Railbelt Mental Health & Addictions

Nenana Wellness CoalitionMINUTES

October 21, 2008

 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 this date including: Laura Vance, Bill & Rebecca Troxel, Tim Horn, Bonnie Reed, Lily O’Brien, Kat McElroy and Mike Anderson. We had chili and beans, corn bread, green salad and cheese and crackers for lunch.

 

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

 

PRAYER: Was lead by Lily O’Brien, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: There was no call for modification.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Miles posted minutes from last week to Kat who will email them to the WIN e-list and post them on the WIN web site.

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: This is Lily O’Brien’s first meeting; she was warmly welcomed by all and Tim explained to her a little about the five year history of our wellness coalition.

           

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

 

Envisioning Wellness—Due to unforeseen circumstances, NNC Tribal Administrator Karen Lord was unavailable to present to us on the Nenana Native Council’s Plans & Priorities.

 WELLNESS THOUGHT: We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. Benjamin Franklin 

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

Laura gave us an update on last week’s WIN discussion on how we can utilize our own local resources towards community development around wellness issues. She mentioned Tim Barker’s desire to see adult education and vocational education furthered. We have the facility and the people needed to begin this. It was suggested that Annette Freiburger with Interior Aleutians Campus could assist in that endeavor.

 

Tim said that it does not look as if the Leahy children want to be in Nenana for the Hallowe’en Carnival, per the guardian ad litum’s report. Kat and Tim have agreed to transport if needed and the decision will be left up to the children. Other opportunities for visits shall be explored.

 

Bonnie: Bud Krause has passed away; there will be a Shriners’ service in the Spring, Jack Coghill has said. Frank Gallo’s funeral service has not been scheduled as of yet. Tanana Valley Cosmetology volunteers did haircuts, perms, mani- and pedi-cures last Thursday for the Seniors and are willing to come back again to serve the community at large. Contact Vicky at Senior’s Center to schedule an appointment. These services are free except there is a supplies charge for perms. Mary and Wes Alexander are the new managers of the Senior Housing and by all reports it is working out well. There will be a 55 Alive driving safety course offered thru the Seniors; successful completion of this could reduce your insurance costs. Interested parties should contact the Senior Center.

 

Lily O’Brien is interested in the Strong Women exercise course offered through the Cooperative Extension. Discussion ensued regarding previous attempts to organize group exercise activities in the past. Lily said they are interested in finding a person from our community who would be willing to go to Fairbanks and receive training to be a Strong Women exercise group leader and that they would be willing to come to Nenana for the initial sessions. Tim suggested Lily may want to be trained. She asked Lily to bring further information to WIN. Lily mentioned that Catherine Marks has been diagnosed with breast cancer; Zelma Axford wants to do a fund-raising event to help.

 

Beverley brought a book about Community Reinforcement Approach to treatment which was used as a training manual for counselors at Old Minto Family Recovery Camp. She has asked Victor Joseph from Tanana Chief’s Conference to present this model of intervention to WIN Kat volunteered to call Victor to advance this request as a potential presenter for our Envisioning Wellness, possibly for November? She also would like to start a monthly music night at the YERC, perhaps on Tuesday evenings. Lastly, she mentioned that the first of November is All Soul’s Day, or All Saints Day, and that traditionally in the Episcopalian church, people bring photos of their beloved deceased ones to lay upon the altar for memorial services, which will be conducted at St. Mark’s here in Nenana.  

 

Kat announced that RMHA is in the middle of revamping their offices. They have finished their quarterly reports. Laura will begin her RHS training in November along with our newest RHS candidate from Healy, Liz Reeves.

 

Laura announced that front work has begun for Operation Ho, Ho, Ho. She needs names and contact information for any individuals or families that might need or want a Christmas food and gift box this year. She will also be coordinating the Angel Tree project with the school.

 

Bill says the Freecycle for Nov. 8^th is a go. Kat has gotten permission from Robin Campbell to use the Tribal Hall. There will be a dinner at the Tribal Hall November 9^th honoring our local veterans. Their church has applied for a CV61 license so that they may do a family movie night.

 

Rebecca says they are again experiencing problems with snow-machine speeding by on the streets near their house. She says she will not let her children walk to the school for Tae Kwan Doh at night for fear of an accident. She wonders who can we address this issue as a community, get safety information out into the community in a meaningful manner. Tim suggests that we email Eric Gebhart and suggest the school do an ATV safety training.

 

Tim said there are parent/teacher conferences Thursday and Friday, so no school on those days. Also the annual Nenana Ice Cream Classic basketball tournament will be November 7^th so there will be no classes on that day, either.

 

A memorial service for Josh Mayrand will be held at 6 PM, Friday, October 24, at the Civic Center. Marilyn Duggar and Bill Troxel will be officiating. Per family request, dress is casual and there will be no open mike sharing during the service. The YERC will be open Friday evening with food and activities for our youth.

 

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None

 

ADJOURNMENT: 2:00 P.M.

