Railbelt Mental Health & Addictions

The Nenana Wellness Coalition

 

What is the Nenana Wellness Coalition?

 

The Nenana Wellness Coalition is a group of concerned citizens that meets weekly to improve the overall wellness of individuals and our community as a whole.

 

How does the Nenana Wellness Coalition Function?

 

The Nenana Wellness Coalition acts in two roles. At some times it acts as an ad-hoc group of concerned citizens, while at other times it convenes itself into a group empowered to take official action as an organized entity.

 

Who makes up the Nenana Wellness Coalition?

 

It consists of anyone who wishes to attend and at times includes individuals who represent only themselves as well as individuals who represent various organizations in the community.

 

Regularly attending members in recent weeks have been:

 

Nenana Native Council

            Alfred “Bear” Ketzler

            Gayle Ramey

            Robin Campbell

            Elvina Fowler  

            Lois Law

 

Nenana City Schools

            Shelly Citron

            Teresa Mayrand

            Pattie Adkisson           

            Roy Smart

Gary Edwin

 

Railbelt Mental Health and Addictions

            Kat McElroy

            Tracy Wiggins

            Rose Allen

 

Nenana District Court

            Paul Verhagen

 

Nenana Police Services

            Milt Haken

 

City of Nenana

           

 

TCC Family Recovery Services

 

            Beverly Joseph

 

Lifelines Crisis Intervention

 

            Jane M Hawley

 

 TCCC

           

 

 

What are the goals of the Nenana Wellness Coalition?

 

The goal of the Nenana Wellness Coalition is to bring about changes in our community that result in improved individual and community wellness.

           

How does the Nenana Wellness Committee define wellness?

 

Community Wellness: A condition wherein the basic needs of community member’s are being met sufficiently well so that the general public is largely free from the negative effects of any individual’s actions or condition.

 

Individual Wellness: The ability of an individual to deal with whatever problems occur in his or her life in ways that do not overwhelm the sense of wellbeing of another.

 

Under these definitions people and communities don’t have to be perfectly healthy and happy in order to be ‘well’. The definitions allow for the many problems that people face in their lives and recognize that at times all people will need the help of others - and yet can still be ‘well’ - as long as those needs are not so great as to unreasonably interfere with the wellness of others.

 

With these definitions in mind a person is NOT well if they are sufficiently sick so that attending to them requires serious time and effort from others. Nor is a person well if their actions (be they criminal or otherwise) unreasonably interfere with the wellness of others.

 

Wellness does not exist any time that the actions or condition of one person requires disruptive intervention by others.

 

 

 

 

What hurts wellness?

 

What help is available?

 

What can we do locally to help?

 

 

 

 Causes of Welfare Need:

 

 Abuse

 

 Adversity 

 

 Disability

 

 Entitlement Mentality

 

 Famine

 

 Homelessness 

 

 Idleness 

 

 Materialism 

 

 Self-Indulgence 

 

 Selfishness

Achieving wellness in Nenana has to do with all of us.

 

As individuals we have a right to live our lives in peace and tranquility, free from the affects of how others choose to live their lives and we have a right to expect our government (i.e. police and courts) to protect our right to enjoy peace and tranquility.

 

It would be a simple thing for government to accomplish this responsibility of preserving our peace and tranquility if the “we” that was just referred to didn’t also include the others that we also just referred to.

 

If the others who infringe upon our rights weren’t our sons or daughters, fathers or mothers, brothers or sisters, aunts or uncles, cousins or friends, the job of government would be a simple one because if the others weren’t us they wouldn’t be entitled to any of the rights that we all have. In such a case we could just lock them up for infringing upon our rights and not worry about what happens to them after that.

 

But the reality is that they are us and for that very reason, although most people are quick to demand swift and unwavering justice, they are just as quick to demand exceptions when they learn that the accused is one of their own.

