Railbelt Mental Health & Addictions

Nenana Wellness Coalition
Minutes
September 19, 2006

The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska.
There were 13 people in attendance today including Bonnie Reed, Maryellen Kanayurak, Kat McElroy, Tim Reed, Gene & Diane Jensen, Jeff Martin, Rob Thomason, Mike Anderson, Earl Polk, Rita Pierce, Miles Martin and Jenny Irwin.

We had lunch of moose stew and Pilot Bread, cooked by Kat. Moose meat supplied by Miles.

WELCOME and READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: By this week’s chairperson, Bonnie Reed.

PRAYER lead by Rita Pierce and was followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: Rita asked to be added to the agenda and requested to go first as she would need to leave early.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES-were completed last week by Miles and emailed to the WIN e-list by Kat with no noted suggestions or any requests for changes.

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Diane introduced her son-in-law Jeff Martin who has taken on the tasks of design and layout of the Nenana Messenger newspaper.

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

Neighborhood Watch Meeting - Rita Pierce reported that there were about a dozen people at the Neighborhood Watch meeting last night at the Tribal Hall. She said that Thursday, September 21st, Neighborhood Watch will be doing a free all-day workshop in Anchorage. Anyone wanting to attend can get further information from Rita. The trainer, Neighborhood Watch national representative John Mathews, and his cohort Emily Early, will be in Nenana the next day, Friday and will give a mini-workshop at the cafeteria at Nenana City Public School from 4-5:30 PM. This is open to the public and anyone interested in learning more about Neighborhood Watch is encouraged to plan to attend. Discussion ensued regarding the program. Gene said that he believes it is a good organization, “but only as good as the people involved, of course.” We discussed the need for police enforcement in our community. It was mentioned that it took two days to get a trooper response to a felony drug incident at the student living center.
Health Fair Survey – Tim was given the Health Fair community needs surveys administered by RMHA staff during the dance last Friday. The tally indicated that the most desired topics in order of most votes was: Traditional Methods of Healing, Weight Control & Exercise, Cancer, Diabetes, and Depression. This information was from the 20 or so surveys completed Friday night. Discussion ensued regarding other venues to get a wider sampling of the community. Rob said that surveys could be completed by students at school if no identifying information was attached to the process. Railbelt printed off several hundred and will provide the school with blank surveys to administer to high school and jr. high students. It was suggested we ask Marilyn to have some at the store with an envelope for people to fill-out and drop off there. Ditto the library, perhaps the city office, and would people be willing to take surveys to the various church bodies. Surveying a wide segment of the community will give us a clearer idea of our target population and topics for the proposed health fair. No date set as of yet.
Exercise Leader Training – Tim Horn stated that she has not heard back from the gentleman that she contacted regarding this, but that she will call again and hopefully get back to us on the issue.
Art Train – Miles Martin announced that Crowley donated a thousand gallons of fuel to Art Train. (Earl interjected that Crowley also donated the pallets for the NSLC basketball court.) Art Train will arrive in Nenana on Monday, October 9th. There is a reception slated that evening at the Tribal Hall, 6 PM. Mike Anderson and NSLC will cook the main dish, Salmon. Miles will get the salmon, donated by Karen Lord, to Mike. It is felt that we need to assign other dishes specifically for the pot luck. Miles will ask Robin if NNC would be willing to make moose soup. Mike asked about paper plates, etc. Railbelt has plastic ware they could donate. Miles thinks the Chamber has Styrofoam cups. He’ll do an inventory by next week to see. There is no money budgeted for lodging. Art Train folks will eat breakfasts and lunches at the school. As their schedule was set by them to run ‘til 8 PM they will have catch late supper at NSLC. Diane has posters and will send some to Minto and Manley Hot Springs. She also said she would contact Jeri Lucier in Healy to ascertain that Healy and Cantwell schools are being informed of the event. Art Train would like a specific schedule so they will now when to expect each group of students. It was suggested to Miles that he have a couple of organizational meetings between now and the event as there is not a good informational feedback loop and people are confused about what’s happening, when, and where. Miles indicated this is a good opportunity to display and highlight the works of our local artists. Tim suggested we get Kevin Busk involved towards that goal. Rita was asked if she would be willing to make the sled they built last year at the school available for viewing. Diane volunteered to make sure invites go to VIP’s from Nenana and our neighboring communities: Minto, Manley, Healy, Anderson/Clear and Cantwell.
Recovery Employment – Kat McElroy said that we have people in our community who are in outpatient treatment or who have completed residential treatment and are in after-care who are ready willing and able to work but who need employment. There are people in Nenana who have odd jobs they need done and would be willing to hire someone who is looking for work. How can we hook them up? Is there any way that WIN can assist in this process? Economic development is a primary recovery task. Jeff suggested a job board. Both Coghill’s and the city office have bulletin boards. It would be simple to make a space for a job board, if either entity was willing to allow the use of their space for an exchange of information.
Dancing in the Street results – RMHA estimates there were about 450 people for the community dinner Friday night. The parade was wonderful. We offer big Kudos to Maryellen for that. Special thanks to Mike and the kids at NSLC for the cooking as well as set-up and break-down of the civic center. Great job, well done. We had guests from Old Minto, Fairbanks and Anchorage. Woody Salmon attended and enjoyed himself. Our guest from SAMHSA in Washington DC and the representatives from the state of Alaska Division of Behavioral Health Services had a good time and got to see our community at it’s best. The crew from Akeela House did a moving skit about the dangers of alcohol abuse and all were contagious in their enthusiasm for recovery. We gave away over 500 soaps and close to 700 lotions promoting sobriety and recovery. Everyone commented on the incredibly talented and creative uses put to the four thousand glow sticks that were passed out during the dance. We just had a really good time and it could not have happened without everyone’s efforts. Jenny noted that she taught all of her grandchildren how to do the two step and that in the old days, “We had dances all the time, no alcohol, us kids would watch our mamas and dads dance, having fun. It was good.” We all agreed we would like to see more sober dances in our future.

WELLNESS THOUGHT
A big shot is just a little shot who kept on shooting. –Zig Ziglar
Consider these words of Calvin Coolidge: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is filled with educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are alone omnipotent. ‘Press on!’ has been and always will be the answer to every human problem.”
Coolidge was right. In the successful pursuit of a vision, persistence always makes the difference. Colonel Sanders approached 1,094 restaurants before he found someone who would try his recipe for fried chicken. Thomas Edison made over 2,000 attempts before he invented the light bulb. Abraham Lincoln failed in two businesses and lost five elections before he became president.
The ability to persevere in the face of adversity takes a special kind of faith. It’s easy to get discouraged when obstacles appear. If you are in such a situation, know that time is on your side. Time plus sustained effort always produce results. After waiting 33 years to win the world championship, a coach was asked, “Was it worth the wait?” “Absolutely,” he replied. “In fact, the long delay actually made the victory sweeter.”
You are reading from the book:

Listening to Your Inner Voice by Douglas Bloch

OLD BUSINESS—None noted

NEW BUSINESS—None reported

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS—Earl announced that the first Agutag Bowl was held this weekend, with open invitation to the town to come play basketball at the student living center. This weekend will be the Powder Puff league with the girl’s playing. Everyone is invited to come starting after school Friday and continuing Saturday.

