Wellness Program

Contact the Wellness Program P.O. Box 948 Nome, AK 99762 Phone # 907-443-4325 Fax # 907-443-4445 Click here to email the Wellness Program
		The Wellness Program's focus is on restoring a culture of wellness within the region through promotion of healthy living, development of wellness courts, education, and prevention. Background Resources provided to Alaska through the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) Wellness fund have been raising awareness to the problems affecting our communities associated with alcohol and substance abuse, suicide, depression, bootlegging, and unhealthy behaviors. Theses resources have been a source of inspiration to rural Alaska and have served to encourage communities to closely examine ways to take control of their environments and build healthy communities through effective behavioral change. Changing the behavior of a community is a long process requiring awareness, education, financial support, leadership, role models, and proactive actions by community members. The Bering Strait Region has witnessed all of this to varying degrees in each of our communities through the AFN Wellness program. This remarkable program provided the funding over a three-year period to: Increase awareness through an aggressive public relations campaign carried out in all communities; Provide education from experts in mental and physical health to address and incorporate input from residents in rural Alaska; Establish capable leadership with the Bering Strait Wellness Forum, an advisory council on wellness activities representing various agencies and communities throughout the region; Identify role models in each community who are revered for sobriety and healthy lifestyles; Proactively establish village Wellness Courts as a legal alternative to encourage sobriety and uphold healthy community values; Explore community consciousness and the will for entire communities to change; Embrace healthy lifestyles in the context of cultural competency; and Reinforce a fragile rural law enforcement system with equipment to aid in the fight against bootlegging in rural communities. Current Situation Communities in the Bering Strait Region and in other rural areas of the State of Alaska have benefited immensely from the AFN Wellness fund. Community consciousness is changing. New commitments to healthy living are witnessed each day. Residents in rural Alaska are beginning to take control over their choice of lifestyles. Behavioral change, however, is a long process. Suicides continue at an alarming rate, while alcohol abuse, substance abuse, and widespread depression remain high on the list of behavioral problems. A large concern looms over rural Alaska. With the funding for the AFN Wellness program drawing to a close, rural communities still face enormous alcohol and substance abuse problems, extremely high rates of suicide, frequent cases of depression, and pervasive unhealthy behaviors. While social and behavioral change can be measured, the early effects of awareness and education can take years to come to fruition. Intuitively our communities know that what was started needs to continue long-term in order to overcome these problems. Recommendation Providing funds through SAMHSA will help keep the hopes created by the AFN Wellness program alive in rural Alaska. Kawerak requests that this funding be made available to support ongoing activities in awareness, education, leadership, role models, proactive community-based legal alternatives, cultural emphasis on health, and community commitment. These activities have made a difference and they will continue to make a difference if supported financially. Residents in our communities can feel it. They also know that there is a long road ahead. Back to Top

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