Project Homeless Connect returns on November 8th at St. Gregory’s Church from 11am – 1pm. Captain Katherine Dooley from Salvation Army and Julia Smith from Sitka Outreach and Support join KCAW for the Morning Interview to speak more on how the event can support those experiencing homelessness or concerned about becoming homeless, as well as how one can donate clothes to support their unhoused neighbors.

Robin Sherman, with the Sitka Legacy Foundation, and Capt. Matthew Morrow, with the Salvation Army, discuss how Giving Tuesday benefits Sitka. You don’t need to be wealthy to contribute: You can volunteer time, as well as money, at any of Sitka’s nonprofit organizations. To ring a bell for the Salvation Army, call Morrow at 906-750-5978.

Downloadable audio.

Poverty and homelessness bring many challenges which threaten a person’s access to basic human necessities like food, shelter and healthcare. That threat is greater as winter draws near.

To help prepare Sitkans experiencing homelessness for the cold, the Sitka Outreach and Support (SOS): Lifeline, a collaborative community group that provides support to people in poverty, is inviting concerned Sitkans to a planning meeting for Project Homeless Connect on Tuesday, October 23 from 2-3 pm at St. Peter’s See House.

SOS: Lifeline President Julia Smith joined KCAW reporter Emily Kwong on this Morning Interview to ask that concerned Sitkans bring ideas to the planning meeting that will serve the population. The group is also accepting donations at the University of Alaska Sitka campus and the Sitka United Methodist Church for the following items and more:

• Warm clothing (socks, coats, gloves, etc.)
• Tarps
• Blankets
• Toiletries
• Haircuts
• Shelter space

Project Homeless Connect will take place on November 2 at the Salvation Army from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will connect people experiencing poverty to services they need to prepare for the winter.

For more information on these events or donations accepted by SOS:Lifeline, contact Julia Smith at 738-6336 / eastergroupsitka@gmail.com.

The Sitka Salvation Army cycles through 10,000 lbs. of food a month. Most of their stock is donated by local grocery stores. In the past year, attendance at the soup kitchen has nearly doubled. Some trace this to locals unable to renew their food stamps after the closure of Sitka’s public assistance office. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Earlier this year, the state re-opened Sitka’s public assistance office — to the relief of many. When the office was closed, the welfare caseload became severely backlogged. Locals who rely on benefits were not able to quickly renew, pushing many over the edge. Sitka’s pantries were put to the test.

Downloadable audio.

(Sound of curtain being pulled back)

Blossom Twitchell pulled back a curtain, revealing Sitka Tribe of Alaska’s pantry. “We have crackers and rice and noodles and chili,” she noted. Twitchell is a case worker for the social services department. The pantry is open to all tribal citizens regardless of income.

At the start of the month, staff go grocery shopping and stock the pantry with staple goods. Three weeks into August, when this interview was recorded, the shelves were mostly bare. “A lot of people are using their food money to pay utilities and rent and cost of living expenses. We are seeing a spike in our [pantry use] numbers,” Twitchell said.

Food insecurity in Sitka has deepened and also broadened. Jean Swanson, an outreach family caseworker, said she’s seen tribal citizens come into her office seeking help that never did before. “We were seeing families that usually are self-sufficient coming in. We were seeing them for the first time,” Swanson said. As a result, what used to last a month at STA’s pantry now lasts a week and half. Why?

Jean Swanson and Blossom Twitchell work for Sitka Tribe of Alaska’s social services department. They budget for a pantry, cycling through 400 lbs. of food a month. The pantry is open to all tribal citizens. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Both Swanson and Twitchell trace the upswing in pantry use this past year to the closure of Sitka’s public assistance office in June 2017.  The district office, operated by the state Division of Public Assistance, is where locals could walk in the door, apply for food stamps, Medicaid, and other benefits, and have a technician on hand to help navigate the system.

The closure was the result of attrition. It made financial sense to the state in an era of budget cuts. The Juneau office took over Sitka’s case load and did what it could to keep up with demand, but eventually, the backlog grew and grew…and grew. Individuals were unable to renew their food stamps, formally known as SNAP benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Without them, more Sitkans were going hungry. Approximately 10% of Sitka’s population uses food stamps. 

“A lot people would call the Juneau office and they would get a machine,” Twitchell said. “When you’re in that moment of needing assistance and needing answers to what they needed to do to get back on, they weren’t finding the answers.”

