More than 200 of the Valley’s needy helped at Wasilla arena

WASILLA — In one corner of the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center, a dentist checked a woman’s teeth. In another corner, an estimated 4,000 pounds of food was handed out to the hungry. A third corner contained vital information for job seekers.

And among the piles of free clothes, free haircuts and free health checks, Valley residents were connecting with other area residents Wednesday to help make their lives a little easier.

This scene has been played out in communities all over the country on Jan. 26 each year, but it was the first time Project Homeless Connect has been in the Valley. And from the looks of it, it was a success.

“It’s been a really great day,” Mat-Su Homeless Connect co-coordinator Stephanie Campbell said in the last 30 minutes of the five-hour event. “We started with 250 gift bags and only have 18 left, if that tells you anything.”

Recent public awareness of the Valley’s growing homeless population — many of whom are teen-agers on their own and families with young children — has generated an outpouring of generosity and cooperation among residents and agencies willing to help.

From local churches taking in homeless families through the Family Promise Mat-Su program and Burchell High School staff placing homeless students in stable host homes, to a once-homeless man giving back to the community by sharing proceeds from the sale of used furniture and a woman starting her own outreach service to feed and clothe needy teens, the resources seem endless.

“I want to do something good on this earth before I’m done,” 55-year-old Jerry McKenzie said after getting a free haircut from Shear Fire Design Academy. “I was homeless a few times in my 20s and it’s not easy. I was living on the streets in Anchorage and in parks in the Valley. Now I’m trying to start my own nonprofit organization out here by selling second-hand furniture and donating most of the proceeds to the homeless.”

Across the arena covered in artificial grass, former Mug Shot Saloon bouncer Scott Interest and his sweetie Allison Zuke enjoyed a teriyaki chicken meal compliments of the Mat-Su Borough School District before stopping at the Mat-Su Job Center booth, residential services table and Turn A Leaf Thrift Shop clothing area.

Interest said he saw a sign about Wednesday’s event on a bulletin board at a local Carrs/Safeway store and thought it’d be worth checking out.

“We were very impressed when we first walked in because we were greeted immediately and directed to the right places,” said Interest, 42. “Were kind of in transition and need some help finding work and whatnot. We’re just trying to take advantage of whatever help we can get. Maybe we can come into something better.”

Zuke, a 40-year-old mother of four, said she was grateful for all the extra help getting back on their feet.

“There are a lot of people who have it worse than we do,” she said. “This couldn’t have come at a better time.”

At the dental booth set up by the Sunshine Community Health Center from Talkeetna, a soft-spoken woman in her mid-20s asked Dr. Adam Weaver if he could take a look at her mouth. She said she’s suffered from TMJ with her jaw for years and also was hit in the face by an abusive family member about two weeks ago.

“There are probably some new cracks in my teeth from that,” she said. “I also grind my teeth really bad at night.”

As Dr. Weaver surveyed her pearly whites, Sunshine’s executive director Sharon Montagnino explained that her clinic is the only facility in the Valley that offers dental services on a sliding fee scale.

“The public health office refers a lot of people to us,” Montagnino said. “The issue with many people, however, is getting there since we’re in Talkeetna.”

She said they looked at 28 adults and six children that day.

“I could see they had extensive tooth decay and would probably need to get some teeth pulled and maybe even get dentures,” Weaver said. “A lot of people don’t realize that parents can pass on gum disease and tooth decay to their children because it’s a communicable disease from bacteria transferred from mouth to mouth. “

Rick Vanevey, 48, had just come from seeing Dr. Weaver. He heard from his pastor that he could get teeth pulled at the Sunshine clinic for only $25 per tooth.

“Most places charge two or three hundred per tooth,” he said. “That’s why I haven’t been able to take care of my teeth before. I’m really glad I came to this today. Everyone’s been so helpful.”

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.