As always, please reach out to us with any questions. We hold monthly newsletter meetings at 11 AM on the Wednesday one week before month's end. Contact Jess if you would like more information about this meeting/to be added to the calendar invite for the meeting.

Thank you, each of you, for your work to heal our families, communities, and systems. You are seen and you are needed! Feel free to send us your news and updates for next month's newsletter via the submission link below.

Be well,

Veronica Panyuuriq Driskill is an Inupiaq Alaska Native and a member of the Native Village of Unalakleet. She was born and raised in the coastal community of Unalakleet, Alaska where she was surrounded by her large, extended family. Veronica is one of the Lead Behavioral Health Coordinators for the Family Services Training Center at the Center for Human Development. She has been in this position since June 2022. Prior to her current position, she was a trainer for the UAA Child Welfare Academy where she trained child welfare professionals from all across the State for 2.5 years.

Veronica has been in the Social Services field in both urban and rural communities for 15+ years and is happy to share her experience with others. She worked for many years as a tribal partner where she learned about the importance of communication and collaboration. She also worked for the State of Alaska as a Protective Service Specialist at the Office of Children’s Services. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with a minor in Alcohol Studies and is currently a student in the Master of Social Work program at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Veronica will be supporting the efforts of the Data and Learning workgroup.

Jess Braunlich, in her role with Spirit of Youth, will be supporting the Alliance newsletter. Many thanks to Karen Zeman, Jess Braunlich, and Spirit of Youth for resourcing the network and helping ensure that internal communications are afloat!

An Introduction from Jess: I'm a mostly-lifelong Alaskan that grew up in Northway and Fairbanks and spent a few years in both the East and West Coast Washingtons. My work life includes fifteen years working with nonprofits, tribal groups, government agencies, and other organizations as staff and consultant largely in the areas of facilitation, planning, research, and program development. I am currently an independent consultant/contractor and am delighted for part of that work to be as a team member with Spirit of Youth - an organization I was involved with as a teenager and later as a longtime board member. I love living in, playing in, and being part of the Anchorage community with my husband and three kids, the youngest of whom joined us this summer and stands a good chance of being spotted on Zoom calls these days.

Know a teen or youth group doing something positive for their community? Nominate them for Spirit of Youth recognition and let them know their contributions matter!

Spirit of Youth is dedicated to empowering Alaska's teens through positive media recognition and the annual awards program. All nominees in each of the eight categories are publicly recognized in their communities, and award winners have the opportunity to receive a scholarship of up to $2,000 from Alaska 529.

Research demonstrates that youth who are recognized for their accomplishments by the people around them are better able to build confidence for their future endeavors. You have the power to make such a difference in the life of an Alaska teen!

Spirit of Youth relies upon community members like you to let young people know they are making positive contributions to Alaska as our state's future stewards. Nominations are quick, easy, and may be done directly through the Spirit of Youth website.

Nominations are open through December 31, 2022. Youth and/or youth group award winners will be selected by members of the Spirit of Youth Teen Advisory Council early in 2023.

RurAL CAP is hiring a full-time (remote and/or in-person) Resource Basket Supervisor to support and guide the planning, implementation and evaluation of The Resource Basket Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) center, which serves Alaska Tribes with Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Tribal Youth Program and Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court Grants, as well as other adults working with Alaska Native youth. TTA priorities of The Resource Basket include Alaska Native approaches to: juvenile re-entry, positive youth development, restorative practices, grant management, peer-to-peer education, understanding and healing from historical trauma, and more. Learn more and apply.

Center for Safe Alaskans (Safe Alaskans) promotes wellbeing, the prevention of injuries and improved safety of Alaskans. The core values guiding our work are to be innovative, collaborative, inclusive and respectful, data-driven, and strengths-based. The public health model is the foundation of our work.

The Anchorage Youth Development Coalition (AYDC) is housed at Safe Alaskans and supports youth-serving organizations through advocacy, resources, networking, and training, so all Anchorage youth thrive. We are a broad and inclusive coalition of over 60 youth-serving organizations, businesses, and individuals working to create shared community practices around professional youth work. The Program Manager will support planning, implementation, and evaluation of program activities for AYDC. More information about Safe Alaskans, AYDC, and how to apply is available on our website.

We will always do our best to publish upcoming events in a timely, regular manner for our newsletter subscribers. We also keep an event calendar through the Recover Alaska website that allows our partners a secondary means of sharing their event news with our community. We welcome your submissions!

The Wildflower Alliance presents, “When Conversation Turns to Suicide,” a 16-hour training for people wanting to learn about and use the Alternative to Suicide approach in their work and beyond.

The Wildflower Alliance supports healing and empowerment for our broader communities and people who have been impacted by psychiatric diagnosis, trauma, extreme states, homelessness, problems with substances, and other life-interrupting challenges through: peer-to-peer support and genuine human relationships, alternative healing practices, learning opportunities, and advocacy. Essential to their work is recognizing and undoing systemic injustices such as racism, sexism, ableism, transphobia, transmisogyny, and psychiatric oppression.

To register, visit this link. If you would like to attend and need funding support, please reach out to Jess Limbird, jlimbird@recoveralaska.org.

The Alliance is excited to hold a retreat on December 7 and 8, 2022 for our network. Our intent is for this to be a hybrid event–with both in-person and online participation. To design a retreat that will be engaging, productive, healing, and meaningful for our community, we are pulling together a small team of people–a Planning Team–to co-design the outcomes, agenda, and facilitation plan. Because of the passion, leadership, and collaboration skills you’ve demonstrated in our work, we want to invite you into a unique role to help shape the retreat.

Please email AlaskanAnnette@gmail.com to get on the planning committee for the Alliance retreat. Thank you!