Railbelt Mental Health & Addictions

Nenana Wellness Coalition Meeting

Minutes

 

July 27, 2004

 

Welcome

 

Meeting led by Milt Haken

 

Pledge of Allegiance / Prayer:  Kat led the prayer.

 

Agenda Approval/Modifications:  No modifications to the agenda presented.

 

Approval of last week’s minutes:  

 

Wellness Presentation:

 

Paul Verhagen:  The Family Enrichment Program

 

Paul shared with us a letter from Lt. Governor Loren Leman wherein the State of Alaska endorses The Family Enrichment Program and urges its use to help strengthen our families. He passed out 18 copies of the book and said that more are available for anyone who wants them. He then described the program which is aimed to encourage families to take one night a week out of their busy schedules and schedule in their family. This serves a few purposes: first - it tells our families that they are important to us and; second - it helps us to spend valuable and structured time with them at least once a week. That’s where the book comes in. It takes us step-by-step through the process of how to organize and plan fun and interesting and productive time together as families. Just through the process of practicing the things in the book each week kids learn (without even realizing that they are learning) about how to create and follow an agenda, how to speak in front of others, how to teach a lesson, how to plan activities, how to schedule family time to accommodate our busy schedules, and how to conduct family business. The book emphasizes teaching our kids about their own culture and through use of a story from another culture each week it teaches them about other cultures. The book is published in many languages and is in use throughout the world and is available upon request. Call Paul for copies.

 

OLD BUSINESS

 

NEW BUSINESS

 

OPEN FLOOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION

 

Miles Martin: Chamber update

Miles shared Chamber of Commerce news with the group.

 

Kat McElroy

Kat reported on the Strengthening the Family Program offered here in town by Beverly Joseph. It was a very good program and she felt that the Family Enrichment Program could tie in very nicely with it.

 

UP-COMING MEETINGS

 

Next meeting scheduled for noon on July 27^th at the Nenana Senior’s center.

 

Adjourned at 2:07pm

 

WIN Coalition Meeting

 

July 20, 2004

 

Present:

 

Paul Verhagen

Rose Allen

Traci Wiggins

Karen Lord

Teresa Mayrand

Bud Krause

Bonnie Reed

Blaine Reed

Alf Walle (guest)

Endil Moore

Jason Mayrand

Margaret Sanders

Bear Ketzler

Ned Griffith

Jay Moore (Community Garden)

 

Meeting led by Jason Mayrand

 

Welcome: 

 

Pledge of Allegiance / Prayer:  Bonnie Reed led our prayer this afternoon.

 

Agenda  / Modifications:  No modifications to the agenda presented.

 

Approval of last week’s minutes:  No minutes (lost in cyber space).  We’ll receive them tentatively tomorrow.

 

Presentations:

 

Paul Verhagen:  Crucial Conversations Master Course is funded by the Nenana Public School.  Dates are August 3-5, 2004 (Thursday, Friday, Saturday).  Cost if for materials only, about $100 - $110.  He will be here longer than the course, and he will be willing to do another course for those who cannot make the first dates.  Author of Crucial Conversations book will be up at the end of August for additional support.

 

Paul Verhagen:  Student Living Center Project is being discussed.  Ted Dodge met with Ken Eggleston to talk about using the NSLC for a training center, bringing people in to train them in requested subjects.  This could be a way to export wellness, by setting up a training center for use by others.  He is looking at bringing up 10-20 people for the Crucial Conversations course to try this out.  The participants will provide humanitarian services while they are here.  Does anyone have any projects?  (Please contact Paul)

 

Margaret Sanders suggested that we provide some classes for the people that go to treatment and come back home and don’t do so well. 

 

Paul Verhagen read the resolutions in support of the Nenana Motor Sports Park (Denali Borough and City of Anderson).  Nenana Native Council, City of Nenana, and Nenana Chamber of Commerce also submitted resolutions.

 

Paul Verhagen:  Diane Carson should be commended in her efforts to maintain wonderful minutes for the WIN Coalition.  Milt Haken should be commended for his professional efforts in the area of training.  He would like to get in the habit of expressing appreciation to those who have served in an exemplary manner.

 

Alf Walle:  A Marketing Professor at UAF, he is visiting the WIN Coalition today to talk about his work with substance abuse counseling, at the request of Bear Ketzler.  He understands that Nenana is talking about getting involved with intense recovery services.  He has extensive experience with Native Peoples in recovery.   He discussed the program designed from the work of Handsome Lake, in which a culturally specific program helped to save the Iroquois culture by addressing cultural stress and the resulting dysfunction.   The program is considered to be complete, including evaluation tools, methods of diagnosis, evaluation-based therapy, and cultural specifications.  In this program, there is a client handbook and workbook, and a clinician manual.  We can contact him by emailing him at alfwalle@yahoo.com. 