Susan Briles SEARHC and others began to submit complaints to the state ombudsman, as did other communities in Alaska experiencing their own delays. Twitchell and Briles even brought the issue before Sitka’s Health and Human Services commission. 

In 2018, the state ombudsman investigated the Division of Public Assistance and found a backlog of  20,000 applications. Their report was released in May of this year. You can read it here. And in June, to the relief of many, the state re-opened Sitka’s office.

The state has re-hired an eligibility technician and office assistant for Sitka’s public assistance office. Once located at 201 Katlian Street, the office is now on the ground floor of 304 Lake street. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

I visited the office, housed in the same building as Sitka’s trial court. Applications are still processed elsewhere – this time in Ketchikan – but the two local positions have been re-hired.

Southeast Regional Manager Victoria O’Brien says it will take awhile to train the new staff and get caught up on Sitka’s case backlog. “As of right now, we’re doing what we can with what we have and working as much as we can, encouraging our staff to work as quickly as possible as accurately as possible and to get as much done as they can in a day,” O’Brien said.

There have been other positive changes since the ombudsman’s report. The legislature approved funding for 20 new public assistance positions and the department is working on a statewide delivery model that would allow technicians to process applications from anywhere in the state.

Twitchell is relieved. “It’s not such a bottleneck now, but it definitely hit Sitka hard. It hit families hard. It hit elders especially hard,” she said.

STA wasn’t the only pantry cleaned out. Sitkans Against Family Violence has seen their stock dwindle. Salvation Army is feeling the pressure too. They are the biggest pantry in Sitka, cycling through 10,000 lbs. of food a month. About three quarters of local donations come from Sitka’s groceries stores. The rest is supplied through the U.S. Commodity Supplemental Food Program. But, it’s not enough to meet the need in Sitka.

Major Charleen Morrow administers the Sitka Salvation Army with her husband, Major Matthew Morrow. They took over the post in June and previously ran the Salvation Army in Sheridan, Wyoming. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Major Charleen Morrow moves through the dining area and greets the clientele, as steam rises from bowls on the table. It’s lunch time. She and her husband Matthew took over the job in June. In the past year, they’ve seen clientele at the soup kitchen nearly double, from 25-30 meals a day to 50 meals a day.

Donations for the pantry are not enough, so the Salvation Army spends $600 a week on groceries to keep the shelves full. Frozen meat is one of the first things to go. “Meat is so expensive and lots of families go without,” Morrow said. “They’ll use canned meat, like chicken or tuna in place of meet, so when we get the meat in, we’re really excited to give that out.”

Morrow echoes what Sitka Tribe is experiencing: that clients aren’t just homeless individuals, but families and senior citizens. She worries about the physical toll food insecurity can take.

Morrow: We hear stories about people worrying themselves into the hospital. Like, “I was so worried about paying this bill, I got an ulcer and ended up going to the hospital.”

KCAW: Is it hard for those families to come to Salvation Army for the first time?

Morrow: Oh, absolutely. We have a lot of people that come in tears because they are embarrassed or ashamed. As a person that grew up with a single mom that relied upon food boxes, I know that embarrassment and shame is there. But we try to make it so that it’s not embarrassing or shameful.

Like Sitka Tribe, Salvation Army does not verify the income of a person seeking help. Their mission is built around the idea that anyone can fall on hard times and that times right now are especially challenging. “We don’t consider it a hand out,” Morrow said. “We consider it a hand-up.” 

Vicki O’Brien serves on the CoastAlaska board. The Salvation Army kitchen offers free lunch Monday through Friday at 11:30 a.m. Doors open at 10:30 a.m. The food pantry is open Tuesday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.  To round out our week of food reporting on “The Cost of Living in Sitka,” our next story is about the rocky road of food prices and the case of the missing eggs.

Downloadable audio.

Debe Brincefield talks about an upcoming cookout to raise money for the Salvation Army. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.n on Saturday (09-01-18), hot dogs and chips will be sold outside AC Lakeside. All proceeds will go towards the Salvation Army’s food bank, which supplies the pantry and soup kitchen. Brincefield says attendance at the Salvation Army soup kitchen has tripled since she began in the program in 2007.

“On Monday, we served almost 50 people. So, it’s not just homeless people. It’s people in the community that need a restaurant-style meal. It’s a free meal. There’s no judgement. And people just come in and visit and hang out and drink coffee,” Brincefield said. The soup kitchen is open from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Salvation Army captains Charleen and Matt Morrow pose for a selfie with KCAW Morning Host Tina Bachmeier (l.). The Morrows are originally from Seattle, but served most recently in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Captains Matthew and Charleen Morrow arrived last month to take over leadership at Sitka’s Salvation Army. They discuss the aid they offer through the soup kitchen and the store, as well as community programs like a Sunday morning worship services and women’s group.

