For at least this year, nonprofit HopeLink is leasing the Hannah Solomon Building for its overnight operations.
Fairbanks overnight warming center to admit people escaping the cold, sober or not.FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Fairbanks nonprofit HopeLink’s new low-barrier overnight warming center is up and running. Even with spring-like temperatures hitting Fairbanks recently, early signs are nevertheless showing the center to be a valuable resource for the community — so much so, that the nonprofit may require more space in the near future.
“I’ve been a little worried about our numbers climbing over what we can take care of, but hopefully this year that won’t be the case this year because it’s going to be getting a little bit warmer,” Board Secretary Trista Crass said in a Monday phone interview. Leasing the Hannah Solomon Building from the Fairbanks Native Association , HopeLink has had operations underway since Jan. 29. Crass explained that finding a location was the biggest obstacle in bringing the center to being. The board landed on leasing FNA’s building after other places fell through, but there’s no guarantee the current location will prove permanent. “If it looks like the community needs it, we could possibly expand, but we don’t have anything cooking. We don’t have a building picked out or anything,” Crass said. As far as the limited, only two-week-old data goes, the board secretary said it’s inadequate for officially determining major steps, like a location change, but it demonstrates the center is filling one of Fairbanks’ social services gaps. Staff welcomed the most folks into the center last Thursday, with 17 people filtering in and out overnight. That number is about half the capacity the fire marshal has set for the building, though not all 17 people were inside at once.“It’s a new thing, and ... it’s very much a word-of-mouth thing, and people are very untrusting of it in the beginning,” Crass noted, saying only two people stayed in the center the first night after it opened, with a handful peeking in just to check it out.Located at 317 Wendell Avenue and operating seven nights a week from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., anyone can stop by the low-barrier center — no sobriety test or legal identification necessary. “As long as you’re agreeable and in good health, you’re allowed to come in,” the board secretary said. The center stocks snacks and hot beverages, has comfy chairs and offers WiFi. Two trained peer support specialists will be present at all times during open hours to talk with those visiting and help connect them with other social services if needed.Copyright 2024 KTVF. All rights reserved.
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