Nenana Wellness CoalitionAGENDA

October 7, 2008

 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 ten people attend meeting today, including: Bill & Rebecca Troxel, Bonnie Reed, Kat McElroy, Mike Anderson, Cathie Gephart (and Jasper), Dana Hills, Tim Horn, and Miles Martin. We enjoyed green salad, chicken barley soup, home-made fudge and sliced apples & pecans for lunch.

 

WELCOME and READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: By this week’s chairperson, Dana Hills.

 

PRAYER: Was lead by Miles Marin, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: There were 3 items added to the agenda.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Were posted by Rebecca to Kat; Kat will forward to the WIN e-list.

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Dana and Cathie were introduced.

           

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

 

Foster Parent Recruitments—Tim Horn was contacted by Kathy Halverson who works for TCC in Fairbanks. She has been tasked with recruiting Foster Parents in our area and is interested in coming to a WIN meeting as part of that task. She has tentatively committed to October 28^th, but is waiting for an okay on that from her supervisor. She mentioned a woman whose passion is working with families that have experienced sexual abuse. Tim thinks we may be able to ask this woman to help with our WIN goal of holding parenting skills-building workshops here in Nenana. She will accompany Ms. Halverson when she comes to speak to us.

 Envisioning Wellness—WIN at Large. Mike confirmed that Karen Lord will be presenting 21^st October as Mitch Demientieff and Edna Hancock will both be in Anchorage attending AFN at that time. Karen will be able to provide us with an overview of what the tribe is currently doing and hopefully also give us an idea of what their future plans are at this time. Per Mike, Vickie at the Senior’s does not seem to be interested in doing an Envisioning Wellness presentation. Mike says he will ask Ken Eggleston and Paul Verhagen to do a presentation on the Nenana Valley Sports Association. A date of November 18^th was proposed.  

Community Garden—Tim got the results of the soil sample analysis tests Cooperative Extension did of various plots at the community garden including one of hers, Rebecca’s and one from the green-house. The results varied wildly. Discussion ensued regarding ways to improve the soil and strategies to get a wider participation in the project. Dana mentioned there are grants available from 4-H, the Boy’s and Girl’s Clubs of America as well as Home Depot for community gardens. She mentioned a 25 thousand dollar grant received by Ft. Richardson to build a green-house. Tim mentioned she feels there is a lack of basic information and skills for gardening. Dana mentioned fruit trees grafted to Russian root stock which have been successful. She asked if a monthly or quarterly newsletter might be helpful.  Tim said that they were planning a get-together to make carrot and green onion seed tapes in December. Miles volunteered to ask Jason about the situation with the berries planted at TCCC now that Brent Mitchel is no longer in residence there. Tim asked that we keep the garden on the agenda as a regular item so we can continue to revisit these various issues.

 Freecycle—is scheduled for Saturday, November 8^th, from 5 till 8 P.M. Kat will contact Robin at the NNC to see about using the tribal hall for this event, also to see if she has GA workers available to do clean-up. The Troxel’s will make a big pot of stew and home-made bread. Kat will bring some manner of dessert. Cathie said a rummage sale is being planned for Nov. 1^st to raise funds for student leadership training. Items to be donated are being dropped of at NSLC. Items not sold will be donated to the Freecycle. A Chili cook-off Freestyle is tentatively scheduled for Jan 17^th, 2009.  WELLNESS THOUGHT: “Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself.”
                                                                                      Kahlil Gibran   

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

TODAY IS ELECTION DAY.

Mike: Pumpkins will be painted and carved by NSLC students and the community are invited to come judge the winners in both categories Tuesday, Oct. 28^th, followed by dinner at 5 P.M.

Tim: The book fair at the library at NCPS will run the week of Oct. 13 – 17^th with the big family night Bingo for Books on Thursday the 16^th from 5:30-7:00 P.M. There will be a Safari theme and photo ops. Tuesday the 14^th from 10-11:30 A.M. will be a Muffins for Mom event at the library, an opportunity for adults to review and purchase books without their children.

Next Friday, October 17^th is the next Village Pride/Community Safety meeting at the tribal hall, at 6:30 P.M.

School board meeting tonight in the Pit at NCPS.

Hallowe’en Carnival will be October 31^st at NCPS, in the gym.

The Literacy Council is hosting a Pajama Reading Party at the school Thursday, November 20^th, 6-8 P.M. with readers and story-tellers in five classrooms.

Bonnie: Senior’s Christmas Bazaar will be at the Civic Center the first weekend of December, Friday and Saturday. Tables are ten dollars per day. Vickie is the contact person for interested vendors.

Rebecca: October 29^th there will be a Pit Performance for K-2^nd grades at NCPS, 10 A.M.  November 5^th  is tentatively scheduled for grades 5-12 to do an evening school concert. Also, their church is starting a Financial Seminar for 13 weeks, Sundays, at 6:30 P.M. Information on the seminar can be found at www.daveramsey.com and interested people should purchase the kit which includes books and computer programs. The class is an audio presentation.

Kat: It should be noted that WIN has been meeting weekly in Nenana for five years.  

 

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None

 

ADJOURNMENT: 2 P.M.

