I didn’t know Dan Austin well. One of his closest friends asked me to join the St. Vincent de Paul board on Father’s Day 2018. I doubt he nor almost anyone else knew that five weeks later Dan would pass away. I did not know the circumstances at the time, but I have heard many stories since I came to sit at his desk. I have come to appreciate his visionary ideas of providing the neediest with housing being the highest form of assistance, while still being in awe of the vast programs he created while he led St. Vincent de Paul in Juneau as well as other housing projects in Juneau and Haines.
Dan managed St. Vincent de Paul for over 20 years. His presence in service to the neediest within Juneau was always quiet and centered on meeting needs. While St. Vincent’s started serving meals on Teal Street, soon the agency provided aid in new and different ways. Food could calm a hungry stomach for a short period of time, but more was needed. Services that provided clothing and shelter soon became a priority. Dan had the vision to build shelter rooms above the thrift store on Teal Street. In the 90s, long before Housing First was a concept, Dan realized getting needy people help included shelter as well as food and clothing.
Once people received shelter, they could work on establishing healthier habits and work towards more positive situations. He found that working with individuals required people who focused first on relationships, then on removing the hurdles to housing that most people would not think about. Routine information like identification, social security cards, and ways to be contacted are not always easy for people with no place to call home. In Dan’s mind providing the tools to get housing and supporting people once in housing was not a hand out but a hand up. He built low income housing units and family shelter rooms on Teal Street and assisted other developments including Dusty Trails and HAL (Haines Assisted Living), housing complexes for veterans, low income families, and seniors in Haines.
Today in Juneau, St. Vincent de Paul operates 101 units of housing in Juneau from family shelter rooms to senior housing. In our Teal Street Shelter, Paul’s Place, Strasbaugh, HillView, Channelview, and Smith Hall residences, people ages 1 year to 94 are housed. We take people off the street and give them hope.
Many people are aware that during COVID, St. Vincent de Paul ran the Warming Shelter downtown at the old armory. This was originally an emergency shelter for the winter on nights the temperature dropped below 32. With COVID limiting capacity at traditional shelters and many usual places for the homeless to spend time closed, the emergency shelter averaged 46 people a night, housed on cots.
Fewer people were aware that for every person housed at the emergency shelter, St. Vincent de Paul housed at least 3 other people in housing that kept them off the streets and in a safe, secure room where they could have their own meals and security.
Dan’s vision extended to the needs of the community. For a while St. Vincent’s operated a childcare facility to provide affordable child care so young parents could work. It included aid to those who may otherwise lose their housing. St. Vincent continues to support many families and individuals who have come through their housing with emergency food or utility assistance. Our aid budget is a constant challenge to meet, yet it is a key part of Dan’s vision and St. Vincent de Paul’s mission.
One of the best descriptions of Dan Austin’s work was that he had a “100 burner stove.” As he sought to serve the neediest, he knew he would have to find funding. While shelters and aid can come from grants, and donations, low income housing of the truly low income individuals in an expensive housing market is an extreme challenge. He struggled with combinations of grants, loans, and housing vouchers. Pieces may have fallen through a crack, but it was always his hope that he could find a source of revenue not government dependent.
He was on the verge of this “10 year dream” at the time of his death. St. Vincent de Paul Societies throughout the world have sought to gain funds for serving the neediest through thrift stores. When St. Vincent de Paul’s thrift store moved from its Teal Street shelter to the corner of Shell Simmons and Glacier Highway, he hoped the extra revenue would provide needed support for his many programs. His untimely death made the transition very rough, but ironically a COVID closure allowed staff the opportunity to make key remodeling and reorganization that has resulted in significantly improved sales.
Dan’s relationships with those he served and those whose agencies worked with him ran deep. I saw this first hand when I was called to the hospital in April. A woman served by SVdP who was successfully housed and returned to be a regular volunteer and helper around the office had listed the St. Vincent de Paul general manager as executor of her will. I met her in the hospital and established a relationship based on her memories of him. A few changes needed to be made to her will, but I returned days later to see her one last time as her health deteriorated quickly. As I left, I received a call from the hospital’s head case manager. She thanked me for handling a dying friend’s request in a way that would have made Dan proud.
Dan was also a great mentor and friend to many social service agencies in Juneau. Mariya Lovishchuk, Executive Director of the Glory Hall, told me that Dan was one of the most influential mentors and a dearest friend. Without Dan, several projects including Juneau Housing First Collaborative, Juneau Medical Respite Program, the Navigator program, currently at the hospital, unsheltered counts, and much more would have much less of a chance to become reality. There are many other people in Juneau who feel the same way.
No one is perfect and if Dan had a blind spot, it was the vast number of people and projects he was involved in that left some items unfinished. His death came too suddenly and unexpectedly. Few people knew he was fighting cancer until shortly before his death. He didn’t have time to transfer his knowledge and his activities. The hundred burner stove kept going, but some pots didn’t receive the attention they deserved. The loss left a big hole in St. Vincent de Paul without a secession plan in place and a gap in the service providers of Juneau. I have listened both to many leaders of the service providing community as well as people who started in our shelter and became successful contributors within our community. I continue to learn, both of Dan’s impact on their lives personally and on the many programs he helped to serve the neediest here in Juneau.
Grief and healing takes time.
On Sunday, July 25, we had planned to meet and remember a man who made a giant impact on many lives and on the agency he ran for so long. The upswing in COVID within our community makes such a meeting unwise at this time. This COVID crisis has left agencies scrambling to protect both those who serve and those we serve. It is a never ending challenge that will require visionary leadership to address new challenges. The economic hardships, mental health challenges, and social stress caused by the COVID pandemic will last longer than the health crisis. We will need to move forward with vision and compassion, knowing that Dan had those in abundance. We will remember and ask for the strength to continue his service within our organization and within our community.