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION—Jeff said that he likes the Community Watch program. He said that it bothers him there isn’t much law enforcement in our town. He noted the incidence of people speeding, “going 50 MPH in 25 MPH zones, just peeling out.” He said he is always afraid one of his children will be hurt. He added that he takes his kids to the playground and “I always have to clean up broken bottles, so they can ride their bikes there. It isn’t safe.” He reports hearing yelling and screaming, partying, at three in the morning, “Who do you call? There’s no one to report these things to.” He noted the rash of vandalism that occurred down at the boat landing. “Maybe we should make a map, to track where these incidents occur.” He suggested a phone tree, to let people know. He would like to see something done. He suggested more community get-togethers, “plan a Community Watch party, have a speaker, get discussion going.”
Tim reminded us that currently we have Community Watch meetings the first Thursday of every month, with a pot-luck, and everyone is invited.

ADJOURNMENT at 2 PM.

Nenana Wellness Coalition
MINUTES
December 26, 2006

The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska.

Because of the Christmas holiday closure, meeting was held in the office at Railbelt Mental Health and Addictions. There were five participants including: Kat McElroy, Ray Fox, Miles Martin, David Poppe and Leon McElroy. We had lunch: smoked salmon, crackers, sliced apples and pumpkin cheesecake.

Kat chaired the meeting.

There was no official WELCOME or READING OF MISSION STATEMENT; nor did we pray or recite the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE. We had no PRESENTATION OF AGENDA, nor CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS. MINUTES from last week’s meeting were posted electronically to the WIN e-list with no suggestions for changes or corrections noted to date.

Peak Oil – David Poppe handed out fact sheets he printed from the Cooperative Extension web site regarding peak oil and suggested personal and community responses. He explained Peak Oil, which is basically the understanding that oil is not an infinite or renewable resource. There is much debate about Peak Oil in regards to when it may occur but it is simple supply and demand economics and experts all agree that the demand for oil increases as other nations seek to achieve the life style of modern industrialized nations and at the same time the supply of oil at some point will peak, which will result in higher prices for a commodity of diminishing supply. Some believe that this is already occurring, that easily available oil worldwide has been tapped out and future oil production will be increasingly difficult and expensive to extract; others predict it will occur in ten years, or twenty years.
There are several focuses of interest in this: the need to conserve energy—for instance weatherizing your home to make it more fuel efficient and developing and utilizing community based markets for food and other goods as opposed to shipping commodities thousands of miles to consumers—as well as seeking alternative energy resources. David talked about some of the ongoing considerations on several Peak Oil web sites he has monitored for the past three years. Discussion ensued regarding personal responses to the possible crises of Peak Oil, community responses to same, and national and global implications. One thing noted was the many possible alternative energy resources Alaska has including solar, river current and wind generated power. Another item of discussion was how Alaska is locked into sales of our natural resources without value added; timber, fish and oil all go somewhere else to be processed and then are sold back to us. There was discussion about natural gas as an alternative energy resource and the myriad costs associated with bringing this to market. There were a lot of questions about other alternative energy sources. More discussion included the need for community gardens and the likelihood of having a community greenhouse. It was agreed we would like to revisit this issue.

OLD BUSINESS: None noted

NEW BUSINESS: None put forward

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS: Kat announced that she will be on holiday for the next two weeks, returning Jan 13th. The NSLC is closed until the students return for school January 9th so WIN participants will need to decide where to have meeting next week.

ADJOURNMENT: meeting adjourned at about 2:30 PM.

Nenana Wellness Coalition

Minutes

19 December, 2006

 The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska. 

There were ten in attendance for the meeting today including: Kat McElroy, Ray Fox, Ken Eggleston, Donald Charlie, and Miles Martin, three VISTA volunteer people from Fairbanks, Gayle Rayme and Brent. Per our discussion and decision at WIN last week, the regular meeting was suspended today so we could attend the Informational meeting held at TCCC.

 

The meal was preceded by a short prayer led by Kat. After we ate, Gayle and Brent gave us a rundown of the schedule for the incoming TCCC cohort. Application was opened up nation-wide and about half of the participants this year are coming from the lower-48.

They gave us an update on the training schedule which will include basic program orientation, first aid and emergency responder, chainsaw safety, fire-fighter/red card training, and tobacco and alcohol/drug information. TCCC is also again offering a construction trades class for college credit, partnering with UAF/Interior Aleutians campus. Spike (work project) assignments will include Mississippi, Louisiana and Oregon as well as various communities around Alaska.

This year’s cohort includes a mentoring component and a portion of the applicants are college graduates and will be mentoring and tutoring those applicants who need to work on obtaining their GED’s. There will be three work groups, with two of them going on assignments around the state and in the lower-48. The third group will be stationed in Nenana and will focus on projects within our community including a greenhouse and community garden, timbering, experimental agricultural project involving berries and service work for the seniors. There will also be further work on the hockey rink. Any non-profit in the community wishing to avail themselves of TCCC/Americorps volunteer workers is urged to get a work request in now as the schedule is filling up fast.

There was brief discussion about other possible projects in Nenana. Ken will be teaching the construction trades coursework and explained how he incorporates math (geometry and trigonometry) into the construction work so that students learn by doing. Miles asked about the trains that sit in front of the Cultural Center. One of the VISTA people wondered if they could be made into a hostel.

 ADJOURNMENT approximately 1:30 P.M.

Nenana Wellness CoalitionAGENDA

December 12^th, 2006

 The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska.

Meeting Times:  Every Tuesday at Noon at the Nenana Student Living Center

     

Meeting was attended this week by 11 individuals including: Wayne Walters, Tim Horn, Bonnie Reed, Rob Thomason, Rick Martin, Donald Charlie, Miles Martin, Maryellen Kanayurak, Laura Vance, Kat McElroy and Paul Verhagen.

We had chicken soup, pilot bread, roast chicken with potatoes and vegetables and home-made brownies for lunch.

 

WELCOME and READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: by this week’s chairperson: Bonnie Reed

 

PRAYER was lead by Kat McElroy, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: Laura asked to give an update on Operation Ho, Ho, Ho; Tim asked for time to talk about Neighborhood Watch.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were sent out last Tuesday via e-mail to everyone on the list and there have been no suggestions for changes.

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: We welcomed Rick Martin who is now Student Success Coordinator at NCPS. He explained that his primary job duties are to assist students towards academic achievement however that needs to be accomplished including working on study skills, getting tutoring, encouraging individual students. His position is funded out of Alaska Native Education monies. He said, “I am focusing on local as well as NSLC students.” He indicated he wished to dispel the perception that his services were only directed towards living center students.

           

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

             Health Fair Scheduling – Tim Horn says that she spoke with Joe Kraus at the school and they decided that Thursday, March 22^nd would work best for our Health Fair. She says that she needs to contact Phyllis in Fairbanks to discuss logistics—how long we should anticipate it would take for a school class to go through the entire health fair. The teachers will be picking out which educational displays they would like the students to see. There is Open Gym that night so we need to be able to be out of there by 7 P.M. Tim said she thought that we should plan to have the Health Fair over by 6. If they are going to do blood draws/blood work as part of the Health Fair, that needs to be scheduled for early in the morning as some tests require a 12 hour fast. Operation Ho Ho Ho – Laura Vance said that she has taken names for about 60 families for Operation Ho Ho Ho. We will be picking up food from Santa’s Clearinghouse Friday, December 15^th, early morning and putting the boxes together all day at the Tribal Hall. The school is doing an Angel Tree and Laura hopes that those gifts will be ready to go by then as well. 