 

The problem is that the accused is almost ALWAYS “one of our own” to at least one of us, and when we find that out suddenly we insist that government should NOT be quick to judge. We insist that the police and judges consider every alternative. We demand that other agencies become involved. We claim that in reality it is the accused that is the victim and that society has let them down, which is at time true, when we consider once again that “society” is us.

 

The truth of the matter is that as in most things the we that make up society, have a continual balancing act to perform.

 

The courts cannot work to help the accused while ignoring the rights of the victims and rest of society and still be said to be administering justice, nor can they protect the rights of the society to enjoy uninterrupted peace while ignoring the possibility of help for and rehabilitation of the accused.

 

The problem lies in trying to strike a balance between the various components that make up the us of society and do so within the limitations of available money and useful resources.

 

Today, in Nenana Alaska, many of us have formed ourselves together into the Nenana Wellness Coalition with the purpose of making available more local resources to meet the needs of both victims and offenders[i][i].

 

In order to do that we are working to eventually make available in our community the following resources:

1. Transitional housing where those who have gone through long-term treatment for substance abuse can live when they first return to the community in order to prevent them from being thrown right back into the very settings that fostered their substance abuse problem in the first place.

 

2. Transitional housing for people who just left a domestic violence relationship where they can live for a while in order to prevent them from being thrown right back into a similar situation that fostered their abusive relationship in the first place and where they can learn relationship skills and other life skills that will help keep them safe in the future.

 

3. A residential treatment program that provides alternatives to violence training to those who have hurt others when they’ve become angry or frustrated.

 

4. A “house arrest” facility where people can be “incarcerated”. Such a facility must be as restrictive as jail but flexible enough to allow “residents” to attend educational and rehabilitative programs such as substance abuse programs, alternative to violence programs, alternative education programs, job training and placement programs, etc.

 

5. Temporary Foster Home Facility for kids who are expelled from the boarding school.

 

 

In order for these residential facilities to work we must also make available the following programs:

1. Job training and placement programs
2. Substance Abuse Treatment
3. Alternative to Violence Treatment
4. Alternative Education (i.e. Adult education and GED prep).

 

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[i][i] Some of the impetus behind the recommendation for the above mentioned programs/facilities is as follows:

During court proceedings it often becomes apparent that certain defendants ONLY cause problems for others when they drink. These are basically good people who are not usually a danger BUT who are a serious danger to themselves and others when they drink. Keeping them from drinking is the problem. This is easily accomplished in the short term by sending them to jail and doing that meets the sentencing criteria of protecting the public (at least while they are in custody) as well as meeting the additional criteria of community condemnation and reinforcing societal norms - but it does nothing to address the real problem which is keeping the person from drinking. As a result it has a very short term affect and does nothing to protect the public in the future. The long-term answer lies in treating the alcohol problem - but getting that kind of help while the person is in custody is very difficult. It is not available at Fairbanks Correctional Center and the courts cannot order the person to be sent to the North Star Center where it is somewhat available (It is up to the Department of Correction as to who is or is not released into the North Star Center.

Therefore what is needed is a facility where there are sufficient restrictions to ensure that the person has no access to alcohol but where they can get treatment for the underlying problem.

 

Problem: Alcohol and Mental Illness. Regarding alcohol - unless society recognizes and acknowledges it for the problem that it is and is willing to require stricter penalties nothing will change.

 

Problem: Lack of services in rural areas. Short term start up grants are available and sometimes provided but the numbers of local participants are too small to support such facilities over the long term. Perhaps such facilities should be developed to serve regional needs (i.e. Nenana could serve all the interior villages just as Tanana used to do with the PHS hospital).

 

Problem: People who pose a serious threat while drinking and must therefore be incarcerated while their drinking problem is resolved but treatment not being available while incarcerated.

 

Problem: Young people who continue to drink and not enough teeth in state law to effect a change.

 

Problem: Rule 11 agreements to sentences that are not meaningful. Unless sentencing is returned to the judges it will accomplish nothing but clear the docket for the DA. The sentences are insufficient to force the person to change and it is only government that has the ability to force change in people’s lives.