Nonprofit focused on building homelessness response network

One of the Mat-Su’s longest running community support organizations continues to forge ahead in spite of dwindling federal support.

Established in 1956 to assist local families in need, the nonprofit Valley Charities Inc. has grown with the population and the demand that comes with it. With outreach programs geared toward housing assistance, homelessness prevention, and re-entry support for ex-offenders, Valley Charities works alongside other Mat-Su organizations to help bridge the social and financial gaps facing local families.

But after a decade of reliance on federal grants that have largely been removed this year, the challenges of continuing that work have increased. Federal Housing and Urban Development grants have not been been cancelled, but with the ongoing government shutdown, even those are on hold.

That’s where state and local funding comes in. Valley Charities’ Executive Director John Rozzi said the Mat-Su Health Foundation continues to be a big supporter of the organization’s efforts.

“Obviously, federal grants are going away,” he said. “So the Health Foundation is extremely critical to us. Without their support, we would really have a hard time functioning.”

Since 2008, when the Health Foundation first began awarding grants to local nonprofit organizations, Valley Charities has received nearly $2 million that have helped meet growing demand for services.

Grants this year include one for $273,420 for the operation of Valley Charities’ durable medical equipment lending program, which provides equipment like crutches, shower chairs, knee walkers, and others to Mat-Su residents in need, free of charge, for up to six months.

A second grant for $20,000 helped launch a new thrift store in Meadow Lakes. Located in the Meadow Lakes City Center mall next to the UPS Store, the new store is a smaller version of the Turn-A-Leaf thrift shop in Wasilla that Valley Charities has operated for years.

The nonprofit Mat-Su Health Foundation has been making these kinds of investments in the community since its inception, when it became part owner of the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. In the last 17 years, that investment has totaled more than $140 million in the form of scholarships, sponsorships, and grants to nonprofit organizations like Valley Charities.

One of those newer grants, for $285,445, addresses a growing concern in the community. The funding is being used to explore and set up a homelessness response network.

The goal is to relieve the extra burden on law enforcement, which typically gets homeless-related calls, but does not have the expertise or resources to handle effectively.

“The police get calls all the time, but they have nowhere to take a homeless person,” Rozzi said. “The new system will help eliminate that and lead to more positive outcomes.”

That project is in the early stages. Rozzi said the terms of the grant call for a six-month planning period followed by a second phase for implementation.

For now, that involves putting together a comprehensive housing inventory.

“That’s a big part of this. Before we go to helping people, we need to know how and who to go to,” he said. “We can have everything else down, but if we don’t have a place to house people, it’ll be like hitting a wall. We’ll be working hard on that.”

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www.valleycharities.org