Downloadable audio.

Joe Murray and Hanger ring the bell for the Salvation Army. They stand inside a shelter modeled after the Tardis from British sci-fi television show Doctor Who. (Photo KCAW/Katherine Rose)

In most cities, the arrival of Salvation Army bell ringers is a sign that the holiday season is upon us. Although many ringers stand in the open by their red collection kettles, a lucky few have shelters which are traditionally red as well. In Sitka, the ringers stand in a different sort of shelter — one that fans of classic British science fiction television will recognize instantly.

As part of our continuing series “Curious Sitka,” KCAW’s Katherine Rose takes a trip through time and space to learn more about the town’s special blue Salvation Army boxes.

Downloadable Audio

Major Joe Murray is ringing a bell on Lincoln Street. Accompanying him is Hanger, a brown furry puppet with big blue eyes with long, floppy arms.

KCAW- What are you guys doing out here today?

Hanger- I’m freezin that’s what I’m doin’!

Murray- We’re out here trying to raise money for the Salvation Army, and it’s a good time to do it because people are in a cheerful mood and they have the spirit of Christmas.

Salvation Army Major Joe Murray and his puppet, Hanger. Photo KCAW/Katherine Rose

A passerby puts some change in the kettle, and her dog catches Hanger’s eye.  I ask Hanger if he likes dogs.

Hanger- Of course! I’m half dog anyway.
KCAW- Half dog and half what?

Hanger- Uh, yeah, half what!

Hanger gets children’s attention and causes passersby to pause, which is the goal.  But it isn’t the only thing that makes this Salvation Army stand a little unique. Joe and Hanger are standing inside a big plywood box.

“Being exposed to the elements kind of goes along with the territory,” says David Kitka or “Alaska Dave” as he is known to many. He says the shelters are necessary because volunteers are often exposed to inclement weather in Sitka. He’s been working with the Salvation Army since 2008, and says Brian Weddle reconstructed the red boxes and painted them in 2015.

“It wasn’t constructed as well as it should have been, it kind of fell apart, we figured we’d go ahead and start on a new shelter,” Kitka says.

But this box isn’t the traditional red. It’s blue with white window panes and text at the top that says “Police Box.”

“At that time it was just coming off of the Doctor Who 50 year,” says Kitka.

Doctor Who- you know the British science fiction show about a time traveler called “The Doctor.” The show has been around since 1963, and its being rebooted for the 10th time this year.

“All of us, the Majors included, really enjoyed Doctor Who,” says Kitka. “We thought it would be a great idea if we just enjoyed them and painted them Tardis Blue.”

In the show, the characters travel through time using something called a “Tardis” which is disguised as a blue police box. A common site in the U.K. in the 1960s  when the show first aired, which Kitka says made it perfect as a disguise for the doctor’s spaceship.

“I’m paraphrasing but the Doctor said ‘we as humans forget that something is there, we just walk right by it without even noticing it,” Kitka says.

But the doctor’s strategy has the opposite effect for Kitka who knows that the Tardis blue paint doesn’t blend into the background at all. It attracts a lot of attention.

“It kind of plays in our favor because we have a lot of people who are doctor who fans that come and give us nods of approval, and they come peek inside to see if it actually is bigger on the inside of course.”

Kitka says he’s not sure there’s a link between Dr. Who and the Salvation Army other than the fact that both originated in the U.K.  The new Doctor Who special which airs on Christmas day will see the introduction of a new doctor- a woman and a series first.

A man peruses the winter coats at Project Homeless Connect. (Photo by David Kitka)

Dozens of Sitkans showed up to the Salvation Army on Tuesday (01-26-16) to get help applying for their Permanent Fund Dividends, blood pressure checks and warm clothes. The fair was part of the nationwide event called Project Homeless Connect that brings services to those in need.

Downloadable audio.

Twylia Osborne often stops by the Salvation Army for a hot meal during the weekdays. But, on Tuesday, instead of the typical cafeteria she found a fair with free shampoo and winter coats.

“I came for the lunch but I did get a flu shot while I was here,” she said.

The 51-year-old mother is homeless – at the moment. She’s from Sitka, and had been living in Anchorage, but moved back home to be closer to her daughter last year.

