Railbelt Mental Health & Addictions

Nenana Wellness CoalitionMINUTES

February 27, 2007

 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.

We had chicken and rice soup for lunch provided by Railbelt and a platter of baked goodies from Bonnie Reed.

There were six in attendance this week: Donald Charlie, Maryellen Kanayurak, Miles Martin, Lye Lye Kok, Kat McElroy, and Laura Vance.

 

WELCOME: By this week’s chairperson, Donald Charlie and the READING OF MISSION STATEMENT.

 

PRAYER was offered by Kat, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA; there was no CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Kat emailed minutes. Miles stated he didn’t receive his or perhaps deleted them. Kat agreed to resend to him. She also agreed to change Maryellen’s e-mail from the Bushmamas to the hotmail account as the Bushmamas is malfunction for some reason.

 

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

 

Health Fair – Kat McElroy reported that the planning committee had their third organizational meeting Tuesday at 9 AM at the YERC. The nest meeting will be Thursday the 8^th of March, 10 A.M, also at the YERC.  Our next primary goal is to identify all the volunteers we will next to people the various stations of our Health Fair. We will need to have a volunteer orientation and training. All of the presenters need to fill out applications with Alaska Health Fair, Inc. in Fairbanks. Tim has emailed us the links to the applications to provide to potential presenters.

The Ice Classic voted to provide us with the requested 250 dollars for return postage on our requested displays and to fund lodging etc. for the woman in Wasilla who is going to present on methamphetamine.

Presenters that have confirmed so far: Fairbanks Native Association Parents As Teachers program, the Public health Nurse on STD’s, TCC Dental, Audrey Sunnyboy on Traditional Healing, Nita Marks for Strengthening The Family, Railbelt doing Mental Health & Depression and Tobacco Education. Donald reports that Doyon will be donating prizes. 

 

Highway Companion – Miles Martin brought flyers for us and says they got the food piece figured out, have lodging for participants, “It’s all coming together.” He gave a little background on how Highway Neighbors came to Nenana. He, Bud Kraus representing the visitor’s center and Diane Jensen have attended HC for 7 years, in various localities, and have learned that Princess and the other big tour outfits have a monopoly on tourism in the Interior, except for the independent traveler. Highway Neighbors has been organized specifically to target those tourists and to create a network for exchanging information, gathering statistics, and cater to trends. It took a lot of footwork to get the HN meeting to happen in Nenana but this provides us with a unique opportunity to highlight our community to a wide range of people who are involved in tourism in our area.  Miles said HN is a conduit for information about how much money tourists typically spend, how long they stay, when they come, where they come from, what interests they have that bring them to Alaska and issues like how increased gas prices affect the independent traveler. He said that the schedule has been set: Thursday will be orientation at the Fire House, Friday will be work-shops at the Civic Center, and Saturday will be brainstorming session at the YERC. Participants will also have the opportunity to enjoy Tripod Days activities. He said that they are giving out Ice Classic tickets to the HN participants; several meals will be provided; they will have a tour of the Ice Classic office.

Miles mentioned that he has heard over the years that the Native Council is interested in getting involved in tourism. This would be a good opportunity, he said, as there will be over 30 of the top people involved in tourism here for this event. This engendered a general discussion regarding tourism. Miles said he sees mixed feelings as to whether tourism is even desired in our community. It is a great way to get some money going but it comes with some trade-offs. He said this is why he likes the idea of bird watchers; they come and take pictures but they don’t take any of our natural resources with them, unlike out-of-state hunters or fishers (or other extractive industries). We talked about how visitors to Alaska sometimes are surprised, and challenged, by cultural differences the experience when they come to Alaska. Miles asked about proposals Moses Paul has made over the year to develop walking tours around Nenana. Don said that he would like to see the whole riverfront planted and developed, like the walkways that have been put in.  He mentioned that he has noticed some vandalism of the signage in place. Donald then read aloud our Wellness Thought.                                                                 

WELLNESS THOUGHT

Every human being is a problem in search of a solution.
–Ashley Montagu

Each of us is a strong and fragile creature. We’re always subject to forces outside our control, and we’re learning steps for living that help us cope and rise above these problems. Our particular situation might seem special to us but in another sense, everyone’s situation is a unique problem. Spiritual growth is the result of coming face to face with our own situation, feeling the brunt of our own puzzlement, recognizing no recipe will apply completely, and then trusting our Higher Power as we make unsure responses.

No school or parent can ever teach us enough to smooth our search for solutions. We become complete human beings by living through the muddle, by truly trusting our connections with God and other people to carry us along until we find clarity again. We progress into adulthood when we meet our own particular life crises. We learn to see we have this process in common with every human being. Rather than resist our problems, we band together with others and pool our strength to find solutions.

My problems today are opportunities for spiritual growth.

You are reading from the book:Touchstones by Anonymous

OLD BUSINESS: There was no old business today.

   

NEW BUSINESS:  None noted.

