Service members turn out in force to assist with homeless survey

Published Feb. 4, 2016
By Airman 1st Class Kyle Johnson
JBER Public Affairs

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- More than 80 service members from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson assisted in conducting a survey of Anchorage's homeless population Jan. 27, making up two-thirds of the total volunteers for the event.

The survey is designed to account for the total number of Anchorage's homeless population and their medical needs to the highest degree of accuracy possible.

As word got out about the survey, Chief Master Sgt. David Wolfe, commandant of the Professional Military Education Center, and Tech. Sgt. Callie Lewis, a PME instructor with the 673d Wing Staff Agency, caught wind of it and extended the offer to their Noncommissioned Officer Academy and the JBER community as a whole.

JBER responded in force.

"We presented it to the class because the city does a lot to help with the base, and we want to try to give back to them," Wolfe said. "I hope people come back and say, 'Wow, what I saw has now changed my viewpoint on a problem I didn't understand before in some way.' Everybody comes from a different perspective, but it's going to open up people's eyes."

"They took it on and said they could bring us about 80 volunteers," said Nancy Burke, coordinator for the Municipality of Anchorage's housing and homeless services. "I was ... Ok! How does that even work? We were at 35 at the time, which we would have considered a really great number, because usually it's a dozen or so outreach workers taking it on and they'd have to do it over a couple of days.

"Then we brought them 120 additional people!"

Because accuracy was critical to the survey, they had to conduct the survey when most of the individuals in question would be at the camps around town, Burke said.

"People will typically find less visible, wooded areas near the amenities they need," Burke said. "They'll either panhandle during the day, or catch the bus down to Bean's for a meal before coming back to the wooded areas.

"That's how they survive."

JBER members met at the PME center 3:15 a.m. and left to meet with other volunteers at 4 a.m. to begin the survey.

"There is funding that comes to every community from one of the federal agencies, and it provides resources for things like shelter and emergency housing, et cetera," Burke said. "It provides roughly $3 million for the community across a number of providers. One of the requirements for that funding is that we conduct this annual count of how many homeless people there are.

"Without this survey, we would not be in compliance with our agreement for the funding and would potentially jeopardize that $3 million."

Three million dollars may seem like a large amount of money, but those funds are essentially the Anchorage homeless community's main hope for a future off the streets.

"If we only survey a portion of them, if we're not able to go out and cover the entire landmass we need to cover, then it will only reflect a portion of the homeless community and impact those needed funds," Lewis said.

Often, volunteering affects those providing the aid as much as it affects the recipients. Therein lies the value of community service.

"I think it's a wonderful opportunity," said Tech. Sgt. Christopher Olson, a budget analyst with the 354th Comptroller Squadron, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. "The basic fundamentals of life are food, water and shelter. A lot of these folks don't have that."