Railbelt Mental Health & Addictions

NOTES FROM THE WELLNESS COALITION OF NENANA MEETING
September 29, 2009The Wellness Coalition of Nenana met at the Student Living Center Lynx Den
on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 with Bill and Rebecca Troxel, Andrea and
Walter Tommy, David Poppe, Virginia Young, Tara, Tim Horn and Bonnie Reed
present. Chicken soup, homemade bread, carrot sticks and pecans and raisins
for lunch.

Tim Horn chaired the meeting.  Virginia Young said the prayer, followed by
the pledge of allegiance. Lacking a formal agenda, one was made up at this
time.

As there will be testing at the Student Living Center on Tuesday, October
6th, that meeting will be  held in the big room at Meda Lord Senior Housing (we confirmed this during the meeting with a phone call to Wes Alexander).  John Grimes will be speaking about the Student Living Center.

Bill Packee of the National Federation for the Blind in Fairbanks will speak to us on October 13th.

The next Freecycle will be  held tentatively at the Tribal Hall, on
Saturday, October 17th, beginning with food at 5 p.m. and a movie at 6 p.m.

Tara said that ACS was bringing DSL to Nenana.

Tim Horn had Secret Sister pamphlets for any woman who wished to participate in the Secret Sister activity.

Virginia Young had some garlic bulbs for those who wanted to plant some this fall.

Rebecca said that a “friend of a friend” called saying that there may be assistance available to people who were affected by last year’s flood who still need help with repairs, etc.  Anyone who is so affected or who knows someone who still needs help should call Rebecca and she can give the person the phone number to call.

The meeting adjourned at 1:27 p.m.

Nenana Wellness CoalitionMINUTES

September 15, 2009

 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, celebrate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska. 

We had 17 participants today, including: Virginia Young, Gloria Johnson, Maryellen Robinson, Harriet Borst, Bill & Rebecca Troxel, Jeannie Bennett, Audrey Roth, Tim Horn, Bonnie Reed, Andrea & Walter Tommy, Kat McElroy, J.R. Benedict, Merrily Verhagen, and John V. and John R. Watts. We had lima bean soup, Cucumber and tomato salad, cheese & crackers and Raisins and pecans for lunch.

 

WELCOME: By this week’s chairperson, Rebecca Troxel, followed by the READING OF MISSION STATEMENT.

 

PRAYER: Was lead by John R. Watts, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: There were several additions to the agenda.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were posted at the WIN link at www.railbelt.com and submitted electronically to the WIN e-list.

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Bill Troxel introduced his friends John and Johnny Watts who are visiting Alaska. They have been to moose camp as well as making road trips to Tok, Glennallen and Valdez.

 

SPEAKERS/TOPICS:

 

Project Overhaul: No one has ascertained the status of the burned out cabin on the corner of 3^rd and C streets.  Jeannie and Bob Bennett will be leaving for an extended trip to the Lower 48. We will continue information gathering about the burnt out cabin in her absence.

 

Envisioning Wellness: Kat McElroy will present next week on The Medicine Wheel, One Perspective On Wellness. Tim will make flyers and email to Kat to get distributed. John Grimes is confirmed to present on October 6^th; his topic will be the Nenana Student Living Center. No one is slated yet for November. Kat will ask Beverly Joseph about the man from the Fairbanks chapter of the National Federation for the Blind to see if he might be available for November.

 

Sober Housing: The space has been cleared, trees cut, limbed out, scrub chipped up, the trunks sawn off. Kat has to contact Charlie Stevens to get gravel delivered. Joe Verhagen has completed the blueprints and building plans and emailed links and instructions to Kat and David Poppe how to view same on the internet-based SketchUp program. Kat downloaded and installed SketchUp but was unable to open the plans on her work computer. She will forward same to David to see if he has better luck.

 WELLNESS THOUGHT:  Secrets and unexpressed emotions- Jane Middleton-Moz“Secrets and unexpressed emotions do many things. They will cause damage if they are not brought into the open and come out in hidden ways. These hidden ways are depression, bitterness, loss of self-esteem, continual worry, anxiety, loneliness, quick temper, difficulty in letting other people close, relationship problems, addictions and compulsions, and suicidal thoughts. All of these come from delayed grief when we do not allow ourselves to let out those feelings. The more we have circles and the more we grieve together, the more these things begin to disappear.” 

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Bill: Marilyn Duggar’s ordination celebration will be Wednesday, 7 P.M., at the tribal hall. Desserts/finger foods will be served.

Jeannie: There will be training for anyone interested in working for the census, Thursday, 9:30-Noon, at the tribal hall. Contact person will be Karen Lord.

Tim: School pictures will be Monday, 0921-09. Yom Kippur will be celebrated the 29^th, 6:30-8:00 at the Parish Hall.

Maryellen: Will be leaving for Bethel, then when she gets back she has to go to Anchorage. Nenana Head Start will hold Family Night next Thursday, 09-24-09 at 5:30 at the YERC.

