(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska - To address increased needs and challenges of serving Ketchikan’s at-risk and homeless population during the COVID-19 crisis, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation recently announced the award of a federally-funded grant that will help Women In Safe Homes renovate a new shelter for families and individuals experiencing domestic violence/ sexual assault and offer a rapid rehousing and homeless prevention program to the community at large.

“As winter sets in and temperatures drop, it is critical for AHFC to be able to support nonprofits that provide essential housing services to keep at-risk Alaskans and those impacted by loss of income due to COVID-19 safe and warm,” said AHFC CEO/Executive Director Bryan Butcher.

Butcher said, “These grants will enable WISH, with assistance from the City of Ketchikan, to offer a way out for survivors of domestic violence/sexual assault while also addressing homeless prevention in a community whose economy is experiencing significant hits.”

COVID-19 restrictions have reduced WISH’s bed count at its emergency shelter from 32 to 15 and forced the organization to suspend its ability to accept homeless individuals and families.

Ketchikan does not have a shelter dedicated for homeless families but in partnership with the city, WISH is renovating the former Ketchikan Regional Youth Facility. The funding from AHFC will remove the need for WISH to sell its current shelter and enable it to offer additional shelter services. $400,000 will be used to operate a rapid rehousing/homeless prevention program that could support up to 33 families for up to six months.

“Ketchikan's economy is seasonal, with the majority of citizens working April through September. The loss of the tourist season, coupled with a poor fishing season, has left many families and individuals in a precarious financial position. Access to ESG-CV funding will provide a bridge for some of these families to get them through to the next tourism and fishing season,” said WISH Executive Director Agnes Moran.

Moran said, “Ketchikan has not had this type of funding before and we are thrilled to be able to provide access to safe and stable during these challenging times.”

To qualify for the grant that was part of $5 million awarded statewide, WISH provided AHFC with several certifications of compliance, budget worksheets, explanation for how the funds will be used and proof of need. WISH staff will manage the grant while the City of Ketchikan will oversee the renovation of the youth facility.

Opened in March 2002, the Ketchikan Regional Youth Facility (KRYF) was closed by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services in September 2016. Prior to its closure, KRYF was a detention facility located within the city of Ketchikan serving the communities of Ketchikan, Saxman, Prince of Wales Island, Wrangell, Petersburg, Kake, Hyder, and Metlakatla. The facility received intakes of youth who had been arrested for criminal charges or probation violations from the Ketchikan District Juvenile Probation Office.  The clients were all transferred to the Johnson Youth Center in Juneau and fifteen full-time state employees with the Division of Juvenile Justice were laid off witßh the state working to help the local laid-off employees to find new employment. Since its closure in 2016, the City of Ketchikan was making efforts to sell the facility.

Fact Sheet:

AHFC’s use of HUD’s Emergency Solutions Grant-CV

About WISH

History of WISH

WISH website www.wishak.org

Source of News:

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation
www.ahfc.us

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation is a public corporation providing Alaskans access to safe, quality and affordable housing through residential financing, energy efficiency, public housing and more. Since 1986, Alaska Housing has contributed more than $2.1 billion to the State of Alaska.

Representations of fact and opinions in comments posted are solely those of the individual posters and do not represent the opinions of Sitnews.

SitNews ©2020
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews are considered protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper freelance writers and subscription services. E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.