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True North Recovery proposes Fairview behavioral health center | Alaska News
True North Recovery proposes Fairview behavioral health center
Frame from "Public Health and Safety Committee" · Source
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True North Recovery proposes Fairview behavioral health center
by Alaska NewsMay 8, 2026(8h ago)5 min read2 viewsAnchorage
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The Anchorage Assembly Public Health and Safety Committee heard a presentation May 6 from True North Recovery on a proposed behavioral health navigation center in Fairview. The project drew support for its services but opposition from Fairview representatives over its location.
True North Recovery is seeking $750,000 in municipal opioid settlement funds to purchase the Access Alaska building in Fairview and establish an Anchorage Launchpad. The facility would provide peer navigation services Monday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with walk-in behavioral health assessments available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The center would help individuals access detox, residential treatment, medication-assisted treatment and other behavioral health services.
The proposed facility would not be a 24-hour crisis center, shelter, sobering center or involuntary crisis drop-off location, True North officials said. Those crisis services are being established separately by South Central Foundation and Providence in the University-Medical District.
True North has operated since 2018 and runs a similar facility in the Mat-Su Valley since 2022. A True North representative said the organization is peer-led, meaning most employees are people in long-term recovery. The Mat-Su Valley Launchpad has served 630 unique individuals between July 2022 and July 2025, providing 6,527 service hours. Eighty-six percent of those who engaged with True North connected to long-term behavioral health services.
Nick Kraska, True North's chief operating officer, said a feasibility study found Anchorage does not need more treatment beds. By the end of 2027, there will be 250 beds for treatment services. The problem is not space and capacity but connecting people to those beds, he said.
True North commissioned consulting firm Agnew Beck to conduct a feasibility study that interviewed 15 behavioral health organizations across Anchorage. The study found the city needs better service navigation rather than additional treatment capacity.
Josh Engel, True North's crisis services program manager, described the model as addressing a critical gap. Engel, who is in long-term recovery from a substance use disorder, said the population they serve cannot wait weeks for appointments. The Launchpad program allows people to get help when they are ready, he said.
Engel shared a success story from the Mat-Su facility. An individual walked into the Launchpad in late 2022 or early 2023 and said if this does not work, he planned to end his life. The individual had been in active substance use for more than two decades and was involved with the justice system. That individual now works for True North Recovery and has had his ankle monitor removed for the first time legally in 30 years, Engel said.
This article was drafted with AI assistance and reviewed by editors before publishing. Every claim can be verified against the original transcript. If you spot an error, let us know.
The Fairview Community Council opposes the location, citing the neighborhood's history of concentrated social services and concerns about impacts on nearby residents and the Fairview Recreation Center, which serves vulnerable youth.
A Fairview Community Council representative said True North does a great job and the services are desperately needed. But Fairview has historically been the site of concentrated municipal services, including the Anchorage jail, the city dump and the homeless shelter of last resort. A 2018 Assembly resolution acknowledged the harms of service concentration in neighborhoods.
The representative said the Assembly has a choice about whether to use city funds to make this project happen in this location. True North wants this location because it is expedient, available, fits their needs and is inexpensive. The harms of continuing to concentrate services are real, and the decision is whether the savings of expediency are worth more than the harm to the neighborhood, the representative said.
Assembly Member Meg Zaletel, who represents Fairview, submitted a policy memo recommending the project proceed in a different location. It is a great project, wrong location, Zaletel said.
Some assembly members suggested alternative locations. Assembly Member Anna Brawley said she would welcome True North in Midtown, noting some fantastic locations along the Tudor Corridor, close to the hospital and other services.
True North officials said the Access Alaska building was the only turnkey-ready facility they could find that met their needs. Kraska said the building needs nothing other than security systems, surveillance and their own touches. They could start providing services tomorrow. The building is zoned for the proposed use.
Eric Early, executive director of Access Alaska, said his organization has been trying to sell the building for 15 months and showed it to more than 20 potential buyers. Access Alaska plans to rent space from True North and remain in the Fairview neighborhood if the sale proceeds.
Early said they are at an impasse. He can sell the building at any minute to anybody, as long as they meet the permitting. But they are trying to be a good neighbor, he said.
Assembly members asked about the facility's operations and potential community impacts. True North officials said individuals could walk in or be picked up by mobile peer teams. The organization would provide two points of contact for community concerns and maintain security cameras and lighting at the facility.
James Savage, True North's community engagement director, said the organization has letters of recommendation from neighbors at its Mat-Su facilities reporting no increase in vacancy, foot traffic or property impacts.
Municipal officials clarified the distinction between the proposed peer-navigation model and the Third Avenue Navigation Center. Thea, acting member of the mayor's office, said the critical difference is what problem people are seeking help with. At Third Avenue Resource and Navigation Center, people are seeking assistance with homelessness. At this proposed location, they are seeking help to access behavioral health treatment, which is a health service.
The committee chair announced a special Public Health and Safety Committee meeting for Wednesday, May 13 at 10:30 a.m. to allow fuller community discussion before the Assembly votes on the funding request May 26.
Several community members testified. Bill Cannon, president of the Mountain View Community Council, said he would welcome True North in his neighborhood. You have to bring help where there is need, and Mountain View has a lot of need, Cannon said.
Other residents raised concerns about proximity to green spaces and the Fairview Recreation Center. One speaker described encountering fires, drug use and homeless camps on the Campbell Creek Trail near the Catholic Social Services shelter.
Roger Riley, a property owner who houses about 1,700 people in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley, said True North has successfully operated a 16-bed facility in one of his buildings for the past year. None of the neighbors even know who is living there. The place is kept up very well, and he has had no problems at all, Riley said.
The $750,000 in opioid settlement funds would cover the building purchase. True North has been working with the Anchorage Police Department's HOPE Team, dedicating two peers to camp abatements. That partnership has connected 64 individuals to long-term care in 348 hours of work.
The Assembly will consider the funding request at its May 26 meeting.
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