Merrily: Nenana Community Calendar is up and running. Rebecca will email the URL to Kat to post it to the WIN e-list.

Gloria: The court building project is moving along and people who are on the jury pool can expect to receive more notices real soon.

Andrea: She and Walter met with Robert Charlie and George Albert. They took pictures of the 4-Mile property. They are putting together a plan to present to UAF among others to put up 10 to 12 cabins, a conference building, a small gift shop. Also in the plans: to drill for water, get electric in and improve the road.

Kat: People are having a hard time obtaining detox services; the Fairbanks detox unit is closed and no one knows when it will be opened again. People needing medical detox need to go through the ER at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. Our system of care is being taxed by funding and staffing concerns.

Virginia has 150 peony roots on order. They will need to be put into the ground before freeze-up. She has 20 Araucana chickens for sale. They are just beginning to lay “mostly turquoise” eggs.

Rebecca: AWANA begins on the 21^st. It will be Mondays, 3-5 P.M. at the Civic Center.

  

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None

 

 

ADJOURNMENT: 1:30 P.M.

Nenana Wellness CoalitionMINUTESSeptember 8, 2009The 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, celebrate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska. 

We had nine participants today, including: Rebecca Troxel, Walter Tommy, Jeannie Bennett, Kat McElroy, David Poppe, Bonnie Reed, Merrily Verhagen, Mary Alexander, and Tim Horn. We enjoyed moose and barley soup, mixed green salad, cucumber and tomato salad, Ritz crackers with sliced cheese, pecans & Raisins and chocolate chip cookies for lunch.

 

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

 

PRAYER: Was lead by Rebecca Troxel, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: There were several additions to the agenda.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Kat did not complete minutes from last week. She will complete them and post this afternoon at the WIN link at www.railbelt.com and send to the WIN e-list.

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: No newcomers this week.

           

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

 

“Dancing In The Streets” Mike Anderson has set the menu for the dinner. Laura will shop for the food stuffs and deliver to him by Thursday. Glow sticks have arrived for the dance. Michael will be DJ’ing again this year. Set-up at the Civic Center is slated for Thursday afternoon. We need donations of fish. Kat and Rebecca will both provide some salmon to Mike, to add to his menu. Tim requests that Liz make more of the rainbow children buttons. Kat will forward that request to Liz. Merrily suggested, due to flu concerns, we serve food cafeteria style this year. She volunteered to help; Jeannie and Kat are also willing to serve. We would need a couple more servers. It was also suggested that we get hand sanitizer for the event. Kat will forward these suggestions to RMHA.

 

Envisioning Wellness Kat will ask Tara about her friend who was going to talk to us about doing seed balls, also find out from Beverley about the man in Fairbanks from the National Association for the Blind. Mary suggested we ask other specific community members: some suggestions included asking the mayor and the superintendent of schools again, Willie Lord from the Tribe, Nita Marks to talk about the Indian Child Welfare Act and tribal social work. Tim suggested asking John Grimes to speak about the Student Living Center. He was passing by, coincidentally, and so was asked and agreed to present October 6^th. Kat offered to present on using the medicine wheel for recovery and  prevention work. This was tentatively scheduled for September 22^nd.

 Project Overhaul Jeannie reports that seven junked vehicles were removed from our community and 7.27 tons of trash was hauled in the NNC trailer to the Denali Land Fill, which would not have been possible if they had not waived the tipping fees. Additionally, J.R. ran many truckloads of trash to the Ester transfer station. Much of this was flood damaged household goods as well as all of the rubbish from Grandma Edna’s house. They also hauled multiple loads of brush over to the burn-pile by the Pavilion. Overall, it was a success, she says, thanks to the various volunteers in the community and donations of money by the Lion’s Club. She is already forward thinking to next year. She would like to get started earlier, by break-up. Discussion ensued. It was agreed that WIN would like to partner with the school to revitalize clean-up day; perhaps we could make it a “clean-up week.” Loose dogs around town have been identified as a barrier as many

volunteers are reluctant to place themselves or our students and youth at risk to dog attack during clean-up activities around town. It was suggested that we place donation cans at Coghill’s to raise funds to defray costs for next year’s efforts. Perhaps Crowley’s and the Ice Classic would be willing to donate money for the cause. Lastly we discussed tackling the burned-out cabin on the corner of C and 3^rd streets. Merrily said she might be able to get her family to help demolish the structure. We need to ascertain who owns it and if they are willing to let it be torn down.

 Health Fair 2010 We tentatively scheduled this for March 27^th, a Saturday, after Spring Break. The focus this year would be community health issues. The Fair would be at the Civic Center. Tim says she cannot be site coordinator due to previous commitments; Rebecca is willing to consider performing that function again. We need to check with Phyllis in Fairbanks before we plan further.WELLNESS THOUGHT:

Together we learn. Together we heal. National recovery month—2009UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS. 

