas, the impact has been different.

“Homeless people buy hot dogs as well. So, I mean, honestly, they help as well. I mean, everybody deserves to eat and everybody wants to eat,” Guarderas said. “Sometimes there are some people that does cause trouble, but that’s with everybody.

Finding a solution to the homeless crisis in Anchorage, Jefferson said, is something that is on his mind. He and others at the campsite recently exchanged ideas on what could be done.

As shelters prepare to close up for the season, Jefferson said he would like there to be a designated area where people can go and camp.

“We can make rules: Certain areas have to be cleaned up 20 feet around your area, you be responsible for that area,” Jefferson, said. “The mayor did come down and help serve food, but it’s gotta be deeper than that. The mayor and the City Council people, I would appreciate it if they would come down and speak to us, talk to us, find solutions, do steps towards not having multiple homeless camps but one centralized.”

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

Copyright 2025 KTUU. All rights reserved.