SOL MEDIAN CHE DE
BILINGUAL EDI T ION
JULY 2021 / NO. 37 / ANCHORAGE, ALASKA
SOL DE MEDIANOCHE SE PUBLICA MENSUALMENTE GRACIAS AL APOYO DE ALASKA CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM / SOL DE MEDIANOCHE IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY WITH SUPPORT FROM THE ALASKA CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM
¿Un ghetto en Anchorage para los “sin techo”? Más de diez mil habitantes de Anchorage viven en la pobreza. Más de mil no tienen hogar. El nuevo alcalde, Dave Bronson, quiere habilitar un refugio para ellos en el Distrito 5, al Este de la ciudad. Es el de Forrest Dunbar. ¿Quiere Bronson construir un ghetto en la zona del que fue su oponente en las últimas elecciones? Andrew Funk, el mayor experto mundial en sinhogarismo, con tres programas de ayuda para los “sin techo” de Anchorage, dice que hay que “dar voz” al colectivo y crear para ellos “oportunidades de trabajo y ciudadanía activa”.
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stoy teniendo mucho trabajo con la propuesta de Bronson,” comenta apresuradamente Forrest Dunbar a SOL DE MEDIANOCHE. Habríamos querido que Dave Bronson explicase sus razones a la audiencia de este periódico, pero no responde a nuestras peticiones. “El sinhogarismo no se resuelve confinando a los “sin techo” en un ghetto,” dice el estadounidense Andrew Funk, uno de los mayores expertos en sinhogarismo del mundo, fundador y CEO mundial de Homeless Entrepreneur, organización sin ánimo de lucro en Estados Unidos y Europa. “En enero de 2018, según la Casa Blanca, había un total de 552,830 personas sin hogar, de las cuales 358,363 (65%) estaban refugiadas en viviendas provisionales y unas 194,467 (35%) estaban sin techo” dice Andrew Funk. Funk es graduado en Filosofía y Ciencias Económicas por la Universidad de Arizona. Hizo una carrera de cuatro años en solo tres. Pero su talento no le libró de verse convertido en “sin techo” en algunos países, aunque sí le ayudó a salir de esta condición y, lo que es igualmente importante, a ayudar a todos los “sin techo” del mundo a conseguir un trabajo con el que ganarse la vida y una vivienda digna donde residir.
Presencia en Alaska Andrew ha intervenido en los foros internacionales de primer nivel para hablar de los “sin techo” y de cómo las ciudades pueden resolver este importante problema social. Foros e instituciones como el Parlamento Europeo en Bruselas, Bélgica, y algunas “cumbres económicas” como las reuniones del G7 y del G20. “Tenemos tres programas que tienen la capacidad de ayudar a personas sin hogar en Alaska y en cualquier parte de los Estados Unidos: primero, Homeless Helpline; segundo, Homeless Voices, y tercero, HELP program”, explica. “La presencia principal de nuestra línea de ayuda telefónica y el programa Homeless Voices es Europa y las Americas; el programa HELP está principalmente en España y Suiza, y el de Vivienda en Barcelona, en España.” Decisión equivocada de Bronson “Las intenciones de Dave Bronson son equivocadas,” señala Funk. “Es muy habitual en los políticos que gobiernan tratar de esconder los problemas, en lugar de resolverlos. Sin embargo, toda política tendrá oposición y crítica. Algunas personas han comentado que $15,000.000 para construir una estructura temporal con costes operativos anuales de unos $12,000.000 es demasiado costoso y llevarlo a cabo entre
FOTO: PEXELS
A ghetto in Anchorage for 1,000 homeless? More than ten thousand Anchorage residents live in poverty. More than a thousand are homeless. The new mayor, Dave Bronson, wants to set up a shelter for them in district 5, East of the city. Does Bronson want to ghettoize his opponent’s (in the last election) district? Andrew Funk, the world’s foremost expert on homelessness, with three programs that could help Anchorage’s “homeless,” says the collective must be “given a voice” and “job opportunities and active citizenship” created for them.
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’m having to do a lot of work because of Bronson’s proposal,” Forrest Dunbar hastily comments to Sol de Medianoche. We would have liked Dave Bronson to explain his reasons to this newspaper’s audience, but he doesn’t respond to our requests. “Homelessness is not solved by confining the homeless to a ghetto,” says American Andrew Funk, one of the world’s leading experts on homelessness, founder and global CEO of Homeless Entrepreneur, a non-profit organization in the United States and Europe. “In January 2018, according to the White House, there were a total of 552,830 homeless people, of which 358,363 (65%) were sheltered in temporary housing and about 194,467 (35%) were homeless” says Andrew Funk. Funk has a degree in Philosophy and Economics from the University of Arizona. He completed a four-year degree in only three years. But his talent didn’t save him from becoming homeless in some countries, although it did help him to get out of homelessness and, equally important, to help some of the world’s homeless get a job to earn a living, and decent housing to live in. Presence in Alaska Andrew has spoken at leading international forums to discuss homelessness and how cities can solve this important
social problem. Forums and institutions such as the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, and some “economic summits” such as the G7 and G20 meetings. “We have three programs that have the capacity to help homeless people in Alaska and anywhere in the United States: first, Homeless Helpline; second, Homeless Voices; and third, the HELP program,” he explains. “The primary presence of our telephone helpline and Homeless Voices program is Europe and the Americas; the HELP program is primarily in Spain and Switzerland, and the Homeless Helpline in Barcelona, Spain.” Bronson’s wrong decision “Dave Bronson’s intentions are misguided,” Funk points out. “It is very common for politicians in government to try to hide problems, rather than solve them. However, every policy will have opposition and criticism. Some people have commented that $15,000,000 to build a temporary structure with annual operating costs of about $12,000,000 is too costly and carrying it out between July and the end of September is impractical. Considering that the housing is contemplated for 400 beds, the yearly price per person to maintain it would be about $30,000. Currently, there are doubts about the ability to raise these funds on such short notice, which could prevent these measures from getting off the ground.”