Neigborhood Watch—Tim Horn reported on the Neighborhood Watch meeting last Thursday evening. There was a very small attendance. People are interested in putting out a newsletter specifically to address the lack of information we have in our community about local crime. Rita had suggested printing a Police Log, since it isn’t published in our local paper and only intermittently in the Fairbanks Daily Newsminer. She got arrest information from the Troopers and had brought that to the NW meeting. It had also been decided to ask if one WIN meeting a month could be designated as a Neighborhood Watch meeting. Miles suggested that we put Neighborhood Watch on the agenda one meeting a month but expressed reservations about abrogating WIN entirely to NW for fear we would lose momentum on our other projects. Discussion ensued and his suggested was accepted. Laura voiced concern about creating an atmosphere of public humiliation by publishing arrest records. Discussion was intense. The consensus of opinion seemed to be that no one really knows what the goal is for publishing arrest records; it is seen as an attempt to create a public record of crimes being committed in our neighborhood, to document the need for policing, for rumor control, as well as to assist in a risk analysis. Would this accomplish any of those goals? Tim asked that Block Gatherings be put on the agenda for discussion with Neighborhood Watch next week.

 

WELLNESS THOUGHT

We have to be the change we want to see.
–Anonymous       

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

Rob said “It’s that busy time of year for the school. The play was our BIG event this weekend. It’s test time, end of the quarter time, a busy but happy place to be.” He also reminded us that the last day of school will be December 22^nd, which will be a half day, and that everybody is invited to have lunch with the students this Thursday, December 14^th, with a charge of $2.00 for adults. Bonnie interjected that it is community dinner night tonight at NSLC at 6 PM.

 

Wayne said that he is putting the last coat of ice on the skating rink this afternoon. They have the Zamboni up and running. They have more equipment. The kids can start skating any time now.

 

Tim announced that she and Bonnie and Carol Gallo continue practicing the Arthritis Foundation exercises 2 times per week, preparing to teach after the new year.

 

Bonnie said that the Seniors made over $700.00 on the Christmas Bazaar this weekend. She said that the shorter hours seem to work well. She noted that the library made five hundred dollars on their silent auction. Miles noted that this money is being raised for matching funds; they need one thousand dollars to match a twenty thousand dollar grant for the library. He explained that the Friends of the Library is a separate 501 (3)c non-profit formed to help Darcia with the library and that this money goes into their account, not into the city’s general fund. 

 

Donald Charlie announced that January 18^th has been set as the date for the next Community Safety Action meeting.  It will start at 6 P.M. and it is a pot luck.

 

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION

 

NEXT WELLNESS MEETING DATE/TIME/CHAIRPERSON/GUEST SPEAKERS/SUBJECTS

Lastly, it came to our attention that there was an organizational meeting today out at TCCC. Apparently there will be another meeting there next Tuesday, December 19^th, at Noon. If that is the case, we voted to have our WIN meeting there so as to be able to participate at TCCC. E-mail notification and phone calls will be made if that is the case.

  

ADJOURNMENT 2 P.M.

Nenana Wellness Coalition
MINUTES
December 5th, 2006

The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska.

There were a total of eight in attendance: Donald Charlie, Maryellen Kanayurak, Tim Horn, Bonnie Reed, Kat McElroy, Ray Fox, Paul Verhagen and Rob Thomason. We had lunch: prawns with five cheese tortellini and home-made sweet rolls.

WELCOME and READING OF MISSION STATEMENT by this week’s chairperson, Tim Horn.

PRAYER was led by Kat McElroy followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: Kat asked to be allowed to read a short piece she brought on Wellness.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were submitted electronically last Tuesday afternoon with no suggestions for modification so approved by voice. Mike Anderson requested to be added to the WIN e-list. Rob supplied his e-mail address for Kat to so add.

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Tim noted that she hadn’t been to the past couple of meetings to see Ray Fox there and she welcomed him.

SPEAKERS/TOPICS
Healing Forests—Kat McElroy read the following which she got from a T’linkit language e-group:

Community wellness is very important and worth our time and consideration. I am reminded of a visit from one of our southern relatives who likened the problems within our community to an ailing plant in the forest. He said our past inclination has been to sympathize with the ailing plant, dig it up, take it to a nursery, nurse it back to health, and put it back into the forest, only to find after a little time the plant again became ill. He continued to say that we needed to determine the causes within the forest that are contributing to their illnesses and place our time, money and our energies within the forest’s environment.
Enter our community wellness advocates. I’ve found that there are many similar problems within our communities that contribute to our issues but I’ve also found that our programs continue and try to come up with blanket solutions to meet these problems and this works temporarily, if at all. In my mind, we have to look at the past influences of our own community history. We need to look at past generation’s influence on each proceeding generation. What was accomplished and what wasn’t accomplished. Were issues of each generation resolved, or were they left for future generations to solve? What I know of our history is that it is filled with unresolved tragedies which left past generations of trauma on top of generations of trauma. Our inclination has been to patronize those who are socially and visibly suffering and our own leader’s unwillingness to share those tragic realities within their own lives and leading the way to balance within our lives. Any psychotherapist will tell you each community is different and will heal differently. Just because one community is able to set up a particular structure within a particular amount of time does not mean other communities will be able to do so in that same amount of time.
Apathy and hopelessness are difficult ailments to overcome. Oftentimes, this is what we are putting the ailing plant back into. Then too, some programs try and move forward ignoring the hopelessness and apathy and continue and wonder why the plants still get sick. I think we need to start asking ourselves the hard questions, “Have we learned from past generations to ignore and deny our problems, are we teaching the next generations to do the same?” Tommy Jimmie, Jr.

Kat referenced her encounter with the schism between the native community and the school that surfaced when she was coordinating the Choose to Live/Suicide Prevention gathering here in Nenana three years ago. “There were many people that expressed extreme anger at having any portion of the gathering at the school, and voted with their feet, not participating in those workshops. Until then,” she said, “I wasn’t really aware of how broad and how deep that rift is.” She said that this piece speaks to the issue of that kind of multi-generational resentment and anger. “It’s invisible until something triggers it and then it just sort of boils up over.”
Tim said that upon returning to Nenana she was surprised, speaking to her former school-mates, to experience that schism. “Some of them had a completely different experience than I did, as if they had gone to a different school.” She identified some of the issues she felt contributed to this and acknowledged that it is an ongoing problem. Discussion ensued regarding other schisms in our community and how they have played out over the years. Donald Charlie related a conversation he had at a potlatch in Minto last week with the Rev. Anna Frank. He described some of the strengths our community has including our Community Safety meetings, the WIN meetings and community involvement over the years by the churches, the school, the tribe, the mayor, and the police. “There is power in Numbers,” he said. Kat noted that she is going to use this piece written by Tom Jimmie, Jr. to open her Senior Project paper as it aptly describes some of the dynamics that we struggle with. She noted she believes it is a common struggle to other communities as well.

Health Survey Results – Tim Horn had Kat present the compilation of stats from the Health Surveys. Surveys were administered to multiple sets of individuals including: at Dancing in the Streets, at WIN, at Senior Center, at school to Jr. High and HS students, at several places around the community. The most interest across all domains was expressed (in descending order): depression, stress management, drugs/alcohol abuse, suicide, weight control, exercise and physical fitness. Otherwise, the most frequently requested topics by the Seniors was Traditional Healing while the students expressed high interest in Sports First Aid, Pregnancy, Smoking/tobacco, Anorexia/Eating Disorders and Family Problems.
Per suggestion, Mike made copies of the master data sheets from the surveys for everyone. Tim led discussion regarding the surveys, including best possible dates and venues for same. Consensus appears to be March sometime, at the school, and with day and evening hours to include the students as well as people who work days. Rob suggested taking the concept to the school management team; they would be able to tell us what all we need to do.
Paul mentioned that “all of the most requested topics are inter-related. Depression can be caused by stress. People turn to drugs or alcohol, or food. It affects their health. More depression. More Stress.” He suggested that they are all related to conflict resolution, suggested that we consider having a workshop for health fair participants on conflict resolution.
Donald Charlie and Robin Campbell have put in applications to attend the Health Fair Training down in Anchorage.

