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The Glory Hole in downtown Juneau was established in 1984 to help anyone in need. At that time, people were passing out in the cold, sometimes even dying. Until the economic downturn, chronic inebriates were the main clients. Executive Director Mariya Lovishchuk described the Glory Hole in 2009 — the year she began work there — as “strange and unmanageable.” She noticed most of the problems involved just a few people, and were always alcohol related.
The Glory Hole instituted a breathalyzer policy in 2009, which effectively eliminates services for 10-15 percent of the people who used the facility. Lovishchuk feels bad about turning them away, but she said the situation became much more manageable within a few months.
“Most of the people at the Glory Hole come to us and use us as a stepping stone to get back on their feet, but the chronic inebriate folks have been here for many, many, many years,” said Lovishchuk. Back outside, inebriates wander the streets, and look for cubbyholes in which to sleep and stay warm.
Many business owners who interact daily with inebriates, though angry and frustrated, would not speak on the record for fear of retaliation.
They all agree the inebriates need the right kind of help.
“Look at the Canvas,” said Joan Deering, owner of Paradise Café, “I consider the inebriates to be disabled and in need of a space where they can be helped.”
“I’ve been in business nine years at this location and it’s a thoroughfare from the Glory Hole to Marine Park. What disturbs me the most is that I’ve seen the same faces year after year,” said John Chapman, owner of Picture This. He thinks the problem is getting worse.
“I was driving to work one morning and saw a guy stealing booze off the back of a delivery truck, then he took off to share his score with his friends — I mean it really has a carnival type atmosphere — it’s lively,” said Chapman.
Larry Spencer is president of the Downtown Business Association (DBA) and owner of the Senate Building on Franklin Street.
“I don’t view this as a downtown problem, I view this as a community-wide problem. We have inebriates that hang out downtown and in the valley,” said Spencer, who said people focus on the problem downtown because of its economic importance.
“We’re the face of the capital city, the entertainment and cultural center, we have bars, restaurants, local shops. We’re the economic engine with the tourism and we’re a major center for work, public and private,” said Spencer, who said the DBA is concerned with the vitality and safety of downtown.
He said he didn’t know of any attacks, but thinks inebriates pose a perceived safety problem.
“It’s perceived safety, I don’t know how valid it is but when people are allowed to stand on the street and shout obscenities it doesn’t make it a good place for mothers and their kids to shop,” said Spencer, who spearheaded the panhandling ordinance that was passed by the city in 2007.
“They also responded with a private contract through the DBA in the summertime that the cruise ship tax pays to roust people from private property in the mornings so they’re gone before the cruise ship tourists arrive,” said Spencer.
Spencer believes the inebriate problem has gotten worse since the smoking ordinance was passed, because bar patrons and smokers congregate on the street. “We gained clean air in the bars and dumped the problem out in the streets,” said Spencer, who said there was more to the problem.
“I think when we have problems in the villages, lack of economic opportunity, people come here from the villages for a variety of purposes, for social services, and they come here for jail,” said Spencer, who says jail is one source of the problem.
“Once they get out, we socialize them and try to line them up with housing. Some fail and some succeed, and the ones that fail become our public inebriate problem,” said Spencer. “The more services we provide, the more of a magnet we are, or dumping ground, for an inebriate population. If you build it, they will come.”
Spencer said the DBA has discussed the topic many times over the last 10 years and they believe stricter law enforcement of panhandling and open container ordinances is the answer.
Shop owners who felt too intimidated to go on the record tell the same story of daily encounters rousting people from doorways before opening their businesses. Of cleaning up liquor bottles, cans, trash, cigarette butts, feces, urine, vomit, and the occasional needle. Of fear when having to confront the daily situations, which they feel have developed an edge. They’ve had drunk people sleep on their couches, patios and even in their cars. Some inebriates have tried to steal the keys to the place when their back was turned, screamed profanities and even taken a swing at them. All report local and tourist customers avoid their businesses when there are drunk people congregating and panhandling in front.
Most business owners feel sad about the plight of the inebriates, but for many compassion has run out. One said just the sound of a paper bag crinkling on a liquor bottle triggers him when he’s trying to work.
One coffee shop manager has been serving “no trespassing” papers that she downloads from the City and Borough of Juneau website.