     

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS: Miles announced that there will be Aztec dancers at the NSLC Tuesday evening, 6 PM.  Kat reminded everyone that the Festival of Native Arts is this weekend, Thursday- Saturday, at the Great Hall at UAF, beginning around 6 PM each evening. There are native dancers from all over Alaska, sometimes Canada, and apparently this year from Central America.

 

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None

 

ADJOURNMENT: Meeting adjourned at 1:15 P.M.

Nenana Wellness CoalitionMinutes

February 13, 2007

 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 8 in attendance: Kat McElroy, Laura Vance, Donald Charlie, Carl & Tim Horn, Bonnie Reed, and Maryellen & Sonja Kanayurak. We had chicken barley soup for lunch, provided by Railbelt, and home-made brownies from Bonnie and peanut butter cookies from Maryellen.

     

WELCOME By this week’s chairperson, Bonnie Reed who read the MISSION STATEMENT.

 

PRAYER was lead by Tim Horn followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

 

Bonnie presented the agenda; Tim called for an Update on Neighborhood Watch, which was duly noted.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were sent electronically by Kat with one request for a typo to be corrected.

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Sonja Kanayurak is 17 months old and this is her first WIN meeting.

 

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

 

Health Fair- We will have our next organizational/planning meeting at 10 A.M. on Thursday, 02-15-07. The location has been changed to the YERC building due to double scheduling at NNC. Kat will let Susan at the school know of the change of venue. Tim has mailed in our application. She indicated that the one hundred dollar site fee could be waived per the Alaska Health Fair if we can demonstrate that our community has more than that invested in donations and volunteers. We need to finalize our choices for displays. Joe Kraus has tasked the teachers at NCPS to decide this; we can request five and the Alaska Health Fair will send us three. Directly after our last meeting, Jackie Suckling at the clinic talked to her supervisor and has gotten permission for our health aides to assist with the blood draws. Jackie had some good questions for us to ask regarding the handling of the blood samples. Tim will call Andy at the school to email teachers to see who of them would want to have blood work done. Bonnie will ask at the Senior Center. Donald will find out about TCCC. Tim will also officially notify our local fire marshall about the date & times of the Health Fair and request his participation. Kat will solicit donations from Sam’s Club, Fred Meyers, Coghill’s and Ice Classic.

 Neighborhood Watch- Kat e-mailed Rita’s rough draft of the Neighborhood Watch newsletter, per Rita’s request last week. Tim had some questions about the emergency contact numbers listed. Maryellen expressed distress that 911is currently used only for medical emergencies. A violent crime report currently goes through the Trooper’s 800 number dispatched through Fairbanks who would send the most available Trooper in the area for response.  

OLD BUSINESS: None noted

   

NEW BUSINESS: None put forward

     

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS:

 

Don announced that he has been approved to work two hours per day for Ch’eghutsen’ in addition to his duties as Behavioral Health Aide. He says it looks more like eight hours a day of work because of the outreach involved but he will be limited to direct services for only two clients.

 

Tim announced they are celebrating “The Festival of the Do-nuts” as it has become known locally. They will be going to the Denali Center to sing on the 24^th. Virginia Young will host a Games & Nibbles night at her house on the 25^th. Wednesday the 28^th, Bonnie will host Devotions and Prayer Requests at her house.

 

Bonnie announced that the Senior Center is hosting the annual Serum Run dinner with a spaghetti feed Saturday evening at 7 P.M., $7.00. There will be a breakfast on Sunday the 18^th, also $7.oo. Everyone in the community is invited to come and to meet the participants in this year’s Serum Run.

 

Carl announced that he just talked to Rob down in Juneau and the Nenana students are just “ripping the place up.” Rob said that they are meeting with the Department of Education as well as various legislators including Woody Salmon and Albert Kookesh, and they have been able to quote statistics attesting to NSLC student success. One such statistic: of the 32 students who took the qualifying exams, 78% to over 90% passed in math, reading and writing between the fall and the spring round of testing, demonstrating the efficacy of the NSLC study and tutoring programs. This is higher that Mt. Edgecombe.

 

Kat announced that Megan is looking for adults to help with “security” at the NSLC dance Friday night. The dance will be at the tribal hall. It will be DJ’ed by NSLC. They need help, extra eyes, adult presence, to help keep it alcohol and drug free. Kat will be there and encourages others to do so as well.

 

WELLNESS THOUGHT

 Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency.
–Natalie Goldberg

Are you aware of how you cope with your work stress? Many studies show that up to 40 percent of workers report too much stress on the job. And 50 percent of these workers have a spouse they bring the stress home to. Stress is natural; it is what we do with the stress that makes the difference. Many of the changes common in companies today - increased responsibilities, promotions, and downsizing - affect the stress level of workers. Coping with stress requires intentional planning. Some people cope by assessing priorities; others practice meditation. Many learn that developing healthy behaviors in exercise, eating, and relaxation makes a difference. Others like to “decompress” by reading a newspaper, sitting in silence, taking a brisk walk, or “zoning out” with TV.