Nenana Wellness Coalition
AGENDA
October 7, 2008

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 ten people attend meeting today, including: Bill & Rebecca Troxel, Bonnie Reed, Kat McElroy, Mike Anderson, Cathie Gephart (and Jasper), Dana Hills, Tim Horn, and Miles Martin. We enjoyed green salad, chicken barley soup, home-made fudge and sliced apples & pecans for lunch.

WELCOME and READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: By this week’s chairperson, Dana Hills.

PRAYER: Was lead by Miles Marin, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: There were 3 items added to the agenda.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Were posted by Rebecca to Kat; Kat will forward to the WIN e-list.

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Dana and Cathie were introduced.

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

Foster Parent Recruitments—Tim Horn was contacted by Kathy Halverson who works for TCC in Fairbanks. She has been tasked with recruiting Foster Parents in our area and is interested in coming to a WIN meeting as part of that task. She has tentatively committed to October 28th, but is waiting for an okay on that from her supervisor. She mentioned a woman whose passion is working with families that have experienced sexual abuse. Tim thinks we may be able to ask this woman to help with our WIN goal of holding parenting skills-building workshops here in Nenana. She will accompany Ms. Halverson when she comes to speak to us.

Envisioning Wellness—WIN at Large. Mike confirmed that Karen Lord will be presenting 21st October as Mitch Demientieff and Edna Hancock will both be in Anchorage attending AFN at that time. Karen will be able to provide us with an overview of what the tribe is currently doing and hopefully also give us an idea of what their future plans are at this time. Per Mike, Vickie at the Senior’s does not seem to be interested in doing an Envisioning Wellness presentation. Mike says he will ask Ken Eggleston and Paul Verhagen to do a presentation on the Nenana Valley Sports Association. A date of November 18th was proposed.

Community Garden—Tim got the results of the soil sample analysis tests Cooperative Extension did of various plots at the community garden including one of hers, Rebecca’s and one from the green-house. The results varied wildly. Discussion ensued regarding ways to improve the soil and strategies to get a wider participation in the project. Dana mentioned there are grants available from 4-H, the Boy’s and Girl’s Clubs of America as well as Home Depot for community gardens. She mentioned a 25 thousand dollar grant received by Ft. Richardson to build a green-house. Tim mentioned she feels there is a lack of basic information and skills for gardening. Dana mentioned fruit trees grafted to Russian root stock which have been successful. She asked if a monthly or quarterly newsletter might be helpful. Tim said that they were planning a get-together to make carrot and green onion seed tapes in December. Miles volunteered to ask Jason about the situation with the berries planted at TCCC now that Brent Mitchel is no longer in residence there. Tim asked that we keep the garden on the agenda as a regular item so we can continue to revisit these various issues.

Freecycle—is scheduled for Saturday, November 8th, from 5 till 8 P.M. Kat will contact Robin at the NNC to see about using the tribal hall for this event, also to see if she has GA workers available to do clean-up. The Troxel’s will make a big pot of stew and home-made bread. Kat will bring some manner of dessert. Cathie said a rummage sale is being planned for Nov. 1st to raise funds for student leadership training. Items to be donated are being dropped of at NSLC. Items not sold will be donated to the Freecycle. A Chili cook-off Freestyle is tentatively scheduled for Jan 17th, 2009.

WELLNESS THOUGHT: “Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself.”
Kahlil Gibran

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

TODAY IS ELECTION DAY.
Mike: Pumpkins will be painted and carved by NSLC students and the community are invited to come judge the winners in both categories Tuesday, Oct. 28th, followed by dinner at 5 P.M.
Tim: The book fair at the library at NCPS will run the week of Oct. 13 – 17th with the big family night Bingo for Books on Thursday the 16th from 5:30-7:00 P.M. There will be a Safari theme and photo ops. Tuesday the 14th from 10-11:30 A.M. will be a Muffins for Mom event at the library, an opportunity for adults to review and purchase books without their children.
Next Friday, October 17th is the next Village Pride/Community Safety meeting at the tribal hall, at 6:30 P.M.
School board meeting tonight in the Pit at NCPS.
Hallowe’en Carnival will be October 31st at NCPS, in the gym.
The Literacy Council is hosting a Pajama Reading Party at the school Thursday, November 20th, 6-8 P.M. with readers and story-tellers in five classrooms.
Bonnie: Senior’s Christmas Bazaar will be at the Civic Center the first weekend of December, Friday and Saturday. Tables are ten dollars per day. Vickie is the contact person for interested vendors.
Rebecca: October 29th there will be a Pit Performance for K-2nd grades at NCPS, 10 A.M. November 5th is tentatively scheduled for grades 5-12 to do an evening school concert. Also, their church is starting a Financial Seminar for 13 weeks, Sundays, at 6:30 P.M. Information on the seminar can be found at www.daveramsey.com and interested people should purchase the kit which includes books and computer programs. The class is an audio presentation.
Kat: It should be noted that WIN has been meeting weekly in Nenana for five years.

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None

ADJOURNMENT: 2 P.M.