Group looking to hand off sign production

MAT-SU -- Many Alaska residents empathized after hearing the tragic confluence of events that left Eagle River resident Patti Godfrey waiting nearly an hour for police to find her home after she was shot in August 2002.

Where the Godfrey home is located, like much of the Mat-Su, driveways are long and tree-lined, and homes are often not visible from the road, making it impossible to navigate by house number. Emergency responders were unable to find the home quickly for several reasons, primarily because of inaccurate directions from a dispatcher and because the property was not clearly marked.

Although changes are being made to area dispatching systems to make sure a similar event doesn't take place in the future, the issue of not having well-marked addressing available continues to be a problem for local emergency responders.

"There aren't a lot of people who have their addresses on their houses, and even if they do, houses are often not visible from the road," said Michael Keenan, battalion chief for the Central Mat-Su Fire Department. "I wouldn't say we can't find [homes], it just makes it more difficult if it's not properly marked."

Often, Keenan said, responders rely on directions that are difficult to follow -- the purple house with a red gate, he said, where neither house nor gate are visible from the road -- and may drive past a driveway because it's not clearly marked, delaying their response in an emergency situation when a fast response can be crucial.

"It's a huge issue out here," Keenan said.

To solve the issue, the Mat-Su Borough is cooperating with volunteers with Emergency Property Locator, a group that is making durable signs with reflective numbers displaying addresses. Although a formal partnership hasn't been formed, EPL signs were on display at the Mat-Su Borough Emergency Services' booth at the Alaska State Fair recently, and a stack of applications for free signs was handed out.

Michelle Foreman and her husband Terry took the lead on the EPL project, which has been operated through the Peters Creek Christian Center, where they are members.

Michelle Foreman said the office started up in November, just weeks after she placed a call to then-Municipality of Anchorage Police Chief Walt Monegan.

"We were praying about, how can we be a blessing to the city," Foreman said. After the Godfrey incident, she and other members of the center's congregation thought of ways to help, and property signage was one way they thought of -- but they didn't think they'd be making the signs.

"We wanted to just donate a good hunk of money," Foreman said. Monegan, she said, was grateful for the call and it wasn't long before they heard a follow-up call from then-mayor George Wuerch. Foreman said Wuerch explained that the money would be helpful, but it would go farther if Foreman and other church members were to coordinate the program and make the signs themselves.

Senior Pastor Tim Maus was out of state at the time, he said, and he received a call that he had a meeting with Wuerch his first day back. Wuerch, Foreman said, embraced the idea and asked Maus if the church would do it. Maus agreed, and within three weeks, the office was open, Foreman said.

It's run out of the church, through office space with a separate entrance. EPL received a funding commitment from Matanuska Telephone Association for a year's worth of telephone, fax and Internet service. Enstar offered the use of their shop for welding, and they've received contributions from other businesses as well.

Volunteers manned the office, taking names and information for signs to be made and verifying addresses with the municipality to ensure accuracy. Church members got together for work parties to weld channel iron to the metal flags and ready them for painting. Painting services were donated, too, and the church purchased a machine that cut address numbers out of a sheet of reflective material.

After a year and hundreds of hours of volunteer work, Maus and Foreman said they church is looking for another church or volunteer group to take the project to the next phase.

"We see it advancing, but we feel we're possibly in a transition where we can pass the baton," Foreman said. The group has filled more than 1,000 orders from residents in their area and although orders are still being taken, they're getting increasing numbers of calls from other areas -- namely the Mat-Su Borough and the Kenai Peninsula Borough.

Although they're committed to filling all the orders they receive, EPL volunteers are hoping volunteer or church groups in areas where the need is more apparent will take up their task.

"We're trying to figure out what our role may or may not be," Foreman said. "We don't feel it's supposed to be laid down; it's supposed to be picked up and moved on."

Maus said he'd like to see a church take up the project because he believes it demonstrates a commitment to serving the community.

"I think there's a lot of people out there who look at a church and the average guy's just going to think, 'You want my money,'" Maus said. "… If your community could vote whether or not your church could stay, what would they say?"

Maus said he had no idea how much the church has spent on the signage project. Although the church set up a separate EPL account so donations could be taken for the project, money has never been an issue and he's never taken a special offering to fund the program. Foreman guessed each sign cost about $5 in materials with an additional $5 or more in labor involved. Maus pointed out that the only way the program would really work well -- and for the signs to remain free or low-cost -- is if it were run by volunteers and with the help of donors and sponsors. It shouldn't be that hard to find sponsorship, Maus said.

"Because it was volunteer and we had no governmental sources of funding, we were amazed at how many volunteers came forward," Maus said.

Maus said the group would be happy to consider any suggestion for cooperation with another group who'd like to take over the project. Foreman said the Mat-Su Borough Department of Emergency Services discussed having EPL remain as the administrative group while other parts of the program were taken over by the borough, but nothing has yet been finalized. The group has already partnered with the Willow Lions Club, making about 150 signs for property owners in that area and Foreman said she just got a call that more signs are needed. Maus said that's exactly what he'd like to see more of.

"If somebody were to come up to us from the Valley and say 'We want to take this on,' I'd say 'Right on,'" Maus said.

Churches or volunteer groups interested in bringing the project to the Mat-Su can contact the EPL office at (907) 688-3755. Property owners who'd like to obtain a free sign from the group can also contact them at that number, reach them by e-mail at epl@mtaonline.net or send their request to Emergency Property Locator, P.O. Box 670107, Chugiak AK 99567. People requesting a sign should include their name, physical address, the legal description of their property and their phone number.