Arthritis Foundation Exercise Training – Tim Horn reported that five people completed the training. They are looking forward to doing weekly sessions after the New Year. She showed us a poster and said that she has placed them around town, to let people know that this is going to be available.

WELLNESS THOUGHT
Every day, I am only exactly as happy as I make up my mind to be.
–Anonymous

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS
Rob reported that the YERK is stalled temporarily. The city has run out of funds and doesn’t have money to install the cupboards needed in the classrooms. The city/school is working on this. Maybe the shop class will install the cupboards. Paul mentioned that his brother has invited him to start-up an Alaskan contingent of his Maui Custom Cabinets. He said he could perhaps get a good price. Rob directed him to the mayor, as it is up to the city to decide. There’s no exercise equipment yet in the Fitness room. Phone system has not yet been installed by ACS. The Head Start looks great but the play yard needs to be expanded. Rob said they will not move in until all rooms are ready which may delay the move till as late as summer. Rob also announced that there would be a combined school board, native council and city council meeting this evening in the pit at the school at 6:30. He urged everyone to come, and said that one of the items would be a review of the auditor’s report of the school budget by Karen Altman of Altman and Rodgers who did their audit this year. He said copies of the audit report would be available to the public for anyone interested in having one.
Paul reported on a conversation he had with a youth probation officer in Fairbanks who was displeased with Paul’s decision to allow a NSLC student into our diversion program—apparently the young lady had a previous charge of Minor Consuming and the PO didn’t think she would be an appropriate candidate for Real Justice. Paul explained his reasoning to the PO, as well as to us. He has invited the PO to come to Nenana to witness one of our intervention sessions to see for herself if she believes it could be effective. She agreed also to go to the Real Justice web site to get a feel for what we are doing. Paul said that he is reluctant to share our success rates for fear people will think he is not being truthful. Of the 24 interventions he’s done, he knows of only three who have re-offended. He is interested in seeing about expanding this to other minor offenses.
Donald reported that the next community action safety meeting at the tribal hall is being planned. He thinks the date will be Tuesday, January 16. He said that he is traveling up to town every Wednesday now to do counseling and mentoring.
Kat announced Traci will be returning from Seattle this evening. She said that Railbelt is busy with Operation Ho Ho Ho. Laura has taken point on logistics for referrals and donations. Paul said that Merrily would accept donations of eggs and four; she again this year will be making banana bread for each of the food boxes. Boxes will be put together on Dec. 15th, at the tribal hall; volunteers are welcome.
Bonnie announced that the Seniors are wanting to start having movie nights.
Tim announced that the Neighborhood Watch meeting will be at the tribal hall this Thursday, Dec 7, at 5:30 PM. It will be a pot luck dinner, training and discussion

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None.

NEXT WELLNESS MEETING DATE/TIME/CHAIRPERSON/GUEST SPEAKERS/SUBJECTS: Kat said that over Christmas holiday, when he’s not working, David Poppe is wiling to come to WIN to do a presentation on Peak Oil.

ADJOURNMENT at 2:00 PM.

Nenana Wellness CoalitionMINUTES

November 28, 20056

 The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska.

Meeting Times: Every Tuesday at Noon at the Nenana Student Living Center

    

Meeting was attended by nine people this week: Donald Charlie, Maryellen Kanyurak, Ken Eggleston, Tim Horn, Earl Polk, Bonnie Reed, Paul Verhagen, Ray Fox and Kat McElroy. Mike Anderson popped in and out to ask about a donation to Operation Ho Ho Ho. We had bean soup and corn bread provided by Railbelt; Bonnie brought home-made brownies.

 

WELCOME & READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: By this week’s chairperson, Bonnie Reed.

 

PRAYER: lead by Paul Verhagen, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA & CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: Tim asked to be added to speak about the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Training if there’s time.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: by voice approval. Kat submitted minutes to the WIN e-list Tuesday afternoon; there was no call for revisions.

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: There were no guests present today. We did have a lively discussion about exercise, health and fitness. Ken mentioned that he continues eating high protein/low carb, his weight has dropped to 195, and he has been working out daily, tread-milling, 30 minutes every day and then jogging for about five minutes. He said that he has installed a VCR player so he can watch taped reruns of Northern Exposure while he works-out. Paul said that he has been walking 15 minutes a day, and he admired Ken for sticking to his routine. Earl said that he uses steam house for ridding his body of toxins. He mentioned that there are youth at NSLC dealing with weight issues, borderline diabetic. He wants to build a more efficient steam “to get really hot, hot enough, like traditional steam houses.”  Kat said that she continues tread-milling 30 minutes each day. She, too, is impressed with Ken’s dedication. She said that Railbelt has purchased a load of pedometers and wants to get them into the community to encourage people to increase their activity levels. Earl would like some for NSLC students. There is a large interest in exercise and fitness in our community.

           

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

 

            Harm Reduction – Kat McElroy gave a presentation on The Politics & The Personal: Harm Reduction conference she attended in Oakland California. She said how good it was for her to be in the company of so many people who see addiction and other self-harming behaviors in a social justice context and who have dedicated their lives to working with people to alleviate the harm in any way possible. She spoke about several workshops she attended. One was a series of workshops by The Real Cost of Prisons Project. http://realcostofprisons.org/  She mentioned a series of comic books they have put out that depict the cost on humans, families and communities of the widespread incarceration currently experienced in USA. She has ordered one hundred each of these comic books to get out into our communities and hopes they will generate discussion about other ways than incarceration of dealing with self-harm. Some of the statistics she learned in these workshops: since the War on Drugs began in the 70’s our prison population has crept up from 180,000 then to over 2.2 million today—an 8-fold increase in 30 years. In comparison, at the height of the Soviet purges, Stalin only managed to incarcerate 1.7 million Russian citizens. The vast majority of these prisoners are incarcerated for drug/alcohol-related offenses. Our nation spends 53 billion dollars a year on jails and prisons. That money could be more effective if put into treatment, education, job skills and job placement programs, parenting programs, etc.

 

Discussion ensued regarding alternative sentencing and our various communities’ efforts to intervene in these dynamics. Paul asked, “What alternatives do we have, really?” He said that he feels shackled. “We have very little wiggle room.” He spoke of his efforts to make changes. “We need to be thinking of other things. Most of all, the whole community has to come together in the same direction. We can’t have one group saying and feeling one way and another group maybe paying lip service to the idea but then enabling the bad behaviors, maybe because it’s an issue they deal with themselves.”

 

Earl said “Traditionally we had a three-tiered system in place to deal with problem behaviors. First, a talk by one of your close relatives. If that didn’t work, a community council would come together, with the Elders especially, speaking directly to the person. If that didn’t work, banishment. Which results in the loss forever of all your relationships. That’s a big deal. Usually it wouldn’t have to come to that, because the first two interventions would cause you to stop and think and change the behavior.” Earl spoke of  Judge Cummings, in Bethel, who brought Western Best Practices and Traditional understandings and beliefs together into a program that translated into English as New Beginnings which has been successful. He said it is something the kids can relate to because it is done in their own homes, on-site, outreach. Earl said one of the methods they use is story-telling. “It opens doors.” Discussion ensued regarding the varying different attitudes people have about alcohol and drug use.

