Juneau needs more housing for its most vulnerable populations — and a newly permitted affordable housing project hopes to help fill in the gaps.
On Tuesday, the city planning commission unanimously granted a conditional use permit to local nonprofit Gastineau Human Services for a three-story apartment building with 51 long-term housing units in the Lemon Creek area.
Jonathan Swinton is the executive director of Gastineau Human Services. The nonprofit helps people affected by homelessness or addiction.
“It’s just so important,” Swinton said. “Anybody who has experienced an addiction, or has been through incarceration, or has ever experienced homelessness, knows how difficult it is to be in that kind of environment and believe in and hope for yourself, and hope for your future.”
The housing project was designed specifically for people in recovery from substance misuse, reentering society after incarceration, or facing housing instability.
Swinton said residents will be surrounded by other people going through a similar journey to recovery. They will have access to case managers, treatment groups, AA and NA meetings and individual counseling.
He said those resources are key to helping people maintain sobriety, feel confident to successfully re-enter society post-incarceration and find a network of support.
“We think by having both this environment of support from those in similar circumstances and the additional resources that our nonprofit can offer, that we’re setting them up for a much better chance of long-term success,” he said.
The nonprofit’s goal is to have construction begin next year and open the facility in 2026.
In May, the Juneau Assembly gave the project a $2 million grant. But, the nonprofit still needs to gather another $9.5 million from other sources to be able to fully fund construction. And, Swinton said this building is hopefully just the first phase of a larger development project.
Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified the type of permit issued by the Planning Commission on Tuesday.
