Spring 2015
Anchorage First Hosts Detox Issue Town Hall Meeting: Research, Testimonies, Pleas to Assembly Leaders After months of interviews with individuals and agencies around detox services in Anchorage, the Community Outreach Ministry Team of Anchorage First Covenant Church, in partnership with Anchorage Faith in Action Together (AFACT), hosted a town hall meeting in February to address the lack of detox beds available in Anchorage. Anchorage Assembly members Dick Traini and Bill Evans were in attendance. Traini and Evans, who chairs the Ad Hoc Committee for Alcohol and Drug Abuse & Homelessness, heard research presented by the ministry team’s representatives, testimonies of more than 15 individuals and a well-constructed plea for prioritizing municipal funding for detox services. Since 2000 the municipality has cut all funding for detox in Anchorage meaning that all the funding comes from the state and federal level. More than 150 people attended the meeting along with the two Anchorage mayoral candidates, several local denominational leaders and leaders of nonprofit organizations. "The meeting was an opportunity for people who have experienced the pain and frustration to speak out and tell their stories and be heard by public officials, “ explained Jane Atuk, a First Covenant team member who spent eight months surveying detox facilities in Anchorage.
The team reported that there are currently only 14 beds in Anchorage available for individuals desiring detox. Anchorage offers the same number of detox beds as Fairbanks or Juneau despite having 10 times the population. According to the presentation, detox is a set of medical interventions aimed at managing acute intoxication and takes an individual safely through the process of acute withdrawal. The waiting list is chronically 4-6 weeks to be admitted, and the window of receptiveness for detox often closes in that time for many. One ER nurse expressed the difficulty of having to tell people over and over again that there is not detox services readily available. AFACT is an organization that was created in 2003 to organize, empower and mobilize faith communities to address quality of life issues affecting their community. AFACT members include 15 congregations from eight denominations representing Anchorage’s broad socioeconomic and ethnic population. AFACT personnel worked closely with the congregation to strategize and plan for the meeting. “I’m encouraged to see how the partnership with AFACT and First Covenant has been at work to identify a need in the community and then to take action in the name of Christ,” Field Director Curtis Ivanoff said. “I recognize
that this is the first step in an ongoing effort, but hopefully people will be spurred on to continue in this work of providing compassion and care for people suffering in addictions.” "When people are in that situation, living on the street, with substance abuse, you really don't want them to wait any period of time after they make the determination that they want to get help," Evans admitted. He added, however, that when it comes to funding, there are many other interests within the municipality that compete for funding. The assemblymen were asked if they will be willing to talk with the team in April about progress toward finding solutions. They both agreed. "I was very moved by the faithful work of the church members of this team who took seriously the repeated call of the Scriptures to do justice, and to seek the welfare of the city,” said Pastor Max Lopez-Cepero of Anchorage First Covenant. “So often we are faithful in matters of compassion, but the hard work of justice ministry is often left to the secular world. With this meeting people saw committed followers of Christ take a stand for justice. They did this with prayer, scripture, hard work, and boldness.”
From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:16