 

Paul said that the presiding judge in Fairbanks loves the NSLC and has had several conversations with the chief judge about our successes there, who will be touring NSLC this Spring, in March or April.  He said, “There is no way that I can experiment outside the parameters of our judicial system. But if there is anyway that we can work together, let’s use that gate.”

 

Donald talked about having to go to court in Old Minto, when he was eight years old. “For shooting a bird with a sling shot. The whole town was there, all the Elders, my parents, neighbors. Just like Earl says. I never shot another bird, that’s for sure.”

 

Kat went on to speak about the Housing First workshop that she attended highlighting demonstration projects in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington that are having good success working with homeless chronic inebriates, addicts and chronically mentally ill people. They are seeing a dramatic increase in health and safety, increases in attendance and participation in medical, mental health and substance abuse treatment service appointments, a decrease in crime, decrease in alcohol/drug use—just by providing safe stable housing. This fits what Kat has seen professionally, that housing is a number one priority need for people struggling with addiction issues.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

            Health Fair Surveys – We did not have time to talk about this so will defer it to next week. Tim Horn will also then speak about the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Training      

 

WELLNESS THOUGHT

Everywhere you go, there you are.
–Anonymous       

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS: None, no time.

 

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None.

 

ADJOURNMENT: About 2:10 P.M.

Nenana Wellness Coalition

Minutes

November 21, 2006

 The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska.

Meeting Times: Every Tuesday at Noon at the Nenana Student Living Center

    

There were 13 people in attendance for meeting this week including: Kat McElroy, Ray Fox, Rachel Phillips, Kris Capps, Maryellen Kanayurak, Miles Martin, Mike Anderson, Rob Thomason, Earl Polk, April Mudge and three students from UAF who came to speak to students at NSLC about their experiences going to college. The only name I caught was Joel Forbes. We had turkey soup and turkey sandwiches for lunch.

 

WELCOME and READING OF MISSION STATEMENT by this week’s chairperson, Kat McElroy.

 

PRAYER was led by Rob Thomason followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE

 

There was no call for modifications to the agenda and the minutes were approved per electronic submission.

 INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS—Rachel Phillips introduced Kris Capps from Healy 

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

Happenings in Healy—Kris Capps wears many hats in Healy. She is a writer for the Fairbanks Daily Newsminer and has a regular column highlighting the happenings in the Denali Borough and works for the Denali School District in their Service Learning program. She explained that picking up litter would be community service but picking up litter and deciding how to organize a recycling effort would be service learning. She came specifically today to speak about various Wellness efforts in her area. She has written a grant to get funding for a part-time (10 hour per week) wellness coordinator position in Healy to run from January to June, 2007. Her vision is that this will morph into a fulltime position. It will consist primarily of building a web-site, doing monthly newsletters and organizing one or two wellness activities in each community in the borough. She shared many ideas she has for promoting wellness and safety and discussed ways that our various communities, business and service agencies could partner. Partnering doesn’t mean Doing It For Free, she emphasized, but rather building on one another’s strengths.

Kris also gave a slide show depicting local wellness efforts. She talked about the success they’ve experienced with the Kids Don’t Float at Otto Lake and described the process she experienced creating and implementing water safety programs. She got funding for training of high school students around water safety issues and then helped the HS students teach junior high students who in turn taught elementary students, utilizing strategies like Water Safety Bingo and Self-Rescue skill-building. She was able to get a US Olympic Gold Medal winner and coach to come to Healy to teach kayaking and to do community presentations. She expects to be able to fuind funding to bring them back again next year. She said that she had sponsors chasing her, “Because it got to be such a community event.” Discussion ensued regarding ways to create that kind of community-wide excitement and buy-in for wellness activities. She described the river festival last summer including down river races, wild-water rodeo and slalom races in a rooster tail rapids. Next year, Denali Outdoor Center (one of their local commercial sponsors) will have space at Otto Lake for youth from all over to stay during the events.

Cantwell and Healy want to get Ski Programs going for their communities. It was also noted that people want avalanche safety, snow safety and snow-machine safety. Miles was interested to know how this could be tied into tourism. Discussion ensued regarding the highway Companions meeting slated fro Nenana Tripod Days weekend. He and Kris brainstormed various speakers that might be appropriate for that venue, tying economic development, tourism, wellness and outdoor adventure together.  Harm Reduction Conference—Report from Oakland conference, Kat McElroy passed out some literature she brought back regarding the prison industry and the ineffectiveness of the “War On Drugs” so far as stopping drug use or making safer communities. We were short of time so she will make her formal presentation later. 

Health Fair Surveys—Tally of the surveys from NCPS, WIN, Dancing in the Streets, Seniors and the general community indicate that the top issues across all domains in our community seem to be: stress management, depression, weight control, fitness/exercise, alcohol/drug abuse, and suicide. Again, for lack of time, we will need to discuss this at a later date.

 The students from UAF will be speaking this afternoon to students at the Nenana Student Living Center. April did an interview-style panel discussion with them, exploring what motivates them to pursue higher education, what’s hard about college life, what’s fun or good about it and what their areas of study are.  They talked about learning their Native language, about music classes, and about student life. April disclosed that she is currently enrolled in classes at UAF and talked a little bit about what it is like to be a returning student after staying at home to be a mother to her two children.  

ADJOURNMENT was at 2:00 PM.

Nenana Wellness Coalition

Minutes

November 14, 2006

 The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska. 

There were 9 people in attendance today including Bonnie Reed, Tim Horn, Carl Horn, Laura Vance, Mike Anderson, Earl Polk, Miles Martin, Paul Verhagen and Donald Charlie.

 

We had a salmon and cheese casserole for lunch, cooked by Kat.

 

Paul Verhagen chaired the meeting.

 

PRAYER lead by Paul Verhagen and was followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE

 

There was no formal agenda presented. Paul called for agenda modifications and Health Fair, Arthritis Foundation, and Operation Ho, Ho, Ho was added to agenda

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: There were no guests, no special visitors this week.

 

           

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

           

Health Fair – Tim Horn gave an update on how the Health Fair is going. She collected surveys from the community and school and mentioned that Kat volunteered to compile the data. She noted that she kept surveys collected from community and students separate so we could see the results from the different populations of the community. Tim informed that there will be a training on January 24-26^th on Anchorage for anyone who wants to learn how to put on a health fair. She said it was the same training Karen Lord, Teresa Mayrand, and Rhonda Coghill were scheduled to attend last year, but had to cancel due to weather conditions. She mentioned that there was a sponsorship available that covered room and board but not the cost of the training, and also mentioned that a stipulation of the sponsorship was for whoever received it to put on a health fair within the year after the training or they would have to pay back the money. Tim discussed the possibility of people able to attend the training. She mentioned that she would be willing to go, or that maybe Robin Coghill would be a good candidate if she was interested and that the Native Council might sponsor her. Don Charlie mentioned that he would look at his schedule to see it would be possible for him to attend. Tim also wondered if the health fair was something wellness was still interested in pursuing at this time and the overall feeling of the group was that it was. There was discussion on when it should be held. Tim gave the idea of sometime in spring. Paul suggested setting a tentative date in February. There was discussion on where to hold fair, possibly the school or civic center. Carl gave the idea of hosting it during Tri-pod days in order to insure good attendance. The initial thought was Tri-pod days would be too busy but after some discussion it might be possible depending on room in the building. Miles suggested talking to Cherrie Forness about civic center during Tri-pod days. Tim mentioned tabling discussion until Rob Tomlinson was in attendance to put school input in. Tim was asked to give an overview of health fair again, she told us out of the 5 displays we pick, they will provide three from our list and that they would help us coordinate the fair, and then other entities would bring their booths and information to the health fair as well. Following this there was some discussion on other displays that might be at fair, and how much room would be needed in case having it during tri-pod days was possible. It was pointed out that the civic center would not be an option to hold health fair during end of March and through April due to Nenana Ice-Classic ticket counting and sorting.  