Especially this time of year, people who live on the street seek a warm place to spend time.
The downtown branch of the library is one such warm place. “As long as people follow our conduct rules and don’t cause problems, they are welcome to be here. There’s no specific rule that says they can’t have had anything to drink before you get in here, it’s just how can you conduct yourself,” said Library Director Barbara Berg.
Common library misuses include doing laundry or bathing in the bathroom, eating, sleeping and talking too loudly.
Despite this, the staff is more concerned about the well-being of their patrons than conduct violations. Untrained in drug and alcohol issues, they agree that Juneau needs a facility to address the needs of the people who take shelter in the library. ”But it’s not here, or at the Glory Hole, or in the front of local businesses,” said Circulation Supervisor Mark Whitman.
Berg added any facility needs to have Internet access.
“It’s not just a luxury anymore, they need to communicate with family in distant places, get benefits for disabilities,” she said.
Both librarians said they feel that a police presence is helpful.
Comments (26)
Add commentWhy...
...keep the Glory Hole located right in the heart of downtown? Provide the services, yes, but why in the heart of our downtown district? Makes zero sense.
I'm for letting bars set up smoking rooms that are ventilated.
For the people this article
For the people this article refers to, the location of the Glory Hole is not the issue. These are the ones that are kicked out every night. Even if you move the Glory Hole to the Valley, these particular folk will remain downtown specifically because it is the heart of the city.
Are you sure?
They get three squares a day at the Glory Hole.
NO to smoking rooms
@ latitude: What a stupid, stupid idea.
Creating smoking rooms "with ventilation" is like creating a "no pee area" in a kid's pool. The stench will still be in any bar where smoking might be permitted. The smokers will smell, their ashtrays will smell, the furniture they sit in, the aura they leave behind them.
The voters of Juneau have spoken: Smokers are as much of a nuisance as downtown drunks. So we passed an ordinance about smokers. That should tell you something.
And this was your brilliant solution to the downtown drunk problem?
Go back to watching Fox News and smoking your Marlboro.
Juneau does not allow low/no-income people affordable housing.
Look at the way Juneau used to be, lots of low income housing around town has been destroyed with no replacement. People have no legal place to wash themselves, their clothing, or use the toilet if they are homeless, and in the winter if, like the other article says, they have to drink and walk to keep warm, and if they are alcoholic stopping cold-turkey can send them into seizures or kill them, and the main concern here is getting them "Out of Sight, Out of Mind."
Stop acting like people who get down and out are a sub-species and some kind of nuisance -- they are people who can't be pushed out of civilization just because the bottom run of the ladder in Juneau is getting higher and higher.
Thank you, passerby
Bless your heart for writing such a beautiful statement. So refreshing to read something written with compassion for others' plight and not a hard-nosed criticism of people struggling in life, struggling to survive. Thank you.
You make very good points about affordable housing. If you're not a 2-income family, you either have a couple jobs or roommates to be able to rent in Juneau.
I have your Thanksgiving is as wonderful as you are!
Good idea Lat58
with one small change. I think we should have a second Glory Hole in the Valley - on the bus line and/or bike path so it's easily accessible. I believe St. Vincent de Paul offers long-term housing to those who have fallen on economic hard times, but a short-term shelter would really help and should be located in the Valley where most of the population of Juneau resides. It would probably have to be in the industrial area near the airport.
With regard to the smoking ban, this is a health and safety issue for those in the bar (clients AND employees). A ventilated room won't do much - google some research about second-hand smoke and the results may surprise you. Even if you smoke outside all the time, your loved ones still have extremely elevated levels of the toxins found in second hand smoke in their blood tests. A ventilated room won't work. It's time to deal with the actual problem of inebriates and inconsiderate smokers - have a couple of JPD officers constantly patrolling downtown. I'd support raising my property taxes for that purpose.
Jo - why would anyone give your ideas/suggestions the time it takes to read them when you are so abusive to anyone you disagree with. And as an aside, if you've ever read anything Lat58 actually wrote, you'd know s/he isn't a FAUX Noise viewer. This person is able to articulate ideas without their party's talking points memo so many use to post (including you).
Jo
Jo sure is one angry lib today. The power outage took out MSNBC this morning so understandable.