Osborne has been camping for the past six weeks, after her housing fell through. She’ll be braving the elements until she gets the money she needs to secure a place.

“At least four more weeks,” Osborne said. “Waiting for disability to come through.”

Osborne was one of about 50 people who got help at Sitka’s Project Homeless Connect. And like many of those who were there, homelessness is a temporary state.

“A lot of times people find themselves homeless when they weren’t homeless,” said Julia Smith is president of Sitka’s Easter Group, which sponsored the event. “I had someone answer the survey they were just homeless for two week. It’s circumstantial. You’re lost your job, you’re a seasonal worker. There are a lot of reasons.”

Project Homeless Connect started in San Francisco in 2004 and since has spread to 200 communities in the U.S., Canada and Australia.

Smith says Project Homeless Connect is one-stop shop to get people the resources they need to get back on their feet.

“It’s hard to get services or know where to go to get services when you find yourself in that position,” she said.

Sitka Schools Superintendent Mary Wegner volunteers at the event. (Photo by David Kitka)

Mary Wegner, superintendent of the Sitka School district, was there volunteering.

The district has seen anywhere from 20 to 40 homeless students in a year, she says, and she wants to help them.  

“When you don’t have home, food or your family is in crisis you won’t be able to contribute your best in a school setting,” Wegner said.

Project Homeless Connect also serves as a census of homelessness in the country. Once a year, different organizations participate in a survey  to get a more accurate picture of people who are in need. Smith says the data helps get more resources for them.

“These are our neighbors,” she said. “This is a small town and we know each other and we see folks every day that are homeless and we may not know it.”

Just like Osborne and others who showed up for help to get them through.

Easter Group will hold more daylong events geared at helping the homeless with health care and employment in the coming months. Those events take place on  Feb. 17, March 16 and April 20.

Downloadable audio.

Last winter’s Project Homeless Connect served 45 individuals who were homeless, or in danger of becoming homeless. (KCAW photo/Ed Ronco)

Julia Smith, president of the Easter Group, and Major Evadne Wright, pastor of the Salvation Army  in Sitka, discuss an upcoming event to connect Sitkans in need with vital resources. The event is called Project Homeless Connect and will take place Tuesday, January 26th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Salvation Army.

Project Homeless Connect creates a one-stop-shop for people who are, or who are at risk of, experiencing homelessness in Sitka. Those attending will received goods, services and information on the spot, including lunch, medical care, housing assistance, PFD application, health insurance, clothing and more.  The event is free and open to all.

Sitka Project Homeless Connect is sponsored by the Easter Group, Salvation Army and the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. Contact information: info@eastergroup.org or call Julia at 747-6333.

Recovery crews continue work this week to recover the remains of the third and final victim of the Kramer Avenue landslide, one of seven landslides that came down in Sitka on August 18. (KCAW photo, Robert Woolsey)

Downloadable audio.

Coordinators of Sitka’s landslide response and relief effort gathered in the KCAW studios this morning (08-25-15), both to recount the events since the August 18 landslides and relay immediate needs. Chief Dave Miller of the Sitka Fire Department was joined by Major Turnie Wright, the minister with the local Salvation Army post, and Samantha Cox, a moderator on the Facebook website Sitka Chatters.

This information in this interview was provided at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, August 25. Raven Radio will provide updates about the recovery effort on local news.

Miller is looking for volunteers to man the two road blocks at the two ends of Kramer Avenue this week. Each shift requires 2-3 volunteers. To volunteer, call 747-3233. Miller said Harbor Mountain road remains closed above the first gate at the bottom the hill.

The Incident Management Team will continue searching into Thursday evening for the third and final missing person within the debris from the Kramer Avenue landslide. Another weather pattern is expected to hit the Sitka area Thursday night.

Cox said that the Sitka Chatters Emergency Fund has raised $14,000 for the families of the three men lost in the landslide. The website has served as a forum for sharing information in the days following the slide, coordinating fundraising efforts and shelter for residents evacuated in the slide zone.

Wright shared a list of items needed now by the Salvation Army to feed emergency workers on-site and at the Fire Department.

• Individual bags of potato chips
• Individual bags of cookies (e.g. Famous Amos)
• Individual slices of Kraft cheese
• Individual sugar packets and cream packets
• Chewy style granola bars
• Gatorade in small to medium bottles
• Fruit – apples, oranges, bananas
• Eggs
• Potatoes
• Paper towels
• Blue style shop towels
• Large cans of spaghetti sauce