A Safe Place to Call Home

“A home to me is safety,” says Marc, a 42-year resident of Valdez. He credits Alaska Housing Finance Corporation with playing a role in helping him find that sense of safety during a challenging time in his life.

Marc grew up in Hawai’i, participating in canoe races to Molokai, free diving and fishing. “I was like a beach boy, surfing, canoeing, running the beach,” he recalls. In 1984 he journeyed to Alaska to visit a cousin in Valdez. “There's not too many places like Valdez,” he says. “Everybody waves at you as you're going down the street.”

Called by the small town, Marc moved to Valdez shortly after his visit. He worked a variety of jobs, from cooking to working as a longshoreman, cab driver and a caretaker, taking opportunities as they arose, until a growing disability made it too challenging to continue to work.

Connecting with New Housing

Marc’s rental unit was sold during this time that his disability was worsening and he found himself in a precarious situation, without a home and without work. “I turned to Alaska Housing,” he says.

With the support of AHFC staff, Marc joined the waitlist for Valdez Housing Choice Vouchers. He was soon connected with an apartment and remained a consistent resident of the property for more than nine years.

“Michelle has been great,” Marc says of AHFC staff in Valdez. “She went out of her way to get things done for us.”

Moving to Valdez Senior Living Apartment

Marc continued to experience lessening mobility from complex diabetes and when a spot opened at Valdez Senior Living Apartments–an affordable senior housing complex–Marc saw an opportunity to secure housing that would be safer and offer him the appropriate support. “It's been a great place to live,” he says. “It’s all brand new.”

Though he did not know it at the time, finding safe housing at Valdez Senior Living Apartments was the second time AHFC played a role in helping Marc find that sense of home.

An Investment in the Community

Valdez Senior Living Apartments was funded in part by two federally-funded sources administered thorough Alaska Housing Finance Corporation:

• Low Income Housing Tax Credits: A federal tax credit program to incentivize affordable housing development. Read about LIHTC.
• HOME Investment Partnership Act: Federally-funded grants to state and locates to facilitate a breadth of housing-related activities, such as building, buying or rehabilitating affordable housing. Read about HOME.

Construction of the 28-unit property was completed in April 2024. It offers 22 one-bedroom units and 6 two-bedroom units and is managed by North Star Management.

Marc is now settled into his new home at Valdez Senior Living Apartments.

He recognizes that he is not alone in his journey or the support he has received from Alaska Housing: “I’m sure I’m not the only one getting help,” he says. “It's working out for me now, especially at the living facility that I'm in.”

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Looking for affordable rental housing in Valdez? Read about the opening of Blueberry Terrace, a new affordable housing development and inquire about availability.