Last year, hundreds of Anchorage residents living on the edge of housing loss reached out for emergency help. Leftover federal COVID-relief dollars became a short-term but powerful tool — preventing evictions, stabilizing households, and opening doors for people who had been sleeping outdoors or in shelters. Most of the funding had to be spent by Sept. 30, leaving little room for delay. 

For one family of five, the timing mattered. Fleeing a potentially dangerous situation, the mother found a rental close to her job but didn’t have enough cash to move in. The Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness stepped in, advocating with the landlord and issuing a promissory note for the security deposit and first month’s rent. That small intervention made the difference. The lease was signed and Emergency Rental Assistance dollars 

secured. The family moved in quickly, and a brush with homelessness became a story of stability instead of trauma.

Across Anchorage, nearly 800 households received emergency support in two waves — first through ACEH, and again from spring through early fall when additional funds became available. Six organizations helped get people housed in the second round: ACEH, Choosing Our Roots, Henning Inc., NeighborWorks Alaska, New Life Development and United Way. The funds largely came from the Emergency Rental Assistance program in the American Rescue Plan Act and were passed through the Municipality of Anchorage. 

Hundreds of households found relief. Emergency assistance covered past-due rent or the upfront costs of moving in, easing the kind of housing anxiety that erodes both physical health and emotional well-being. 

“It impacts everything if you are afraid you are going to be homeless,” said Yvonne Humphery, ACEH’s director of policy and planning. 

In the second round, ACEH focused on young adults and seniors — especially people on fixed incomes who had fallen behind and couldn’t catch up. 

“They were putting money toward it each month but getting further and further behind,”

Humphery said. 

For people facing the loss of their homes, these targeted dollars provided something rare and precious: time. 

“We were able to give people a runway,” Humphery said, “so they could stabilize, address immediate needs, and begin to move forward again.”