New hope on the homeless front

Last Friday, Darrel Hess, the newly appointed Homeless Coordinator for the city of Anchorage, along with a handful of state and municipal employees, got his first look at one of the cornerstones of Mayor Sullivan’s recently announced plan to address the issue of homelessness in Anchorage. The group, which included Senate Majority Leader Johnny Ellis (D-Anchorage), the state’s director of Health and Social Services, Melissa Stone, the city’s Health and Social Services director Diane Ingle, and the city’s intergovernmental affairs director, Stacey Schubert, toured the secure treatment unit at the Salvation Army’s Clitheroe Center at Point Woronzof, which will officially open on September 29.