Empathetic Economics: Homelessness and Art in Alaska

Nathaniel Wilder’s photos on Anchorage’s homeless depicts a frozen but beautiful city nestled under the alpenglow. However, the photos taken from within the city reveal a contradiction to the landscape, turning it into a force to be reckoned with.  Sad eyes and frostbiten cheeks of the homeless population stare emotionlessly into the camera.  Homeless camps ridden with trash decorate the woods.  There’s an image of a police officer putting an eviction notice on one tent.  There’s several of the inhabitants banding together under signs that say “You Belong” and “Please Stop Enabling.”  Others stand in alleyways next to dumpsters, or cluster together on cold ground.  Some are old, and some are only teenagers.  

One finds themselves wondering what their stories are that led them to this raw state of humanity, where the struggle is for basic survival. One might feel empathy from these photographs, and wonder what is being done, and what can be done.

The Issue

Homelessness in Anchorage is characterized as someone who is obviously without a home, and the means to achieve economic stability. However, investigations into the personal accounts from people who have experienced homelessness themselves, or close to home, show that there is another, more serious, underlying factor.  This factor is chronic alcoholism, and for many, it is the deciding factor of their quality of life.  Personal testimonies from the homelessness and those associated with them, namely caretakers at shelters and law enforcement officials, have become a part of the artistic representations of homelessness.  From these deeper analysis ridden with emotion, the public has been drawn in and has produced responses from plays, to more active participation, or simply putting more thought into the issue.   This has put into effect the possibility of providing a solution or compromise to public debates on homelessness, which can best be categorized as adopting either a more utilitarian or humanitarian approach.  Should the community value economic benefit or the quality of life for its marginalized people?  Could a combination of both be viable?

 Fortunately, art has historically been able to broaden people’s perspectives and help them form as a united front to find agreement.  With the disagreement being placed between utilitarianism and humanitarianism, now is the time to turn to artistic representations of the issue to help propel the solution forward.   From examinations of the statistics and the factors that cause them, one can see into the deeper parts of the problem that is the human factor.  From these images, stories, and media reports, humanitarianism can be found in the contrasting utilitarianism approaches, or rather, by inserting empathy into the economics.  

The Current Status

The United Way has said that Anchorage is solving, or at the very least managing, the issue of homelessness.  Currently, Anchorage claims to have a “functional zero policy”, meaning that for the 3,000 homeless individuals Anchorage can expect to see in a given night, there are shelters open to anyone who wants a place to stay.  The two most frequented shelters are Brother Francis and Beans Cafe, located a couple of blocks north from downtown. However, the employee’s reported to The Guardian that Brother Francis turns away about fifty people a night.  In the morning they go walk around the vicinity of the shelter to wake up sleeping bodies, “praying that they aren’t dead.”  While there are other shelters to go, this could easily be seen as discouraging on a cold night for someone weakened with exhaustion.  Brother Francis also reported hearing the sleep center referred to as “home” by some of their visitors.  Additionally, it is not uncommon to see whole families come in together.

Anchorage’s homeless are a diverse group of people, though most are Alaskan Natives.  The native population makes up twenty percent of Alaska’s overall population, but of whom fifty percent are homeless.  Most of those in the fifty percent also suffer from alcoholism and have earned the reputation as being the “chronic public inebriates” of Anchorage.  Harking back to functional zero as being shelters “open to anyone who wants a place;” this statement addresses the assumption that some homeless are homeless by choice.   This is true for some, though not all.  There can be multiple reasons for this, though it is most commonly attributed to alcoholism.  The shelters prohibit alcohol and separate couples.  It is a choice made under the influence, or with the intent to be under the influence.  If this is the case, it is because alcohol dependency is notoriously known for divorcing oneself from one’s free will.

The effects of alcoholism are tied to physical and psychological well being.  It results in mental instability and the loss of self-control.  Withdrawals can be fatal and require medical supervision.  It is, therefore, discouraging to quit drinking, and is continued as means of survival. In dire situations, users have been known to resort to drinking Listerine, which has an alcohol proofing of fifty-four.  Drinking in the cold offers a false sense of warmth while slowing dehydration and circulation. As drowsiness sets in, a perfect recipe is made for the exacerbation of hypothermia.  