If we are blind to how stress affects us, we may injure our relationships with others. It is up to each of us to comment on our stress, talk with someone about it, and take responsibility for learning to leave the stress at work.

Just for today, I will focus on what my usual practices are regarding my stress. I will focus on the sources of my stress and explore new coping methods. You are reading from the book:Igniting the Spirit at Work by Marilyn Mason  

ADJOURNMENT was earlly, at one-fifteen.

Nenana Wellness CoalitionAGENDA

February 6, 2007

 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 seven in attendance this week including Tim Horn, Bonnie Reed, Maryellen Kanayurak, Laura Vance, Kat McElroy, Earl Polk, and Carl Horn. We had lunch of chicken and three cheese pasta provided by Railbelt and chocolate chip cookies and carrot sticks provided by Bonnie Reed.

 

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

 

PRAYER was lead by Earl Polk, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA. There was no CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS of the agenda.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were unavailable. Kat didn’t get them completed yet but will send them tomorrow.

 

           

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

 

            Health Fair – Tim reported that we had our first planning meeting Monday morning at the Native Council. Donald has agreed to be site coordinator. The registration was completed and has been submitted with March 22^nd as our requested Health Fair date. Don has asked the health aides if they would be willing to help with blood draws. Jackie Suckling came and talked to the committee and had a list of questions for us about the procedures for the blood draws. Kat is to contact Fred Meyers and Sam’s Club for donations. It was suggested and agreed to ask the Ice Classic for funds for return postage on the display materials and incidental expenses. Tentative schedule is 7:30 to 9 A.M. for the blood draws.  12:45 P.M. till 2:30 P.M. for the school and then 2:30 through 5: 30 for the general public. We will have up to 15 coupons from the National Kidney Foundation available for those wanting blood draws who are unable to afford them. We will ask TCCC for volunteers to set-up and break-down and to assist at the various booths.

             Neighborhood Watch – Kat reported that Rita had contacted her and attempted to e-mail to her a rough draft of the first Neighborhood Watch newsletter but that Rita was experiencing technical difficulties and was unable to do so. Rita called and said that she would e-mail it to Tim who agreed then to forward it to Kat. Kat will e-mail it as an attached document to these minutes.  

WELLNESS THOUGHT:

You start preparing when you’re thirty for the person you’ll be at eighty.
–Janice Clark

We can’t get away from ourselves, at least not entirely. Who we were at ten and twenty and forty and fifty remain as threads in our tapestries. Many of us shudder because some details of our personal panorama weren’t so very pretty. But that’s the way life is. We are what we are. And yet, we have examples of favorable changes, too. How we were never kept us from becoming who we wanted to be. This truth continues to reign in our lives.

We all know women and men who continue to be enthused about even the tiny happenings in the passing of a day. A bird’s flight from the porch to a nearby tree to feed its young, the laughter of children passing the house on their way home from school, the family reunions, large or small, bring smiles and memories that comfort. Probably we envy those folks, unless we happen to be them already. In either case, imitating others or serving as their role models helps to strengthen our positive responses to life’s details. No matter how old we are, there is still joy to be felt. And there is still time to change and grow.

There is no rule that says I have to be and think and act the same way my whole life. Today is a clean slate. I can be who I want to be.

You are reading from the book:Keepers of the Wisdom by Karen Casey       

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

Earl reported that KUAC will be here Wednesday to do a story on the Nenana Student Living Center. He passed around a Faces book that they have put together to take to Juneau when they visit the legislature which has photos of each NSLC student, their home village and a blurb about themselves and their experiences as students at NSLC. The students put this together themselves and it puts a face onto their collective experience and why they want NSLC to remain a viable educational option. Earl said that NSLC has just completed a group process to effect changes in the Mission and Vision statements for NSLC, and to create new goals and objectives. These changes are both for students and staffing issues. He described some cultural communications difficulties that they have been working through.

 

Carl said that he has been refining funding information to present. There is about a half a million dollar annual shortfall. House Bill 16 tuition stipends provides about a third of the funding needed. He said that our costs per student are about 70 to 80 per cent of the costs per student at Mt. Edgecombe. State funding is erratic. Jason has taken the lead on getting the issues of the building loan addressed. If we can get the operations costs solidly settled, this will give us a basis then to get forgiveness of the loan or to renegotiate at 0% interest. Basically they are taking a shotgun approach to getting this information out, focusing right now on the legislature but also looking to foundations and other possible sources of support.

 

Bonnie announced that the Nenana Seniors will have their annual meeting on the 21^st at noon to elect board members. Anyone over age 50 is eligible to be on the board. Anyone over the age 18 is eligible to be on the board. Board members as well as voters would need to live within a 35 mile radius.

 

We had a long discussion about addiction and the effects on family and community, and the continued funding cuts for treatment services.

 

ADJOURNMENT at 2:00 P.M.