FAIRBANKS — In August, weeks before the weather turned cold, a surge of homeless people started arriving at the Fairbanks Rescue Mission.

The 60 beds in the emergency shelter section for men soon filled up and the overflow began sleeping in bedrolls on the mission chapel floor.

Ever since, after dinner and the evening service, staff members routinely hand out bedrolls and clean towels for showers to a couple dozen men or more who will be bedding down on the chapel floor for the night. 

Previously, over occupancy at the shelter only occurred during January and February, but for the past six months it has become the norm, said Rodney Gaskins, rescue mission executive director.

This weekend the mission is sheltering approximately 175 men, 40 women and 15 children.

“There’s no way in the world anybody could do this without community support,” said Gaskins, who has the highest praise for the many generous people who are committed to helping the local homeless population that some deem throwaway or unworthy.

“We are 72 (percent) to 73 percent donor funded from $15 to $5,000 checks,” he said.

Several factors in addition to the Interior’s long winters are contributing to the rescue mission’s influx, Gaskins said.

Many of the late summer arrivals traveled north from Anchorage when homeless camps around the Southcentral city were being broken down, Gaskins said.

In addition, there has been a continuing stream of newcomers seeking work because of the recession Outside.

“We’re seeing our first-time homeless more and more,” Gaskins said. 

“People show up here with that shocked expression on their face. They say, ‘This is the place I’d give money to, but not live here.’”

Enticed north by expectations of jobs and higher wages, many of the shelter’s residents, some with families, have been surprised by the high cost of living and found they weren’t making enough to live independently on their salaries.

“We have a father and son here who could pay their rent but not the heating bill,” Gaskins said, to emphasize that many people around the community are just one paycheck away from a similar situation.

At any given time, Gaskins said more than 30 percent of the shelter residents are military veterans, which is a reflection of similar statistics across the Lower 48.

In spite of the extreme cold weather, the women’s section of the shelter isn’t filled to capacity.

Gaskins said women fleeing domestic violence more often go to the Interior Center for Non-Violent Living.

Younger crowd

Now in his sixth year as director, Gaskins said the rescue mission population is  changing. “It’s a whole different crowd. It’s a more educated crowd, a younger crowd.”

Many of the newcomers are in the 18 to 24 age group, which is challenging.

“Some days it’s like recess gone wild,” Gaskins said. “The young male population can be very disrespectful, and very aggressive.”

But Gaskins and the Men’s Shelter Manager Allan Lamprey chalk a lot of the behavior up to immaturity.

The result is, “We become the parent,” Lamprey said.

Many of the young men are at the shelter because their parents can’t handle them and they don’t want authority, Gaskins said.

“They’re not as appreciative and can be destructive at times wrestling around. They feel entitled, and some don’t think they have to work.

“They’re also scared and acting out their fear by lashing out and talking people away from them,” he said.

But once some of the young men realize the shelter offers a recovery program and/or the recycling program offering a chance for job skills, they realize we care, and they want to do right despite themselves, Gaskins said.

“It’s exhausting and heart breaking at times.”

Lamprey understands where many of the mission residents are coming from.

“I was one of them guys,” he says, adding, “The mission saved my life.”

Lamprey’s 25 years of alcohol and substance abuse caught up with him in Fairbanks.

Originally from Virginia, he came to Alaska at the invitation of a friend. Before long, he ran out of places to stay and was on the skids.

“The next thing I know I’m living in the woods,” he said.

Lamprey moved into the rescue mission in April 2009 and participated in the AA 12-step and Genesis Recovery programs and worked as a mission cook on the weekends for a time before moving out and living on his own.

Last May, he was hired on as the men’s shelter manager.

Gaskin values Lamprey’s patience and humor with residents. “No one can say to him, ‘You don’t understand or you don’t care.’”

“The first-timers appreciate our services a lot more. The ones we see every winter think it’s their entitlement.”

“I always tell my staff, “If someone comes through the door, you greet them like they’ve never been here before.’”

Gaskins sees that the rescue mission staff also is provided continual support and training.

“One of my most important jobs is to take care of the staff team,” he said. “We laugh, cry and pray together. We truly care about each other.”

Helping themselves

The rescue mission can provide beds for 140 men and 60 women. Some of those beds are set aside for parents with children on both the men and women’s sides, and there are two dormitories for residents enrolled in any the mission’s three programs: The Veteran’s Program, the Genesis Recovery Program and the Green Collar Job Training Program.

Bed occupancy at the shelter has been rising steadily, and the past two years have seen dramatic increases of approximately 10,000 bed nights each year.

In 2009, the numbers increased from 20,098 to 29,413. In 2010, total bed nights jumped to 42,514 and 79,225 meals were served to homeless men, women and children.

Adult singles or families can stay for up to 180 days at the rescue mission.

The first 10 days are free, and all clients must undergo a breathalyzer upon entry for the safety of all residents.

Gaskins describes the first 10 days as a “cushioned time to get it together.”

After that residents can work two hours per day or pay $12 per day to stay.

About 40 percent of the residents are employed but are not earning enough to live independently.

Anyone staying longer than 30 days in the shelter is provided with case management, which Gaskins describes as “helping people to help themselves.”

“We want people to provide for themselves and overcome their circumstances. We want them to invest in that.”

All residents are entitled to three meals a day and do not have to attend church service before eating.

Dinner, served from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., is open to the community as well, Gaskins said. A church service is held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and is optional.

Contact staff writer Mary Beth Smetzer at 459-7546.