Luke is homeless and panhandling in Anchorage, Alaska. In Alaska, he is often referred to as a “chronic inebriate”–an individual who drinks too much, too often.

Last night, Luke slept at the “sleep-off,” a center in Alaska for chronic inebriates to safely sleep and recover from drunkenness. It’s one of the few warm places to sleep in the Alaskan winter. But Luke cautions, “You’d better have enough to drink, otherwise they won’t let you in.”

It’s a system meant to help, but obviously comes with its own problems. And Luke, like the rest of us, doesn’t have a great solution for homelessness in Alaska. He just wishes he had a roof over his head, a little money, and that he could get cleaned up and start going to church again

Storyteller takes look at Anchorage’s homeless – Local NBC story

Dee is living at the Brother Francis shelter in Anchorage, Alaska. It’s an emergency shelter, and after staying for thirty days, residents must find another place to stay.

He’s been in Alaska for nearly 30 years, and he recently found new employment. He’s now searching for low income housing, but he cautions those who haven’t experienced homelessness: “It could happen to anybody. If you’re living from paycheck-to-paycheck, if you don’t get that paycheck, then you’e out on the street.”

It’s a scary reminder. We often try not to think about homelessness or turn our head as we walk by, but so many of us are so close to experiencing it first-hand.

“It sucks being homeless. And I don’t ever want to see my little girl homeless.”

This was the first thing Jessica said when I met her in Anchorage. She and her 1-year-old daughter are currently living with Jessica’s aunt, who sometimes kicks them out when she’s angry.

She’s a young mother, obviously scared to be on the streets any longer. It’s a face we don’t usually associate with homelessness. Instead of three wishes, she only had one, tearful wish: to go home.

I met Mark at a soup kitchen in Anchorage, Alaska. He described himself as an average American–six to eight credit cards, a home, boat, and truck. But one day he came home to a basement full of sewage.

He ended up keeping his debt but losing everything else. He lived in a tent in the Alaskan cold, taking work whenever he could get it. Now, he lives in a hotel and has periodic work. And he’s able to survive on unemployment. Mark hopes that with the spring, more jobs will come to Anchorage.

If Mark had three wishes, he would only take one: that everyone would be homeless for a week. Then, they would understand that people don’t wake up wanting to be homeless, and they would realize that everyone’s story is different.

Special thanks to Downtown Soup Kitchen

Until my recent trip to Anchorage, Alaska, I had never heard the term “Chronic Public Inebriate,” yet in Alaska the word “inebriate” is spoken everywhere. It is so grafted in Anchorage’s culture that even the homeless call themselves inebriates. At first it bothered me, but I soon learned that Anchorage’s homeless problem is very complex, caused by severe alcohol addictions.

I met Kim while he was panhandling on the side of the road. His wife had gone up the street for a cup of coffee. Although to an Alaskan this last week was a bit of a heat wave, I still had a hard time holding the camera without gloves because it was so cold. Probably around 35 degrees!

Kim started drinking when he was nine years old, and he’ll be fifty-two this May. Alcoholism is a horrible disease. Looking in from the outside, people think that drinking is a choice. But at some point along the way, alcohol completely takes over and the choice is gone. Alcoholics need booze just like we all need air, making it nearly impossible to stop. Add to that the dehumanizing experience of living without permanent shelter and people will drink until they die, which is what’s happening in Alaska.

Kim is very knowledgeable about laws that local city governments are trying to pass to solve this crisis. No matter what laws are passed, people addicted to alcohol will find a way to get it. Kim talks about his friends drinking Listerine when they cannot get served. One of his friends was the first homeless inebriate found dead last year. The man’s body was found with an empty bottle of Listerine next to it.

I wish I had answers for Kim and the people of Alaska. Please watch this video and share it with everyone you know. People are dying, and we must find a solution.

Special thanks to Hertz

Anchorage’s local NBC affiliate aired a story on my visit