 

Bear Ketzler:  We have had no word on the Teen Center as of yet.  Denali Commission has an RFP out for a regional solution to solid waste management.  This concept is of interest, as our area has been thinking about this for a while. 

 

He is putting together the Wellness quarterly reports, and would like a copy of the minutes of the WIN Coalition (they are all on the website:  www/railbelt.com/wellnesscoalition.html)

 

The Tribal Housing Project is back on line again, after a meeting with IRHA last Friday.

 

Anna Starr’s house has a move in date of September 1, 2004.

 

Ninth Street can now be driven all the way around.  Miles Martin asked about river erosion on the roads.  Bear said that erosion control is being considered in all road construction protects.

 

There are more and more contamination projects coming to the attention of the Tribe’s Environmental Office, Gary Edwin.  They are going to start prioritizing the areas to focus on in relation to Nenana’s community needs.

 

Paul talked about the lack of safety in allowing children to ride in the back of trucks.  A child was just buried yesterday in Healy due to a 4-wheeler accident, and kids get hurt all the time when they are riding in the back of trucks.

 

Bear will have the video for us next week, so that the school officials can attend.

 

Miles Martin:  The Saturday Market is getting started, and they have vendors to purchase from.  UAF Cooperative Extension (Jay Moore) is in town and has started a community garden next to the Episcopal Church.  They have 15 4×12 beds constructed that are waiting for soil, so they won’t have much yield this year, but next year will be great!  He is looking to possibly use the greenhouse that the tribe has for the community garden.  He is also going to start helping people identify local useful plants.  Possibly there might be a project that involves a working orchard in Nenana!  (Clair’s Creations in Fairbanks)

 

Miles Martin:  What do we do with the suggestions that come through the website?  Right now they are being emailed to everyone.  Jason Mayrand suggested a ListServe or Bulletin Board on line.  Traci Wiggins will look into that one and see if the RMHA website will support one.  Perhaps post the suggestions on a page?  That can be done.  Response to the suggestions should be done by committee?  Paul is working on the actual paper to hand out for suggestions, as well as a suggestion box.

 

Ned Griffith said that more people will be able to respond to a written form, as opposed to an internet form, because not everyone can access the internet.  Miles pointed out that they can go to the Library and Darcia the Librarian will help them look it up.  Paul asked Ned if he will help get the written format out.

 

Jason Mayrand:  There is a Special Meeting tonight at 7:30pm at the Senior Center in regard to the Nenana Police Department.  An Assembly Member requested a special meeting before the Public Meeting on Wednesday at 7pm at the Civic Center.

 

Margaret Sanders:  She asked for help after the wheelchair race from the Tribe, and they sent her two young men who worked very hard! 

 

Traci Wiggins:  RMHA needs volunteers for Program Evaluation Committee in August.  Paul Verhagen volunteered.  Margaret and Paul said that this past year, RMHA has greatly improved just by attending wellness meetings and letting people know what they are doing.

 

Paul Verhagen:  Went to Tanana for a jury trial last week, the first in about 15 years.   He discussed the residents of Tanana response to the jury and judgement of their peer.  He talked about reframing the jury trial to emphasize their input in the fate of their fellow community member.  When there, Paul heard the City Administrator talk about their lone policeman, and the town’s unrealistic over use and burnout of their policemen.  Tanana is about half the size of Nenana.  Food for thought.

 

Adjourn:2:07pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nenana Wellness Coalition Minutes

Thursday July 8, 2004

 

There were 20 people in attendance.

 

Welcome by Bud Krause.

 

The prayer was lead by Russ Sharrock and everyone recited the pledge of allegiance

 

Kat McElroy ~ Railbelt Mental Health:

www.margaretemyers.com/4worlds.htm This is the web site for anyone wanting more information on the 4 Worlds development project for wellness and community development.

          Kat brought a visual layout of the Medicine Wheel for wellness.  This can be seen in a circle of cycles:

    There are four stages in our lives Infants, youth, adults, elders; Usually adults take care of the infants and elders take care of the youth.  Each person will go through this cycle.

