Despite unwarranted criticism from local elected officials Henning Inc. continues to operate mass congregate shelter through mid-October
Anchorage: On Friday, July 19, 2024, the Anchorage Assembly voted to extend, with unwarranted hesitation, our contract to operate the mass congregate shelter at the former solid waste facility through mid-October. Comments made by the majority of the Assembly continue to show disregard for the municipality’s largest homeless service provider’s credentials despite weekly reports of operations, third party oversight, and data-based evidence that show Henning’s unparalleled success. Henning Inc. did not request the contract extension but agreed to continue to provide services to the 200 Alaskans in the shelter to address the shortcomings of our homeless response system.
Henning Inc. was founded in 2020 in response to the tragic death of 25-year-old Shannon Henning who was killed by an impaired driver in downtown outside of Bean’s Cafe. Shawn Hays and Rob Seay built a peer support and lived experience model that has been implemented in all our operations since our first project: housing 80 Alaskans in the Aviator Hotel in May of 2022. Through July and September 2022, our team grew to four and helped 100 Alaskans obtain a combined $900,000 of emergency rental assistance, while simultaneously standing up Henning’s Master Lease program. In mid-October 2022, the Henning team grew to over 100 employees to operate the mass congregate shelter serving 700 Alaskans at the Sullivan Arena.
In 2023, our Master Lease program grew to 64 tenants and our team housed an additional 60 Alaskans through emergency housing vouchers. During the summer of 2023, Henning started to accept applications for low-income housing at the Golden Lion and accepted 80 tenants. During the 2033-2024 Emergency Cold Weather operations, we served 81%, over 2,600 Alaskans, of Anchorage’s homeless community in the Alex Hotel, the Aviator Hotel, and the mass congregate shelter.
“It’s a matter of morality,” explained Shawn Hays, Founder and Executive Director. “While we did not request the extension, there are 200 Alaskans who would not have shelter if we did not continue our operations. While unjustifiable attacks have continued to be made, both in private and public settings, we will not abandon our most vulnerable.”
“We have built an eco-system for independence,” said Deputy Executive Director Rob Seay. “We’re proud of the work we have accomplished despite the clear animosity from the Assembly towards the municipality's largest homeless services provider. Our data and track record speaks for itself.”
“We have served 2,600 Alaskans during last winter’s operations and 2,040 Alaskans during winter of 2022,” stated Crystal Abbott, Operations Director. “Our team has housed hundreds of Alaskans and has helped even more get proper documentation to have access to resources. While our lived experience and peer support model is part of the reason why we have so many success stories, our dedication to our clients lays the foundation.”
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