After decades of advocacy, Alaska is finally making strides to become the forty-eighth state to create an affordable housing trust fund. Near the end of its session, the Alaska State Legislature approved funding to establish a steering committee that will develop policies and procedures for the Alaska Housing Trust. Unlike most other housing trust funds, the Alaska Housing Trust will be established outside of the government. The Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness, an NLIHC member, and the Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, an NLIHC state partner, have led advocacy efforts focused on the housing trust fund. The two coalitions expect to secure more funding from the legislature and other funders over the next two years and to begin disbursing grants within three or four years.
Faced with limited housing supply, high housing costs, and high costs of construction, particularly in rural areas, Alaskans lack housing in every community in the state. According to NLIHC’s Gap report, housing is particularly limited for Alaskan renter households with extremely low incomes (ELI), with only 36 affordable and available homes for every 100 ELI renter households. An estimated 15,146 Alaskans accessed homeless services between January and November 2021, and there were significantly higher rates of homelessness among Alaska Native, American Indian, and Indigenous residents. The Alaska Housing Trust will help create sustainable housing security, and produce, preserve, and protect housing across the state.
Affordable housing and homelessness advocates have worked for years to create a housing trust fund in the state. To build support, they created a comprehensive website laying out plans for the Alaska Housing Trust. The website includes fact sheets about the need for more affordable housing across the state, videos about overcrowding and other housing challenges in rural Alaska, and a sign-on letter supporting the advocacy campaign. Advocates held many meetings with local and state lawmakers and built bipartisan support for the trust fund. Earlier this year, the Anchorage Assembly approved a resolution supporting the creation of the Alaska Housing Trust. The Alaska State Legislature eventually approved $5 million to support the creation of the steering committee, but the measure providing the funds was vetoed and the funds reduced to $1 million by Governor Mike Dunleavy. All in all, advocates still see this as a win, and a starting point from which to proceed and fundraise.
“While researching the attempts over the years to establish a state housing trust, I came across a resolution by Senator Bettye Fahrenkamp from 1991,” said Owen Hutchinson, Alaska Housing Trust coordinator. “Bettye was my grandfather’s fishing partner, and I remember her sitting around my kitchen table telling stories when I was young. The need for accessible and appropriate housing in Alaska is greater than ever, and the Alaska Housing Trust will be a funding source to help offset the high cost of construction. We want to incentivize the development of new units and the rehabilitation of old structures.”
Funds for the Alaska Housing Trust will be held by the Alaska Community Foundation, which will be governed by an independent board of trustees. Staffing and administration will be provided by the state’s two lead Continuum of Care organizations, Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness and Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness. Eligible funding sources for the trust include the state, the business community, philanthropic organizations, and municipalities. An advisory committee is also being created to develop policies and procedures, assist with the ranking and review of grant applications, help identify other sources of funding, and make award recommendations to the trustees. Partners expect new funding to come from the state in the next legislative session and have a plan in place to fundraise an additional $150 million over the next five years.
For more information about the Alaska Housing Trust and the advocacy that led to its creation, please contact Owen Hutchinson, Alaska Housing Trust coordinator, at [email protected]