Thea Agnew-Bemben
Special Assistant to the Mayor · Municipality of Anchorage
17 articles · 20 transcripts · 24 clips
Affiliations
Commenter tells Anchorage homelessness commission an officer mistreats campers
“You can do it anonymously, and 100% of those complaints are investigated, and about a third of them are sustained.”
Anchorage to pilot hospital-to-shelter referrals amid frostbite concerns
“really improve the way that hospitals can interact with our shelters”
Anchorage administration tallies $31 million for shelter, outreach and crisis care
“It's not something that we control in any way”
Anchorage fire chief expects two recruit academies in 2027 as about 50 can retire
Anchorage's fire chief expects two recruit academies in 2027 as about 50 firefighters can retire. Even that may fall short, and a third costs about $2 million.
Anchorage budget office lists pool closures and bus cuts as possible options for 2028 gap
Anchorage budget office outlined cuts that could close a $15 to $30 million 2028 gap. • Options include closing 3 pools, cutting a bus route and axing 21 police community officer jobs. • None are in the 2027 budget. Assembly votes Nov. 17.
Willow Commons stays full in its first six months, health department says
“we didn't have operating funds to add another 32 transitional living units to our inventory”
East 56 shelter will reach 200 beds by Nov. 30, a month earlier than last year
Anchorage will add East 56 shelter beds every other week to hit 450 citywide by Nov. 30, about a month before it reached 200 at East 56 last winter.
Anchorage Assembly members draft an ordinance to restrict concentrated kratom products
“that creates that sort of precedent and momentum for state-level action”
Anchorage opioid overdose calls down 10%, fire department says
“whether they're housed or unhoused.”
Anchorage ordinance would drop 45-degree shelter trigger, raise site cap to 200
“Right now, our shelter providers are reporting, like, this was just a couple weekends ago, 85 turnaways.”
Anchorage's camping ordinance produces plenty of compliance — but few people taking services, and homelessness still visible
“The first step in the process is outreach and outreach is multidisciplinary outreach team. There's only one officer on that.”
Anchorage homeless residents tell Assembly: shelters worse than jail
Two sets of lived experience meet at Anchorage's homelessness debate: those in shelters and those who watched encampments grow.
True North dropped crisis services from Fairview plan after months of pushback
Fairview pushed back. True North revised. No more crisis services in the Fairview building — outpatient and a mobile van instead.
A Pacific Islander nonprofit told an Anchorage homelessness commission its housing assistance program is over-subscribed — and asked for city funding to expand it
Polynesian Association seeks Anchorage funding for housing assistance
Cold-injury hospitalizations rose among Alaska's unhoused over the past decade, state finds
“gives us kind of an estimate, like, on average over that period of time, how many months and weeks we are going to experience temperatures that are at a certain risk level for people”
Anchorage sees 28% drop in unsheltered homelessness as shelters reach capacity
“Right now, our shelter providers are reporting, like, this was just a couple weekends ago, 85 turnaways. Those are duplicated, so I think you could say if somebody tried our two congregate shelters, maybe 40 turnaways, but that's quite a lot in early May.”
True North Recovery proposes Fairview behavioral health center
True North Recovery wants $750,000 in city funds for a Fairview health center. Neighbors oppose the site due to service density.
