Anchorage team huddles on street homelessness

Anyone new made it into shelter?
Any good connections happening?
What’s working — and just as important, what isn’t?

Those questions drive a focused weekday morning conversation at Bean’s Café, where outreach workers and service providers gather to compare notes and problem-solve in real time. They are trying to help people living outdoors — in tents and makeshift structures, in doorways and vehicles, in places no one should have to sleep.

Some are hard to help. Not because they don’t deserve support, but because life has worn them down. Many have lost trust in the idea that anything better is possible. Some remain distressed by past encounters that made life harder, not safer. Others are struggling with addiction, untreated mental illness, or trauma that runs deep — spanning years, sometimes generations.

Still, this group keeps showing up. And they keep trying.

The Anchorage Multi-Disciplinary Outreach Team — AMDOT, as everyone calls it — launched last year to reduce barriers to stability and safety by tailoring pathways to shelter, housing, treatment and services based on individual needs.

The morning huddle is led by Tanya Vandenbos, a social worker with “Clinician” printed across the back of her uniform. She is one-half of the Anchorage Police Department’s HOPE Team, partnering with Officer Ruth Adolf. Together, they build trust through something simple: follow-through. When they visit a camp and say they’ll return with food or supplies or a connection, they do.

Tanya Vandenbos, a social worker, and Officer Ruth Adolf are Anchorage Police Department’s HOPE Team. They lead the Anchorage Multi-Disciplinary Outreach Team that meets weekday mornings.

They have become the nucleus of AMDOT, with a shared vision of creating a hub at Bean’s Café — a place where people can connect with help in the moment, not days later. Their office is already on-site. The bigger goal is still taking shape: immediate access to targeted help such as shelter, long-term housing or treatment.

When someone is ready for help, the right help needs to be ready for them. Otherwise, the window may close. “If you have a space for people to be,” Adolf said, “change can happen.”

And sometimes, it already does.

One recent morning, AMDOT participants shared successes. One individual was reunited with family out of state. Grubstake Auction had success hiring people for day labor who are experiencing homelessness. A young man living in a camp had lost family support but seemed kind and open — and told outreach workers he would reach out when he was ready, Vandenbos shared. The HOPE Team also connected with two individuals who had been under the radar for years and were finally ready to talk.

“To me, that’s a win,” Vandenbos said.

AMDOT’s work depends on broad partnership — housing providers, shelters, youth outreach teams, Medicaid eligibility specialists, and others working in sync. In one recent case, the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness helped a couple who had lived outdoors for years secure a housing voucher. The next step was simple, but urgent: getting one signature.

“We’ll make sure that gets signed today!” Vandenbos said.

One person, one couple, one family at a time — this is what progress looks like. AMDOT participants work together to meet people where they are.

“It’s truly helping,” Adolf said. “Not a Band-Aid.”

Even the HOPE Team’s police vehicle is approachable.