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Hypothermia death exposes hole in Fairbanks’ homeless care

Fairbanks Rescue Mission emergency services director John Coghill, left, and executive director Pete Kelly, both former Alaska state senators, talk in an office in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Jan. 30, 2023. The case of a homeless man who froze to death in Alaska’s second-largest city of Fairbanks has exposed a hole in the safety net of care provided to a vulnerable population in one of the coldest places in the country. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News via AP)

Fairbanks housing coordinator Brynn Butler, who has experienced homelessness, poses for a photo on Feb. 1, 2023, in front of Fairbanks City Hall, in Fairbanks, Alaska. Butler said the city could develop a cold-weather plan that might allow it to activate emergency shelters in extreme weather. The case of a homeless man who froze to death in Alaska’s second-largest city of Fairbanks has exposed a hole in the safety net of care provided to a vulnerable population in one of the coldest places in the country. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News via AP)

An unoccupied tent appears recently used in an encampment on the east side of Fairbanks, Alaska, on Jan. 30, 2023. The case of a homeless man who froze to death in Alaska’s second-largest city of Fairbanks has exposed a hole in the safety net of care provided to a vulnerable population in one of the coldest places in the country. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News via AP)

Kenneth Cooper pauses while commenting on his living situation on Jan. 31, 2023, in Fairbanks, Alaska. Cooper, who has been homeless on and off in Fairbanks for years, said he sometimes stays with friends and on occasion, has made a dugout in a snowbank. The case of a homeless man who froze to death in Alaska’s second-largest city of Fairbanks has exposed a hole in the safety net of care provided to a vulnerable population in one of the coldest places in the country. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News via AP)

Niko Thompson, who runs programs for veterans through the Fairbanks Rescue Mission, walks into a wooded area of Fairbanks, Alaska, on Jan. 30, 2023, to look for encampments while conducting the Point-In-Time count of unsheltered people. The case of a homeless man who froze to death in Alaska’s second-largest city of Fairbanks has exposed a hole in the safety net of care provided to a vulnerable population in one of the coldest places in the country. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News via AP)

Hypothermia death exposes hole in Fairbanks’ homeless care