Q’et’en Qenq’a – Providence House
Construction is nearing completion at Q’et’en Qenq’a – Providence House, a supportive housing and recuperative care (SHARC) resources for people aged 55 and older experiencing homelessness. Residents in the 45 permanent supportive housing studio apartments will be encouraged but not required to access on-site supportive services provided by our partner organization, Southcentral Foundation. Services are offered free of charge and include:
- Individualized case management
- Support in linking to mental and behavioral health services and care such as assessment, crisis counseling, individual and group therapy and peer support groups
- Services and coordination of care for persons with co-occurring mental and physical disabilities or co-occurring mental and substance use disorders
- Assistance in accessing benefits and community support
- Support in linking to primary care including medical, dental, medication management and wellness
- Programming designed to support successful tenancy
- Peer support and socialization activities
- Basic housing retention skills such as unit maintenance and upkeep, cooking, laundry, working with a landlord, getting along with neighbors and money management
- Linkage to services and assessments for education or employment
- Obtaining access to legal, nutrition, or clothing services and resources
Q’et’en Qenq’a – Providence House also consists of six recuperative care studio apartments for people experiencing homelessness who are discharged from Providence Alaska Regional Medical Center. Guests in these short-stay recuperative care apartments will have access to all the services above and will receive follow-up healthcare services designed to help them stabilize in preparation for permanent supportive housing.
Q’et’en Qenq’a – Providence House will be a supportive housing and recuperative care (SHARC) program in midtown Anchorage available for low-income people aged 55 and older experiencing homelessness. The facility will include 45 permanent supportive housing units and six recuperative care units.
Q’et’en Qenq’a – Providence House is not a licensed health care facility. It includes permanent supportive housing apartments for extremely low-income seniors experiencing homelessness. The facility also includes recuperative care units for people experiencing homelessness to utilize by referral after being discharged from the hospital. The recuperative care units are available for both short-term respite and long-term recovery needs based on hospital recommendation.
The Supportive Housing and Recuperative Care model, or SHARC, is an innovative new housing model. Providence developed SHARC for patients experiencing homelessness who don’t have a place to safely recover and heal after their hospital stay. A key goal of recuperative care is to prepare participants to transition permanent supportive housing.
The recuperative care units are located inside Providence’s supportive housing building and are leased by a hospital, in this case Providence Alaska Medical Center. The hospital will discharge eligible patients directly to these units.
While recuperative care isn’t a licensed medical facility, participants staying in these units are connected with a primary care provider who delivers ongoing care and can order skilled home health providers as needed during their recovery.
Participants may stay for a short respite of up to 10 days or a longer recuperative care stay of up to six months depending on their needs and their provider’s recommendations.
No, the units are leased by Providence Alaska Medical Center and at no cost to the participant.
Supportive Housing does not employ any medical staff and is therefore different from assisted living. An on-site Service Coordinator is available to help residents access services they may need as they age in place. Residents who need assistance with activities of daily living like meal preparation, bathing, transportation, or other services may have a caregiver providing support. Providence recuperative care units don’t employ medical staff either. An on-site service provider will assess non-medical social services needs and work with participants on an individualized plan to address those needs. Services might include connection to benefit programs, mental or behavioral health care, chemical dependency treatment, meal programs, legal services, transportation and other support. Recuperative care participants will be connected to a primary care provider who may prescribe home health or other medical services.
The 45 permanent supportive housing apartments will be available to people aged 55 and older who qualify as extremely low income per federal or state calculations.
Applications for supportive housing apartments will be available on the Providence website. The housing program is scheduled to begin accepting applications in Spring 2024. We will post an announcement on this webpage once we have a specific date when we will start accepting applications.
The building is scheduled to open in Summer 2024.
In order to submit a pre-application for housing at Q’et’en Qenq’a – Providence House, you must meet the following initial eligibility criteria. Additional eligibility criteria will be verified when your application reaches the top of the waiting list (e.g. public records check, student status, etc.)
- At the time of application, the head of household, spouse or co-head must be 55 years of age or older.
- Maximum household size for an apartment is 2 people
- Applicants must disclose their social security number and information about all income and assets in order to complete an initial certification
Please review the Tenant Selection Plan for further eligibility requirements that may impact your eligibility for housing.
All apartments at Q’et’en Qenq’a – Providence House are open floorplan studios with private bathrooms and kitchens. Apartments will be furnished with a bed, chair and small table.
On-site supportive services are provided and coordinated by SouthCentral Foundation. We encourage all residents to get to know SouthCentral staff and participate in individual and group services and activities.
The front desk will be staffed 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
Interested in living at Q’et’en Qenq’a – Providence House? Please review the Tenant Selection Plan and complete the Pre-Application For Housing.
Submit your completed, signed Pre-Application For Housing to the email address noted on the form.