A local business near downtown Anchorage moved because of its proximity to a homeless shelter, its owner said.
Ron Alleva, the owner of the Grubstake Auction Company, said his business suffered at his former location next to the Brother Francis Shelter on 3rd Avenue. He said the property was consistently littered with trash and human waste from the nearby homeless population that uses the services of the Brother Francis Shelter and Beans Café.
"They are an economic hazard to any business in that area," Alleva said.
Although there are consequences for bad behavior and the shelter encourages clients to clean up after themselves, the shelter can't do anything about problems off the property, said Mary Beth Bragiel, the deputy director of The Brother Francis Shelter. She said it's an issue of individuals not taking personal responsibility.
"We certainly understand the frustrations of people in the neighborhood over the behavior of some of the individuals here because we're having the same frustrations ourselves," Bragiel said. "But, again, if they're not on our property there's nothing we can do about it because we have no jurisdiction."
For Alleva, the shelter has changed the dynamics of the area where he worked for 28 years, and it's for that reason that he's worked for the last three years to move his business about a mile away. He said the shelter needs to do more about the problems in the area.
"They have to do something different and it has to be drastic," Alleva said. "It can't be the 'warm and fuzzies' that come down and make their donations, and think that they can just donate and walk away. You can feed a person, but who's cleaning up after them?"
Catholic Social Services has operated the Brother Francis Shelter for more than 30 years. The property was given to them by the municipality in 1982 for an emergency shelter. It was rebuilt 9 years ago in the current location after clients surveyed at the time said the location was preferable because of its proximity to downtown services, Bragiel said.
The shelter works with individuals on a case-by-case basis and deals with problems in a similar manner, Bragiel said.
"It's a very difficult struggle and it's a delicate balance," Bragiel said. "We're never going to get it 100 percent right but we're doing the best we can to help the majority of people that are here and to encourage everyone to move on to self-sufficiency."
Contact Mallory Peebles