In an article from Invisible People, a journalist and recovering alcoholic shadowed a police officer in Anchorage.  The officer reported knowing most homeless individuals by name, due to recurring instances.  The officers were professional and compassionate with them, a relief considering Anchorage has one of the worst problems with homelessness the journalist has ever seen.  This was hypothesized to be the case considering how the officers and paramedics believe the issue isn’t homelessness itself, but chronic alcoholism.  Many inebriated, homeless individuals blew a .30 or over on the breathalizer -  the legal limit is .08% - and were still functioning at the time.  This is not just a health issue, but a public safety issue.  

Alcohol is the drug of choice in Anchorage, making its rates of alcoholism and associated homelessness the highest per capita in the United States.  Additionally, the unfortunate associations with crime are as present as crime is associated with alcohol.  There is debate concerning whether or not Anchorage enforcement on alcoholism is too lenient to the point of enabling.  The laws on homeless encampments are lenient, so the addicts can enjoy freedom away from the harsh rules of the shelters.  Alaska is also one of the few states in which public drunkenness is not a crime.  Police officers are trained to help, not arrest, as seen in the report from Invisible People.  It is argued that this does make it easier for chronic drunkenness to persist.  Some community members want to see the rules be stricter, such as in permitting involuntary commitment to treatment.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that uninsured homeless use public emergency services to be taken to the hospital for what mostly turns out to be severe drunkenness. This is rarely anything life-threatening, though the emergency room at Providence has found other maladies that otherwise might have gone untreated. However, these hospital bills go unpaid, which results in higher rates for paying customers.  Furthermore, there are only eight ambulances the city has to offer at a time.  If this limited public resource is being occupied by a condition that is not life threatening, it is taking away the services for a potentially true fatality.  Using public emergency sources as a source of free healthcare is frowned upon by many taxpayers.  Confessions from some homeless reveal they have to use these medical facilities as a primary means of healthcare, and occasionally to have a warm place to spend the night.  Paramedics claim some homeless have learned how to work the system by complaining of certain pains, such as cardiovascular, which can not be disputed on the scene and thus warrants a trip to the hospital – and a free meal.  

The story on drug addiction and homelessness from the Anchorage Daily News offers heart wrenching insight into the lives of one mother and daughter with opposing livelihoods.  The daughter is a heroin addict, and homeless.  The mother works in rehabilitation. In a recent visit to her mother, the daughter agreed to tell her story for art students at the University of Alaska Anchorage.  She told of her experience of life on the streets as her being the only woman in a homeless camp after teen misbehavior lead to opioid prescriptions – and later heroin.  Drugs typically cost  forty dollars a day - an average daily earnings from panhandling, or, after doing “all the things people say they’ll never do.”  She tells how each addict carries Narcan on them in case of an overdose, but that it is common etiquette to only use it if a person is turning blue.  She reflects on an instance when she remembers being angry at the person who once had to administer Narcan on her.  Detoxing from opioids is as dangerous as detoxing from alcohol , and most junkies want methadone for the treatment.  She expressed the fear of having to detox without it. However, in the end, she admitted that it wasn’t the detoxing process itself that she feared; it was the fear that she wouldn’t know the person she was after treatment.  She also admits to being high during the session.  She leaves back to her camp, and her mother only asking for a hug from her daughter.  The mother said this was her contribution to the art, but that she can’t sleep on the nights when it’s cold outside, knowing her daughter is out there somewhere.

This account on drug addiction and homeless highlights the correlation between the two.  As opioids are more commonly associated with helpless addiction than alcohol is (perhaps due to the fact that heroin is an illicit drug while alcohol is something that virtually every American consumes), this story makes a profound impact on the reasoning that addiction is the underlying cause of homelessness. Of course, there are other causes: according to Alaska Public Media, health and safety related incidents like illness, car accidents, and deaths in the family cause a quarter of the homelessness in Alaska.  Yet, that is still only a quarter.  One has to wonder about the economic status of such families or individuals before bad luck struck, and when considering the common themes of alcoholism, one has to wonder whether it was present or not.  

