The Anchorage Assembly and Mayor Suzanne LaFrance this week awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to Catholic Social Services to run the 200-cot mass homeless shelter on 56th Ave., situated in a building that once housed the some of the city’s Solid Waste Services functions. Mass shelter was moved to that location after former Mayor Dave Bronson returned the Sullivan Arena to its intended use as an event venue.
Henning, which had the contract to run the mass shelter, fell out of favor after some out-of-context text messages between Henning personnel and Bronson’s homeless coordinator were leaked to the Assembly and were seen as inappropriate, putting yet another knife into the effort by former Mayor Dave Bronson to reduce homelessness across the city. Henning did not submit a new bid for this year after the Assembly took a harsh stance toward it and members said it should not get another award.
As of Sunday, Oct. 12, the contract for that “low-barrier” shelter, where some of the most dangerous and difficult of the homeless can stay, will switch to the new management of Catholic Social Services, which already runs another low-barrier shelter, Brother Francis, as well as a network of safety-net programs, including a food pantry, refugee resettlement and assistance, Clare House shelter for women and children, and a homeless navigation center, where people can get referrals for various services.