 

Arthritis Foundation – Report by Tim Horn. Last week, John Martie with the Tanana Chiefs came to Nenana and gave training on an exercise program for people with arthritis or for anyone with joint pain or in need of low impact exercise. Tim shared that the training lasted from about 9am-1pm and that 5 people attended, and that those who attended are now trained to be exercise leaders. Tim has put up flyers around town to see what kind of community interest there is. The exercise program is set up to run twice a week for eight weeks, but Bonnie mentioned that it could be longer if the interest were there. Tim said they’re hoping to start sometime after Thanksgiving. The five that were trained are Bonnie Reed, Tim Horn, Carol Hallow, Vicki, and Traci Wiggins.

 

Operation HO,HO,HO – Report by Laura Vance. Operation Ho, Ho, Ho is a community outreach project that Railbelt does every Christmas which brings food boxes and toys to families in need around the community of Nenana. Laura mentioned that she has started working on this year’s Christmas box list and that if anyone knows of a family that might need to be added to the list to let her know. She also mentioned that she’s hoping to have the list of children who will be receiving presents done by the end of the week in order to give it to the Student Council of Nenana High School so that they could get started on the Angel Tree. Laura explained that the Angel Tree was a Christmas Tree in the Nenana High School that had pieces of paper containing the age and gender of a child on it. The community could then go take one of these papers off the tree and buy a gift for that child. The gifts are then brought to Railbelt and passed out with the Christmas boxes. Mike Anderson said he would be available to help pass out Christmas boxes again this year. Paul said his family is also available to help again this year.

 

Nenana Student Living Center –Earl Polk mentioned that there would be about 20 students staying at the living center over the Thanksgiving holiday. He said Virginia Young was going to try to put on a holiday dinner for them, and was wondering if anyone else had ideas for a holiday dinner for the students or might want to help Virginia with this task. He reported that there is a big flu outbreak at the NSLC at the moment, and they’re doing their best to stay steam bathed and healthy. Earl also spoke more on the idea of a student exchange program in Nenana, and is looking into what possibilities there are around the state for this type of program. The idea is for students to experience different backgrounds, culture, and information sharing. The students would be ambassadors in a way, building bridges between not only different cultures and towns around the state, but the different cultures we have here in Nenana. With the idea to start local, having NSLC students stay with families located in Nenana.  Paul mentioned that it was more of a student experience exchange. Earl shared that there was a women (Susan P.) in Fairbanks who has a local language program (Athabascan) who might be able to help as well, in an attempt to preserve the local language around Nenana and other parts of the interior that is being lost. Miles asked if there was any meetings going on at the moment in regards to student exchange and Earl mentioned that it was still in the early planning stages. Miles discussed the idea of taking the program a step further and have students learn a trade by working with local artists and craftsmen.

 

           

OLD BUSINESS—Tim mentioned that the Sobriety Potlatch was great, and Bonnie said that Orie did a wonderful job speaking. Don mentioned that he was happy to hear this because he had been working around Orie’s schedule for a couple months to make sure he could come and speak. It was good to hear that he was an enjoyable speaker.

   

NEW BUSINESS—Paul shared that he received an invitation from the bar association to see what communities would be interested in doing mock trails. He mentioned that it’s usually kids from larger towns who participate and that this is an attempt to include students from areas that have been unrepresented in the past. They are looking into training kids in our local areas interested in the law field and then have them compete in Anchorage. There was discussion on the demographic of student that would be interested in this type of training. Earl mentioned that this might be good for those students interested in speech and debate, but also pointed out that because of some student’s culture it might be hard to participate in something like this. Mike agreed and also brought up the question of funding. Would there be funding for them to stay in Anchorage, or what kind of funding would be available. Paul asked the group to get back to him with ideas or if there seemed to be interest.

     

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS—Tim asked if the community dinner was tonight and Mike said that it was. He was making rice with hamburger.

 

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION— Paul shared that the court house clerk, Julie Kratzer, got trampled while feeding reindeer. She was pretty banged up, but at home and doing alright.

 

ADJOURNMENT at 1:45 PM.

Nenana Wellness Coalition
AGENDA
October 31, 2006

The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska.

There were eight in attendance today including Christine Shields, Miles Martin, Ray Fox, Bonnie Reed, Kat McElroy, Rob Thomason, Traci Wiggins and Mike Anderson. We had moose soup and pilot bread and cold slaw for lunch.

WELCOME and READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: By this week’s chairperson, Christine Shields.

PRAYER by Bonnie Reed followed by PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA; there was no call for modifications.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES—minutes were submitted electronically by Kat with no changes suggested. Rob moved/Miles seconded to accept the minutes as submitted. None opposed. Christine will be added to the WIN e-list.

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

Sampling Sobriety Potlatch – Don Charlie was unavailable to make a report. Kat noted that preparations are moving along. There is white fish for Eskimo ice cream and salmon stored at Traci’s place. Kat will get the white fish. Ray will take care of the salmon. Donald wants it cut into steaks. Donald Charlie has made up a shopping list for foods needed. Traci has a check for Donald to help pay for the foodstuffs. Kat will make fry bread and help with the Eskimo ice cream. Mike volunteered to help with food, and to bring food, as all the students from the Living Center will be attending the potlatch. The potlatch will be traditional and is open to everybody..

WELLNESS THOUGHT
Time spent attempting to change others affords little time for personal change.
–Georgette Vickstrom
We must be willing to change or we wouldn’t be reading these words right now. However, being willing to change is often easier than doing it. One of the biggest changes most of us need to make is learning to let others be who they are, regardless of who we want them to be. Most of us think our lives would be far smoother and more productive if only other people lived up to our standards. How wrong we are!
It we could change others as we wish, we would live far less enlightened lives. In fact, we discover opportunities for personal development in our interactions with the men and women who frustrate us so. The irony is that we wish they’d change, but if they did, we wouldn’t experience the growth we deserve.
I will enhance my growth today by letting others be who they are and working on myself.
You are reading from the book:

A Woman’s Spirit by Karen Casey

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Rob reported that Tim Barker has submitted his resignation effective two weeks from now so he can go to work for Chugach. He will be the new director of operations at Fort Greeley in Delta Junction, overseeing 186 people and all phases of operations except the school and the power plant.
Rob also reported:
Hallowe’en Carnival tonight at the Civic Center
Hallowe’en dance at NSLC tonight nine to midnight, for all HS students
No school Wednesday due to parent/teacher’s conferences
Jr. High basketball Friday evening at Nenana School, starting around five
Thanksgiving meal at NCPS Thursday, November 16th, at lunchtime, beginning 11 AM
Lastly he reported that we will be well represented at the Alaska School Board Association meeting in Anchorage next week, with lots of our school board members attending.

Ray reported that the Hockey Rink is ready and they should be flooding it next week. He said, “It’s cold enough, skates are here, the lights work, we’re good to go.” In response to Mike’s question, Ray said he will find out where the latest batch of donated skates is being stored, as Mike said some of the older male students have big feet and can’t fit into the skates they had.