Correction to Message to passerby
My last sentence should read "I HOPE your Thanksgiving is as wonderful as you are!"
Apparently I can't multi-task today!
More low income housing won't help
@passerby, more low income housing won't help. Housing managers don't want chronic inebriates for tenants because they have such behavior problems, create dangers for others (falling asleep while cooking & starting fires, for instance), and constantly assault others.
They don't have to drink to keep warm. We have a sleep-off center and detox facility, and a free ride to get there. I see folks walking out of there and walking back to town every day.
Some of these folks are mentally ill and self medicate with booze, a poor choice, some are mentally ill and won't take meds, so can't take advantage of the social services we provide for the mentally ill. Some of them are brain damaged from FAS, and cannot learn polite, civil behavior.
Our constitution "protects" them from detention or incarceration unless they are a danger to themselves or others, so there is no way to force them into detox unless they commit a crime and can be sentenced to jail and probation requiring sobriety.
The only way I can see to stop their behavior is increased use of the sobriety court, and more jail sentences and longer probation for those that can't make it through the court program. Even so, keeping a tighter rope on them won't do anything but keep them revolving from jail to the street.
We also need to enforce the law that doesn't allow selling alcohol to folks that are already intoxicated. Liquor stores and bars need to cut folks off much sooner than they do now.
This kind of seems like an
This kind of seems like an inappropriate article for Thanksgiving. Why not talk about the positive things that are being done. Like all that food that was donated to the Glory Hole! How are they celebrating today? How about we don't criticize anyone on Thanksgiving.
weekend warrior inebriates...
weekend warrior inebriates on friday and saturday nights are okay, but homeless aren't. Honestly when I'm downtown on a friday or saturday night I feel more threatened by the angry, drunk, 20something males than any homeless person. But the 20somethings leave so I guess that makes everything okay. hmmm.... perhaps the 'drinking' lifestyle shouldn't be so accepted in our state. Until hatt changes excessive drinking (by all economic classes) is going to be a problem. These 20somethings will be homeless someday or chronic alcoholics too.
For all of these homeless
For all of these homeless people crying the blues and the bliss-ninny liberals who pretend to champion their case, you are full of crap. There are all sorts of social safety nets in place all over in Juneau. Various churches provide services. JAMHI is a wonderful organization for assisting the mentally ill. I could go on, but that's not what this posting is about. The one thing that these people out on the street have in common with each other is their unwillingness to consider playing by the rules. By playing by the rules I'm talking about seeking assistance for substance abuse, staying medication compliant (for the mentally ill), observing a basic level of social decency to avoid getting kicked out of the place they are living. Everybody has to take a basic level of responsibility for their own well being.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Lat8
Even considering that they could get 3 squares in the Valley too, I expect they would still hop a ride or bus downtown. It gets a lot colder in the Valley, plus there's not a lot of prime real estate for standing around and drinking. I don't know, maybe the Menden.
Spencer@DBA: Close the bars.
Spencer@DBA: Close the bars. Problem solved.
"Some of them are brain
"Some of them are brain damaged from FAS, and cannot learn polite, civil behavior."
Guess what, most people with FASD's CAN learn polite and civil behavior. This was the worst type of broad generalization I've heard in a long while. It's also a misinterpretation of the types of difficulties experienced by people with FASD's. I suggest you take another class or talk to the folks who work with these issues and get a better understanding of this type of brain damage.
Hey, JE Fume
If only these problems were that simple!
laurenh
upset
Interesting Article
This is a very well-written article - good coverage and the writer laid out the facts well without meandering into a "solution" that would mean others started negating the idea rather than just learning what is going on.
I've been downtown and felt uncomfortable around drunk people hanging out.
Mr. Spencer from DBA doesn't sound like the right kind of person to represent downtown Juneau...he sounds a little cold. It also sounds like he is stereotyping the inebriates.
smoking rooms
spiff & jo, the issues you raise against smoking rooms...don't seem to be well resolved by having crowds of people smoking out on the sidewalk outside. They still stink, their clothes stink, and they bring some of the toxins back in with them to affect the other patrons and workers. But they also affect everyone out on the street.
A properly exhausted smoking room (no drinking allowed in it), would at least keep the problem within the bar while mitigating the impacts to the entire community.