   There are four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter;

   There are basically four types of people on earth:     White, Red, Yellow, Black

   There are basically four parts to our health: Physical, Emotional, Mental, Spiritual

 

Wellness for individuals:

 

Health= fitness/exercise

Nutrition=eating well

Hygiene=staying clean

Health care = access to medical & dental care

Feelings = emotions ~ willing to let others have their feelings

Education  = thinking  ~ manage thoughts  ~ feed the brain ~ life long learning 

~ Mental illness

Spiritual =  Sense of right and wrong  ~ Belief system

Daily Practice  =  faith ~ what importance does this play ~  actions match beliefs?

 

Wellness for communities:

 

Community  “Health” = housing  ~  safety ~  sanitation  ~ health care medical

What feelings are acceptable and unacceptable?

Schools  “mind-set” =  mental health, who defines it?    Community response   libraries  recreation  mental stimulus

 

Church and religious organizations     belief system diversity   How does community deal with differences of belief?

 

It was agreed that we would like to have Kat provide follow-up training in more detail under the various categories discussed tonight. She has agreed to do so.

 

Paul shared with us the proposed layout of our new Suggestion Form and passed out copies for our review. After review if we have suggestions for changes the changes will be made and the form distributed. If no suggestions for change are made we will distribute it as-is.

The next issue is developing a committee to review the suggestions. It is proposed that we make the suggestions/complaints available on our website but that we not bring them up before the whole group every time there are suggestions/complaints but instead we form a committee to review them. Some will be simple adjustments that should just be implemented. Others may be deemed not to be significant enough to address. Others may be considered just plain attacks that don’t merit response, and others may be valid and significant concerns that need to be brought before the whole group. We may want to include a time once a month or so for the committee to bring before the group that we had suggestions and what the subjects were and how they were addressed but everyone will be able to look at the suggestions/complaints any time by simply going to the website. If anyone feels that issues are not being properly dealt with by the committee those issues can be put on the agenda and discussed by all.

 

Kevin R. Miller ~ Vision Quest

 

      We received a phone call from Kevin R. Miller to go over with us a preview of the book  “Crucial Conversations”

The program of Crucial Conversations is a very powerful motivator to move from good to great.  The very root of this is an ability to communicate.  Wherever we might be stuck in life it could be because of a failure to communicate.

 “ The void created by the failure to communicate is soon filled with poison, drivel and misrepresentation.”

Three ingredients of crucial conversations are:

a.      Opposing Opinions… between two or more entities

b.     Strong Emotions… be able to control these emotions

c.      High Stakes

 

There are usually two kinds of conversations

a.     A conversation is not being held at all

b.     A conversation is not being held well

 

When there is a difference of opinion in conversations most people tend to go toward either silence or violence. 

 

Silence:  Some will avoid the conversation, or withdraw from it or joke it away.

 

Violence:  Some try to control the situation

 

 When it matters most people usually do the worst

a.     The worst run from problems

b.     The good either sugarcoat them or ramrod them

c.     The BEST resolve them through dialogue

 

Crucial Conversations Principles

1.      Start with Heart ~  examine your own motives

2.      Learn to Look ~  watch out when the safety zone is approached

3.      Make it Safe ~ restore the safety zone

4.      Master my Stories ~ how did I get here, convincing yourself your                                       right

5.      STATE my Path ~Share the facts…not emotions, just the facts

        Tell the story from the facts

                                                        Ask the other person about the facts and their story

                                                        Talk sensitively

                                                          Encourage testing of the results

6.      Explore others’ Paths ~

7.      Move to Action ~

 

Kevin will be coming to Alaska in the near future and hopes to hold a two-day Master course on this program.  The first week of August is the projected date for this event.  This course will take about fourteen hours and could occur over two days or could be broken into less hours/day and spread over a three or four day time -  maybe Friday evening and all day Saturday, or 3.5 hours a day for four evenings, etc.

 

New Business:

          Paul Verhagen:

                   Although there are many issues in Nenana that people disagree on there appears to be one thing that we all agree on and that is development of a racing facility. The Nenana Valley Sports Association has filled out a grant application for a state mini-grant that will be presented to the City Council at tonight’s meeting with a request for a resolution supporting the concept and approval to submit the grant. If it is funded a preliminary feasibility study will be conducted and a marketing plan developed. The mini-grants may be awarded as early as September.

 

Due to the shorter time available before the City Council Meeting we did not have time for organizational, or committee, or public reports at tonight’s meeting.

 

Bud Krause will officiate the next meeting to be held on Tuesday July 13

 

The meeting was adjourned at 7:15 PM.