Christine announced she is going to start a day care center, to be named “Founders”. She would like WIN support in this endeavor. She has a board and is looking into getting a 501 K for non-profit status. Some of the people she has selected to be on the board include Wanda Hagen, Karen Overby, Kathy Marks, Norma George and Adam White. She will be using the Parrish Hall but there are some issues with that building that will need to be corrected including the back steps and a fenced yard. Ray volunteered to help her with these. She is going to need start-up funds. Christine said she will be having a booth at the Senior’s Xmas bazaar and that she has some other good fund-raising ideas. Mike gave her some information about state requirements for day care centers. Traci said that they could run start-up funds through RMHA until they get their non-profit status.

Bonnie announced that Vickie had applied for a 71 thousand dollar grant for the Senior Center of which 23 thousand got funded. The plan is to get a new furnace for the garage and a new boiler for the building. They also plan to install a larger vent system over the new cook-stove. She also announced that the Seniors made a trip to Chena Hot Springs today.

Miles gave a brief update on the Highway Companions project. He said that the last Chamber meeting got cancelled but they rescheduled for this Thursday night, 7:30, at the library. He said that he thinks the biggest problems I going to be housing 30 to 40 people during Tripod Days weekend. Discussion ensued regarding ways he might get a wider variety of the Nenana business community involved in this. Mike suggested that Miles make flyers and hand-deliver them to all entities possibly involved, along with a personal invitation. We brainstormed ideas for feeding these people, including putting catering the food out to bid.

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION-None.

ADJOURNMENT-meeting was adjourned at 1:30 P.M.

Nenana Wellness Coalition

Minutes

October 24, 2006

 The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska. 

There were 9 people in attendance today including Bonnie Reed, Maryellen Kanayurak, Kat McElroy, Gene & Diane Jensen, Rob Thomason, Earl Polk, Miles Martin and Donald Charlie.

 

We had lunch of beef and three cheese casserole, cooked by Kat. Meat was supplied by Nenana Native Council.

 

Kat McElroy chaired the meeting.

 

PRAYER lead by Bonnie Reed and was followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE

 

There was no formal agenda presented. Minutes from last week have been emailed by Kat to the WIN e-list with one addendum by Rita Pierce..

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: There were no guests, no special visitors this week.

 

           

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

           

Nenana City Public Schools –Rob Thomason announced that school will be let out early, 1:30 PM, Thursday, October 26, to allow students to attend the funeral services for Grandma Edna Ketzler. He said that this was a natural decision as the result of Grandma Edna’s service to our community and work in the Nenana schools. The basketball game scheduled that night is cancelled to allow everyone to attend the potlatch at the Tribal Hall Thursday night at 6. Maryellen interjected that Bingo for Books, part of the current Book Fair all this week at the school, is being rescheduled from Thursday night to next Monday, 10-30-06, at 2:45 PM.

 

Nenana Student Living Center –Earl Polk said that the NSLC Fry Bread Shakers, their newly formed dance group, performed at the International Friendship Day activities Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Park Civic Center. They were well received by the audience there and are gaining in confidence with each public performance. He showed some of the regalia and costumes the students have been making, primarily with cardboard and duct tape. They certainly demonstrated ingenuity, talent and perseverance on the part of the creators. Earl said that three months into the new semester, NSLC is cruising along. They continue looking for traditional and non-traditional ways to engage the student’s interests and talents. He mentioned they are looking at doing a language group, starting small like was done in New Zealand and probably using Minto-style Athabascan. It would be open to community members and anyone interested in learning the language.

            Alcohol/Drug Prevention & Treatment Policies – Kat McElroy brought a 40 page document that is being forwarded to all of the candidates in the upcoming elections as well as to many sitting legislators by Meeting The Challenge, an advocacy group that promotes prevention, early intervention and treatment for people experiencing addictions. She talked about her own struggles with addiction and the need for multiple interventions over time before she was able to gain recovery. She said that funding for these services has been cut again and again over time. She explained her belief that funding for prevention and treatment is cost effective in light of the expense to society as a whole for untreated addictions. She described a teleconference she witnessed in Juneau, Can Alaska Afford It’s Next Drink? which brought together people from all over the state to speak to the costs, upfront as well as untold and hidden, of addiction to Alaska: emergency room, hospitalization and other medical costs, police, public safety, courts and corrections, children’s services, all these areas are impacted by  alcohol and other drug abuse. She mentioned testimony that indicated over 90% of incarcerated individuals in the Anchorage jail at that time were chemically impaired at the time of the offense that caused their current incarceration. Earl interjected that in Bethel that statistic would be 99 plus %. Kat encouraged people to read the document and to use it to help talk to people about what works and what proves to be less effective in the long run for dealing with addiction. Per WIN request she is including the summary page from this document and she will forward the entire document to anyone interested in reading the entire thing.  SUMMARY OF THE RECOMMENDATIONSJoin Together convened this panel to address two realities: state governments pay dearly for the nation’s failure to effectively prevent and treat alcohol and drug problems. They also have enormous potential because state governments are the primary funders of prevention and treatment services.  These recommendations were unanimously adopted by the panel:LeadershipGovernors, legislative leaders and chief judges need to provide personal, continuous leadership for a statewide strategy to prevent and address alcohol and drug problems. When prevention and treatment are delegated to mid-level state agencies, states can not successfully prevent or treat drug problems at thepopulation level.StructureEvery state should have a strategy that encompasses all the agencies affected by alcohol and drug problems. Responsibility for state and federal prevention and treatment funds should be held by an entity that reports directly to the governor and has direct access to the state legislature.ResourcesStates can generate two key resources needed to improve alcohol and drug services: money and skilled practitioners. An annual public report should detail alcohol and drug related spending in all state agencies. If additional funds are needed, states should consider raising alcohol taxes. States should also use theirlicensing and educational resources to improve and retain the prevention and treatment workforce.Measurement and AccountabilityStates should hold agencies and contracted providers accountable for meeting identified outcome measures. They should reward those that meet or exceed outcome targets and penalize those that consistently fail.LegislationStates should review and update the legislation that controls their alcohol and drug policies including authorization for prevention and treatment agencies and alcohol control boards. Laws and regulations that prevent recovering individuals from getting jobs, education and other services needed for successfulreintegration should also be reviewed and repealed.Sustain State Focus and AttentionState advisory councils should be created or revived with enough staff and authority to hold elected officials accountable for providing needed leadership. States should support community coalitions and recovery organizations to build a lasting constituency for continuing effective state action. 

            Highway Companion – Miles Martin handed out an update on the efforts to date to bring the annual Highway Companions meeting to Nenana and a detailed overview of who/what Highway Companions is and what Nenana would need to do to successfully host Highway Companions 2007. Diane filled us in on some facts. Miles document is incorporated below:

 

Highways Companion meeting in Nenana information

By Miles

 

Saturday, October 21, 2006

The beginnings

 

Diane Bud and I attend meetings representing the Nenana Chamber of Commerce (Bud representing the city) for 5 years or so.

For 3 years we discussed with the group the hosting in Nenana. It took  3 years to convince Highways Companions Nenana can host the gathering. It was decided by the group Tripod weekend would work,  even though this is a little earlier then we usually meet because this is such a great event in our community to be able to see- and all present wanted to see this event. . In the past we have gathered in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Talkeetna, Valdeze, and Kenai. Anywhere from 30 to 80 have gathered but we expect 30 to 40 in Nenana. The hosting community has the chance,  and it is expected of the host,  to show off the community,  and show the rest what their community has to offer. This has been accomplished in a variety of ways in each community visited. In Valdez we all got a trip on a cruise ship into the harbor for a few hours. In Talkeetna we went and visited all the shops as a group. In most places various businesses had the opportunity to show themselves off with displays and speakers and samples videos etc. Usually we got introduced to bed and breakfasts and places to eat. We paid,  but usually at  nice discount.