Regardless of preexisting conditions, alcohol and addiction are prevalent in the current conditions.  There may just be a solution to the problem, one that integrates compassion into an economically viable approach.  This is the Housing First philosophy.  The Housing First philosophical model is a non-abstinence, low barrier based approach that offers support and permanent housing before tackling the other problems related to homelessness, such as addiction and unemployment.  

The International Journal of Drug Policy released an article summarizing field reports taken from observations of Housing First housing.  The goal was to generate a description of alcohol’s role in their lives.  The naturalistic data from this study yields positive results from the Housing First model in how it decreased alcohol use and the sizeable cost offsets.  It was where “harm meets reduction” through a managed approach to drinking.  

The non-abstinence approach was shown to be the primary motivator for attaining and maintaining housing.  In reality, abstinence is an unrealistic hope. It heightens the risk of relapse, resulting in more harm than good.  Some don’t want to get sober, but allowing it to be in their control increases the chance to quit. Interviews revealed that the residents realize that a certain degree of intelligence is needed to stay and to be able to get drunk at the same time.  The choice to quit, the management of drinking and the resources readily available to pursue sobriety makes for a supportive environment. Group activities performed sober, such as yoga or arts and crafts, are also encouraged by the staff.  It is realized that struggles of alcoholism bind the people together, and sometimes has them choosing to stay in lower level housing because it means being near to the people who have become their family.  But with the gentle persuasion and rewarding of sobriety, perhaps the group dynamic could develop into pragmatic alcoholic reduction. Ultimately, the Housing First philosophy gives the people a voice and a choice to take control of their lives.  It gets them off the streets, reducing public costs, and offers solutions to treatment and independence.  

Yet, negative perceptions still exist.  The residents reported being turned away from jobs once the employer saw their address.  They feel marginalized and ashamed of the dominant intermingling of medical and moral beliefs that classify them as chronically diseased “bad people.”  

They whisper that they don’t feel like bad people. They feel helpless.  They ask for pragmatic compassion, and for the opportunity for their voices to be heard without judgment.  

Looking to the Future

From these reports and testimonies, artistic representation can be seen to reach out and educate people on the reality of the issue, and how it applies to the broad spectrum of human existence.  

The play put on by Anchorage community members, “Home But Not Less” portrays a gripping take of homelessness in Anchorage by creating monologues from collected data around the city.  The play brings the situation to life in a setting where it can reach out from the streets and into the hearts of those who might have only seen the homeless in the constricted view their stereotypes allow.

Invisible People concluded their report with the assertion that “we can never give up on people.”  A lot are asking just for their story to be heard.  This could prove sufficient to invoke action and change.  Perhaps if we focused more on substance abuse we could curb homelessness, reunite families, and give the people behind the numbers and statistics their livelihood and pride back.

Works Cited

“Were Harm Reduction Meets Housing First: Exploring Alcohol’s Role in a Project Based Housing First Setting.” International Journal of Drug Policy, Science Direct, May 2012.

Theriault, Michelle, and Marc Lester. An Endless Loop: homeless, alcoholic, and dependent on Anchorage's fraying and expensive safety net. Anchorage Daily News, 20 Jan. 2016.

Hillman, Anne. When homelessness is around the corner, even the helper can become helpless. Alaska Public Media, 31 Jan. 2018.

O'Malley, Julia. Homeless in Alaska: life and death on the freezing streets. The Guardian, 24 Dec. 2016.

Alaska's homeless as seen through the eyes of a police officer. Invisible People. TV, invisiblepeople.tv.

Wohlforth, Charles. An addict's life on Anchorage's streets - and a mother's unwavering love. Anchorage Daily News , 25 Jan. 2018.

Wilder, Nathaniel. Bitter Independence: Homeless in Alaska's Big City. www.nathanielwilder.com/PROJECTS.