The Ketchikan Indian Community just received a $3 million grant to build dozens of permanent supportive housing units for seniors.
Ketchikan Indian Community (KIC) is a federally recognized tribe made up of descendants from Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Aleut and other tribal nations. The new money, announced Monday, will help start the process of constructing a three-story, 28-unit building on KIC-owned property in town — on Tongass Avenue across from the Ketchikan Plaza mall.
Myrna Chaney directs the tribe’s housing authority, and she said the units will be available to elders over the age of 55, both tribal and non-tribal citizens.
“We’re calling the building ‘Yi gu.aa xáx x’wán,’ and that’s a Tlingit name, meaning that you have a community standing behind you, or it also means ‘to be strong and have courage.’”
Chaney said a few of the rooms will also be open to younger community members with an identified disability. The project is directed at individuals struggling with chronic homelessness, and Chaney said based on numbers at previous shelters like First City Haven, roughly half of the future residents will likely be tribal citizens.
“I think for everyone, when you see elders out in the streets, it is a little heartbreaking,” Chaney said. “We want to see them being able to find themselves housed and, you know, start feeling a little more dignity and welcome in a space that they can call their own.”
Directly in front of the new units, where the now closed The Galley restaurant is located, KIC also plans to open a navigation center to offer assistance with housing resources and things like hygiene services and basic healthcare.
The housing project is expected to cost around $11 million, but Chaney said KIC has also received $325,000 from the Alaska Mental Health Trust and has a few other grant opportunities in the works. They’re moving ahead with the permitting process and hope to break ground spring 2025, starting with a demo of the old warehouse on the property.
