Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center Releases Comprehensive Alaska Safe Housing Assessment Report

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 11, 2025

ALASKA NATIVE WOMEN’S RESOURCE CENTER RELEASES COMPREHENSIVE ALASKA SAFE HOUSING ASSESSMENT REPORT

FAIRBANKS, AK — Today, the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center (AKNWRC) celebrates the release of its “Alaska Safe Housing Assessment Report,” a comprehensive statewide evaluation of housing options for survivors of domestic violence. Our assessment, conducted from February 2023 to June 2024, identifies critical gaps in safe housing infrastructure and proposes solutions to address the severe housing crisis that survivors face across our state, including our Alaska Native survivors.

The report, completed in collaboration with Strategic Prevention Solutions, a national research and evaluation firm that has a long-standing history of working in many regions across Alaska and the United States,  reveals that overcrowding in rural Alaska Native villages is four times the national average and that over 44% of current Alaska households are severely overcrowded. This housing shortage, combined with Alaska’s high rates of domestic violence, creates a dangerous situation where survivors must often choose between homelessness or remaining housed with their abusers.

“The link between domestic violence and housing insecurity in Alaska is undeniable and devastating,” said Tami Truett Jerue, Executive Director of the AKNWRC. “Our assessment confirms what many advocates have long known – without access to safe, affordable, and culturally appropriate housing options, survivors and their children remain trapped in cycles of abuse. This report isn’t just documenting problems, it’s offering a roadmap for transformative change led in our state and more importantly, in our Alaska Native communities.”

The report, funded by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs, employed multiple data collection methods, including key informant interviews, regional secondary data review, and a statewide listening session. It highlights how geographical isolation, limited services, and seasonal housing pressures exacerbate challenges for Alaska Native survivors.

“What makes this assessment unique is its emphasis on solutions that honor Tribal sovereignty and Indigenous ways of being,” noted Rick A. Haskins-Garcia, Director of Law and Policy for the AKNWRC. “Rather than relying on outside solutions, we’re advocating for approaches that center Alaska Native communities in developing and implementing strategies. Our sixth action step, which considers removing harm-doers from homes rather than displacing survivors, reflects traditional Indigenous justice practices that many communities are working to restore. When Tribal sovereignty is exercised, we see more effective, culturally-relevant solutions emerge.”

The report outlines six key action steps:

1. Increase and leverage funding while improving collaboration across service providers;

2. Expand safe homes beyond traditional DV service providers;

3. Limit the use of local housing for seasonal workers and tourists;

4. Expand current voucher programs with flexibility for remote communities;

5. Renovate older or vacant structures to increase housing options; and

6. Consider options for removing harm-doers from homes rather than displacing survivors.

“One of the most heartbreaking findings was learning that survivors typically attempt to leave abusive situations seven times before successfully escaping,” added Jerue. “Many Alaska Native survivors don’t even attempt to leave once because they know there’s nowhere to go. By implementing the strategies outlined in this report, particularly establishing that crucial first shelter option in communities where none currently exist, we can dramatically change outcomes for survivors and their children.”

The full report is available at the link below. For more information or to request a copy, please contact info@aknwrc.org.

About the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center:

Organized in 2015, the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center is a Tribal nonprofit organization dedicated to ending violence against women with Alaska’s 229 Tribes and allied organizations. AKNWRC board members are Alaska Native women raised in Alaska Native Villages and have 153 years of combined experience in Tribal governments, nonprofit management, domestic violence, and sexual assault advocacy (both individual crisis and systems), and grassroots social change advocacy at the local, statewide, regional, national, and international levels. AKNWRC’s philosophy is that violence against women is rooted in the colonization of Indigenous Nations.

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AKNWRC Safe Housing Executive Summary With QR Code for Full Report