David: The quail are free. E moved them outside the chicken house into an outdoors cage and they have flown the coop. So far they are sticking around the place but it will be interesting to see what happens as winter progresses. 

Merrily: The Nenana Latter Day Saints are now meeting every Sunday at 1 P.M. at their new meeting space next doors to Kristi’s Quisine.

Bonnie: September 16^th Marilyn Duggar will be ordained at St. Mark’s Episcopal church here in Nenana at 7 p.m. There will be dessert afterwards at the Parish Hall.

Mary: There will be a school board meeting tonight, 6:30, in the Pit.

 OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS /QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None                                                                        

ADJOURNMENT: 2:15 P.M.

Nenana Wellness CoalitionAGENDASeptember 1, 2009The 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, celebrate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska.

We had 21 in attendance this date, including: Kat & Leon McElroy, David Poppe, Shaunna & Brent Mitchell, Walter & Andrea Tommy, Virginia Young, Tim Horn, Bonnie Reed, Bill, Rebecca, Aerin and Ethan Troxel, Maryellen Robinson, Laura Vance, Audrey Roth, Wes Alexander, Jeannie Bennett, Harriet Borst, and Susie Schneider,  We had an Italian sausage and pasta casserole, mixed greens salad, Ritz crackers & sliced cheese, nuts & raisins and chocolate chip cookies for lunch.

 

WELCOME followed by the READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: By this week’s chairperson, Rebecca Troxel.

 

PRAYER: Was lead by Leon McElroy, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: there was one addiction to the agenda.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Were posted as always at www.railbelt.com and forwarded to the WIN e-list by Kat.

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Brent and Shauna have been with us previously but were introduced to those who might now know them.

           

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

 

“Dancing In The Streets” RMHA is moving along with preparations for our fifth annual dancing In The Streets celebration. Maryellen has gotten the Lion’s and the Shriner’s involved in the parade. The DJ is scheduled to play music from 7-11 P.M. Laura made flyers and they have been posted. Kat will email them to the various 12 step communities. We will need volunteers to help set up at the Civic Center.

 Envisioning Wellness We have no one scheduled for September. Kat suggested we get someone from the tribe to talk to us about the changes they are experiencing. Rebecca suggested we have someone from the clinic to talk about their services. Susie will ask Jackie Suckling. Beverly Joseph had suggested a man from Fairbanks who works for the National Association for the Blind. We would need to look up his name from the old minutes or contact Bev to get that info. WELLNESS THOUGHT: Walk the Spiritual Path with practical feet. Phil Lane Jr.

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS.  

Bill: Friday, sixish, a cookout to meet their visitors, at the Troxell’s. They will be going moose hunting next week.

Bonnie: She is back and healing fast from having a pacemaker put in last week. “The tape hurt worse than the incision.”

Walter: They went out and took pictures at 4-mile. They continue talking to Robert Charlie about how to turn the property into a recovery camp.

Andrea: Has been looking into what it would take to start up a small community newsletter. Perhaps this could be web-based as well as a weekly paper version. If you have suggestions contact her at agregorysmith@yahoo.com

Wes: Two new tenants at the Senior Housing—Helen Williams and Steve Mitchell.

Kat: Has noticed lately, in Alaska and nationally, a re-criminalization movement in many communities, to deal with addiction and chronic inebriation. She cited city policies and regulations in Fairbanks and Anchorage the past few years. She is glad that people in Nenana see these issues in a different light and are willing to put their efforts towards different solutions than jail cells.

David: Finished putting almost 50 chickens into the freezer. It was a bloody and time-consuming effort and he is glad it is finished. Average size of the chickens was 7-plus pounds.

Shauna: Last week it was announced that Nenana/TCC are in competition with Fairbanks Native Association and the Fairbanks North Star School District for funding for an infant learning program. Nenana has a good chance because we are the only applicant that has a brand new facility with available space for the program. This would be early head-start for zero through three years of ages. There are 17 candidates in Nenana for this proposed program and would require hiring four more staff.

Maryellen:  The back-to-school bar-b-que attracted 60 participants in Anderson. Way to go, Maryellen.

Jeannie: She and J.R. are talking to people in Fairbanks about starting a Celebrate Recovery group here in Nenana. This is a Christian-based 12 step recovery process which is used to address addiction as well as other issues, like gambling, unfaithfulness, spending, etc. It requires the group leaders to go thru a 6-12 month training, working through all 12 steps themselves before they start the group.

Susie: She is glad to be home finally after a long busy summer.

Harriet: She doesn’t believe that court-mandated treatment is effective. People have to want to quit, she says. She used herself stopping smoking as an example. After many years and many attempts, she is one year and seven months tobacco free. She and her friend stopped together, “We helped one another.” Way to go!

 OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS /QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION.                                                                         

ADJOURNMENT