Another option that's been successful in some cities is to ban smoking within 50 feet of ANY business or public building entrance. That means that around the downtown bars it pretty much eliminates smoking on the street (assuming JPD enforced it), and would force smokers to huddle back in alleys or walk some distance to open spaces away from businesses.
Or....
@latitude58: Or.....passing an ordinance prohibiting smokers from smoking on the streets outside bars would also eliminate the problem! And I hope we are headed that direction because if it would appear on a ballot, it would win.
79% of us do not smoke, and we are tired of being around it, and we are fighting back, and we are winning.
No Front Street bar owner is going to retrofit their 100 year old building for ventilation just to accommodate the nicotine junkies. That's like suggestion building two drinking rooms at bars; one for the drunks, and one for people who just want a cocktail or two after dinner.
But, thanks for playing.
Wake up, Jo
79% of the general population doesn't smoke, but far more than 21% of the barflies DO smoke. And a lot of those smokers are the most loyal bar fly crowd. Any bar owner who wants to suck in that crowd will accommodate them. Then you nonsmoking barflies can hang at the other bars.
I really don't care - I'm not a barfly and I don't smoke. But suit yourself, sweetie.
Jo, You are a hateful
Jo,
You are a hateful person.
Remove the plank from your eye and come back with something constructive to say.
Everyone down & out is to blame for not being helped?
That will just about cover any possible holiday celebration guilt you may have.
___________________
"@passerby, more low income housing won't help. Housing managers don't want chronic inebriates for tenants because they have such behavior problems, create dangers for others (falling asleep while cooking & starting fires, for instance), and constantly assault others."
___________________
You are wrong on so many counts about survival in Juneau, but here is one: Your statement makes it sound like low-income housing candidates are all chronic inebriates that landlords don't want to deal with.
I used to live in some of the housing that has been torn down here, the neighborhoods that no longer exist. You say we don't need "more" low-income housing, I say we used to have plenty of "AFFORDABLE" housing that has been taken away. The need for "more" housing exists, and if you don't believe me you might want to check the rental ads, just for your own amusement, and get a handle on the facts of life for people who are not as well-off as you apparently are, at least if you want to bother talking about it.
I don't care whether a person's cause of poverty / homelessness comes from drug / alcohol abuse, mental health issues, or none of the above, they are still in need of help. Do you REALLY think that everyone who needs to get sober can walk into Rainforest and everybody who needs a place to sleep can walk into the Glory Hole? When they come out of Rainforest, what do they do when they have no home to go to, and alcohol is the only thing that will warm up their bodies and quell their hunger at the same time, however they have to beg/borrow/ or steal to get ahold of it?
We need ALOT here that we don't have, and we can open up our eyes and make it happen as a community. A large part of the reason we need more help here is, not necessarily in this order: (a) the extreme high cost of living AND housing; (b) the tourism industry which needs seasonal workers working at wages that do not support their existence; (c) the alcohol industry including bars and liquor stores who make their profits off of the ones who drink REGULARLY, some of whom alcohol is taking them down, slowly but surely.
I think everyone who witnesses the problems here can agree that those who have the least to give will give all of what they have to help one another, and THAT is another reason we need more affordable housing whether or not the people living in it have jobs or financial aid to have that roof over their heads.
Homelessness and chronic inebriates
I know my spelling is off so no comments please. The plight of both of the aboved named population is not well understood by most of Juneau residents. I happened to volunteer at the Glory Hole as a mentor and suppoters for these unfortunate people. Perhaps some do not seek employment or housing as we think they SHOULD. However the facts are very complex. Some have physical disabilities and many have mental disabilities and are unable to seek services due to fear and inability to trust such as PTSD, and chronic abuse by families, etc. I have struggled mightily in my life and have not always won but i continue to fight the war. To say that homelessnes is a life style choice shows little understanding and lack of compassion. Many of these attitudes are professed by our christian brother/sisters. Why cant they put their hearts behind their stated beliefs.
So far only one decent idea...
I noticed that someone mentioned red striping ID cards so that certain persons cannot purchase alcohol or be allowed in places that serve. The state already has the ability to do this and it is the only realistic idea i have seen so far. combine that with a enforced city code that required the red stripe after conviction for any alcohol related crime and then have city code that provides for steep fines for bars and package stores that fail to check might just have some sort of effect.