 

What and who is Highways Companion

 

            The main stated objective of the highways meeting is to promote tourism along the highways of the state.

            We share information,. Do joint advertising. Discuss statistics and maybe a battle plan. We share problems and issues and find out who shares in these same issues, then discuss what we might jointly do about it. Often new alliances are created. We meet a new printer, a new airline, a interesting bed and breakfast. We get updated on information like Denali opening dates, Princess hotel opening dates, road work going on. Sometimes one community has an issue we all brainstorm about. Such as why news was not updated on smoke fire conditions effecting road travel to Kenai last year, and how this can be resolved so it will not happen again there,  or anywhere else.

            We each introduce ourselves and who we represent and have time to talk about our business or community. This is about 5 minutes each. We have the opportunity in each community visited to set up a small display representing  our business and community – often with fliers samples pictures etc.

            This is usually a good opportunity for chambers and visitor centers to accept delivery of brochures that go up in all the visitor centers up and down the highways. It ensures delivery,  saves money,  and gives a personal touch to each visitor center to have met a representative from each highway community.

            Some offshoots of the stated objectives we gain,  is a sense of unity and knowing each other. A building of trust. Getting burning questions and answers from a human being.  What is Princess up to? What plans do the cruise ships have? What’s going on with the wolf controversy? Who is promoting Alaska overseas? Smaller communities and business get advice from those who know more. Sometimes help is offered. Sometimes deals are made, partnerships form.

            It is expected there will be guest speakers during the 2 full days we meet. The topic is discussed and agreed upon,  partly by the group the year before, and partly by a committee,  and partly by the host community. Very little is set in stone.  1-2 main topics is usually enough. Often there are shorter speeches and updates from ‘regulars’ The main topics are important and need to be worth the trip to hear, and be of interest to enough of those attending.

            One such topic was the influence of the cruise ship industry on the highways tourism, guest speaker was the head of one of the cruise ship lines. We heard at one gathering the ins and outs of the bed and breakfast industry,  from one of the biggest in the state. Another major topic was border crossing issues – passports requirements, number who cross the border compared to flying in and such. There of coarse is plenty of opportunity to ask questions .

            One tentative topic agreed upon as ok by the group last year for  Nenana meeting is the issues surrounding animal products used in gift items- what’s  legal, why, where can it be sent, border issues international  issues , and such related topics – both Federal and State in gift items but also hunting and taking of  fish game and birds.  

  

What to begin doing

 

Contact Fairbanks Visitor Bureau who helps with hosting and let know we are beginning

            We need info on who we are why we meet fliers to show people what the group does to sell it to our local organizations, and get email copies of past minutes topics and notes to review.

            We need to be honest about issues of housing and feeding

            Who is in charge issues

            Wellness V/S Chamber

Ask Vivian from Parks Express about transportation to Fairbanks to stay there

            Offer talks entertainment on trips (Annette already volunteered but who else?)

Think of guest speakers and topics

            Annette “How to start a B and B (already partly covered at a past gathering)

            Miles Web site topic such as things to keep in mind when going international and or how to target your market on the web (see separate doc ‘speaker topics’)

Get input on speaker topics.

 

Major issues to address as priority

 

Housing

            Where could we put or what to do about housing 30 people during tripod weekend

                        FBKS? With who—talk to parks express Vivian? Can Nenana handle                                 them all or what %? What about closer then Fbks? The park? Any hotels                                   that way? Ester or closer that direction? Skinny Dicks?

Feeding

            Where will 30 people eat

                        FBKS? Living Center? School? Restaurant (reserve mealtimes for one                                hour exclusive) Cater lunches from locals? Healy Anderson Ester? Skinny                                              Dicks?

Where to met

            Where will 30 people  meet

                        George Hall—Culture Center (Jason said he might have heater on to see                            how the heat bill looks)

Who to involve

            Can Healy Anderson etc get involved? In what way? Who will coordinate with      these people? (housing feeding ?) What about offering them a place to set up in                   civic center for tripod days. 

                       

Who will do what

            Be in charge

            Handle speakers issues

            Handle housing issues

            Handle feeding issues

                        Cater for lunches (who when costs—plenty of advance notice!                                                        Roughwoods—Marlene or my neighbor)

                        Who will offer any breakfast dinner and what hours

            Handle where to meet issues

                        George Hall (closed if a funeral can we depend on?) Living Center (on a                           weekend?) Culture Center? (Can it be heated????)

            Handle transportation issues

                        Rides to Fbks for housing feeding?

                        Rides to events

                        We have an airport- any chance of chartering a plane (from Anchorage or                           Fairbanks or Talketna

            Keep guests informed

                        Their room reservations. Who has their own transportation, who needs to                                        stay here in Nenana, forms to fill out,  updated news letter

                        Rides from ice classic events to meeting place

            Promotion

                        Involve any local biz (Chamber involved in this? Who will oversee this?)

                        Posters, news articles, local up and down the road 

Tripod weekend issues

            Keep Ice Classic in the loop for events and schedules to coordinate with our talks Opportunity to buy ice classic tickets! (a can at the meeting place)

 

A basic outline of how the days will be laid out

            Talks mixed with ‘visit of cool  events like a dog race or  tripod raising ?’ Might      make a good break in a day of speeches and talks.

             Not offer a 3rd day for local tours as tripod weekend shows enough? (so on the                 last day just ‘leave’ and not offer an option) Or? Offer a visit at the reindeer farm                       or dog yard or?

 

Discussion ensued.  Diane noted that larger communities have paid representatives while Nenana is smaller and everyone here who has been involved has worked in a volunteer capacity. She would like to focus on how smaller communities can host conventions such as Highway Companions, without the hotel infrastructure. Traditionally the conference is $125.00 for three days/two nights. That’s the entire budget. The conference provides one lunch; other meals would need to be coordinated amongst local eateries. She suggested having the Nenana Ice Classic for breakfast and emphasized coordinating with the Ice Classic to showcase Tripod Days activities: raising of the Tripod, dog sled races, and rope-pull in the streets. A tentative schedule could be opening with a reception on Friday night for registration and meet-n-greet, Saturday and Sunday workshops. Discussion about putting raising of the Tripod onto the schedule or a banquet Sunday night to keep attendees here.

 

OLD BUSINESS—None noted

   

NEW BUSINESS—Miles asked about how might we document the ways WIN resolves or works through conflicts. We’ve had problems, as all groups do, in the past, and will again, but this is never noted in the minutes so how would others be able to learn from our experiences? How can we document our process for resolving issues as that is a HUGE part of Wellness? Kat said that she sees many of us use skills from the Critical Conversations trainings. She also noted that conflict avoidance is a human norm. Donald added an example from a recent interaction he observed, using humor to highlight how quickly we all seem to do this (avoid conflict). No concrete suggestions were made but it was agreed that this is an interesting topic to explore.

     

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS—Bingo For Books has been rescheduled from Thursday night to next Monday at 2:45 to accommodate the potlatch for Grandma Edna.

There will be dinner and the community is invited to eat and then judge the student’s pumpkins/jack-o-lanterns at NSLC on Monday the 30^th.

Hallowe’en celebration as usual at Civic Center the evening of Tuesday, October 31^st.

Sobriety Potlatch Friday, November 3^rd, at the Tribal Hall. EVERYONE is invited.

 

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION— None noted

 

ADJOURNMENT at 1:45 PM.