Circle of giving envelopes community

WASILLA — A small apartment above a charity resale shop might not be the fulfillment of the American dream, but for about 20 singles and couples who live in the Yenlo Square units above Turn A Leaf, and those across the street, it is a long way from Mean Street.

The units above Turn A Leaf, built in early 2009, are the newest of the 160 units owned by Valley Residential Services, a faith-based 501c3 that concentrates on providing housing for those with low income, who are homeless or with behaviorial or developmental disabilities.

John Weaver, chief executive officer for VRS, said the housing VRS provides helps to meet a growing need in the Valley.

“We stay 95 percent full,” Weaver said. Occupancy rarely slips below 90 percent and the 5 percent of housing that is often unoccupied includes those apartments being refurbished after a tenant moves.

By adding 10 to 20 units each year, Weaver said VRS is trying to stay ahead of demand.

“When we do between 10 and 20 in the year, we fill it up,” he said.

He said he knows there are many homeless who are not being served, for a variety of reasons. Many of those are children and teens.

“The youth concern is startling,” Weaver said. “It’s surprising how many kids are couch-surfing.”

While VRS serves about 250 Alaskans with housing in Wasilla and Palmer, the organization partners with social service agencies, like Mat-Su Health Services, Daybreak Inc. and Mat-Su Services for Children and Adults, to help meet the tenants other needs.

“We provide the housing and these agencies provide the needed support,” Weaver said. “Stable housing is a foundation to healthy living.”

The Yenlo Square apartments are located near shopping, schools and services, making them particularly convenient for residents.

“Many of our tenants don’t have vehicles,” Weaver said.

That’s the case with Judy Hudson, who has lived at Yenlo Square since February. Disabled since 1998, she isn’t comfortable driving and couldn’t afford the upkeep on a car if she did, she said.

She moved to Yenlo from an apartment near the Wasilla Senior Center.

“Not having a vehicle, it was hard for me to get out, to socialize,” Hudson said. “It was just too far. I like it here a lot better. It’s so convenient.”

Her apartment that she shares with her service dog, Poppy, is small, but it is safe and warm, she said.

Hudson said screening efforts keep out people who might cause trouble in the units. She said there are a lot of rules and criteria, but she understands why the screening process is stringent and is grateful for it.

“When you sit back and look at it for the reality of it, it’s for your own good,” Hudson said. “The rules are there for a reason, and they are there for the elder, disabled and low-income (people’s) safety.”

Her apartment is tiny — the exterior door leads directly into the bedroom. There’s a mini kitchen, a small living room and a bathroom. She said she’s seen apartments that are laid out better, but the convenient location negates some of that. Plus, she has plans. With more funding through Alaska Housing Finance Corp., she can move to a bigger unit on the second floor.

“I’m looking forward to getting one upstairs but I am not leaving the area,” Hudson said.

Not only are Wasilla Post Office, Carr’s and other shops right near by, Turn A Leaf’s retail outlet is direclty across the street.

Some of the low-income tenants lack essentials besides a roof over their heads.

That’s where VRS’s companion organization, Valley Charities Inc., can help, according to John Rozzi, CEO.

Through its Turn A Leaf thrift store, Valley Charities provides low-cost clothing and household items. There’s also a voucher program for those who cannot afford to buy from the resale shop, an out-of-work closet and a medical equipment lending program.

Turn A Leaf is funded by donations of merchandise — tons of them, mostly clothing and household items. Rozzi said the charity has a a 5,000-square-foot warehouse where it stores and sorts merchandise, along with about half that much space at the back of Turn A Leaf where merchandised is processed.

Besides retailing the donations in its store, Valley Charities provides special services, like boxes full of athletic shoes for a local elementary school and mattresses for a woman and her children sleeping on a floor.

Whatever they do, Rozzi said, it is local — the donations, the money, the vouchers, the loaner items.

“Everything we make goes right back into our program in the Valley,” he said. “We feel it’s important to give back to folks in need because these folks are so generous.”

That includes Linda Stetson of Wasilla.

“I go through my closet a couple of times a year and give all kinds of stuff to them,” Stetson said. “I feel like it goes to help the community. I think it’s good for the community to help out with stuff like that.”

Stetson said it is good on two levels — her clothing is being reused, not wasted, and the money raised is helping people in need.

That’s how volunteer Veronica Weber said she feels, too. She helps sort books at Turn A Leaf when she has time; she is a welder’s helper.

“Not everyone has the money to buy new everything,” Weber said.

It is this interweaving of pieces of community that makes the charity efforts work, say Rozzi and Weaver.

One of the primary needs, Weaver said, is better data on the number of homeless people in the Valley. He said the resource agencies need good data and that information needs to be communicated to the public.

“You don’t see the clientele you see on 4th and 5th avenues in Anchorage,” Weaver said. “We are getting more information out to groups but we need more data to back it up.”

He said the goal is to have enough resources to be proactive about the problem. That response could include a youth shelter and other facilities that cater to specific needs within the community.

For Weaver and Rozzi, their efforts are part of a tradition in the Valley of reachng out to help neighbors.

Some 50 years ago, a White Elephant charity replaced fund-raiser rummage sales by local churches. From those efforts, the Treasure Loft was born. It morphed into Turn A Leaf when the new building was erected on Swanson Avenue.

“We’re still practicing what the founders had been doing,” Rozzi said, “giving back to the community.”

Giving to help

A new endowment recently begun by Valley Charities Inc. could help needy individuals long into the future.

John Rozzi, chief executive office of Valley Charities, said that once it is funded, the endowment will provide gap funding for famillies in need.

“This is a unique endowment in that it supports individual people and families instead of an organization,” Rozzi said. “We want it to be a sustainable, long-term financial support for families.”

He stressed it is special funding for specific, short-term needs, such as medical bills that are not covered by any other program.

“It’s not going to happen tomorrow,” Rozzi said. “It’s when we get enough funds in the endowment.”

People may donate anytime and may chose it on the “Pick. Click. Give.” program through the Alaska Permanent Fund.

For more information, see matvalleycharities.org.