n September, US Congressman Don Young announced that $18 million in Health and Human Services grants would be dispersed to Alaska healthcare organizations and services around the state.
“Our state’s unique geography can present many roadblocks when it comes to the delivery of essential healthcare services,” Young said in a September press release. “Time and time again Alaska’s healthcare providers have been able to rise to the occasion to deliver high-quality care in our cities, rural areas, and Native communities.”
Some grants will fund specific projects and initiatives while others will continue ongoing programs. Other grants will open doors for more opportunities in urban and rural Alaska, such as new job positions or virtual medical assistance.
Sandy Stora, director of marketing for United Way of Anchorage, says the funds awarded to her organization will be used to provide free and confidential Marketplace Insurance information and enrollment assistance to Alaskans by trained healthcare navigators. This service can be conducted either in-person or virtually and will be available to the entire state.
United Way of Anchorage Support Navigators was awarded $100,000.
“Understanding your health insurance options and making informed decisions about coverage is vital to the health and financial security of every Alaskan,” Stora says. “Healthcare navigators with United Way of Anchorage serve as trusted resources.”
Stora says that Alaskans can call 2-1-1 to receive help with healthcare coverage. “Health insurance is complicated. Navigators can help Alaskans get answers and get covered.”
North of Anchorage is the Sunshine Community Health Center, which has a clinic in Talkeetna and one in Willow. The center was awarded $167,000 as a supplemental grant for Integrated Behavioral Health Services; a grant of $35,000 was awarded to the health organization for quality improvements.
Melody West is the executive director of the center, which employs doctors, physician assistants, dentists, nurses, behavioral health, and other medical professionals. She says grant funds will be used to support and increase access to integrated behavioral health services. This includes the treatment of mental health conditions, substance use disorders, and chronic disease management.
“We were able to hire an additional full-time behavioral health case manager who will work in coordination with our current medical and behavioral health case managers,” West says.
The case manager will work in coordination with providers to support patients with their care plans to remove barriers, follow up with specialty providers, provide patient education, increase community awareness, and implement additional group therapy classes—some of which include parenting classes, suicide prevention, substance use, and pain management. Funds will also be used for continuing clinical education of the Center’s behavioral health team.
“The $35,000 quality award will be used to further our quality program through trainings, IT enhancements for data analysis, and audits,” West says. ”This was based on quality measures that we report to HRSA each year.”
Out in Cordova is the Native Village of Eyak, which was awarded two different grant amounts, one for $167,000 and the other for $45,586.
Kari Collins, health and wellness director of the Ilanka Community Health Center in the Native Village of Eyak, says the larger grant allowed them to expand their team.
“After administrative costs, this award has allowed us to hire a full time RN case manager who will assist in further bridging our behavioral health and medical services together,” Collins says.
The case manager will work with clients with substance use disorders, many of whom also suffer from other medical issues like malnutrition or chronic pain.
“Our case manager will be able to assist these clients to get their medical and social needs met by helping them to navigate the very complicated pathways to other services and appointments,” Collins says. “Conversely, many people who come to the Ilanka clinic for medical services may also benefit from behavioral health counseling. For example, someone who is a diabetic may suffer from depression or pain issues. Our case manager will be able to assist these patients in receiving care that they might not have thought of. This is a new position for us and we are excited to offer expanded services to people who need just that little bit of extra time and attention.”
The $45,000 grant awarded to the center will support the clinic’s quality improvement, quality assurance, and outreach.
“Some of these activities are related to data tracking and submission. Others are outreach efforts: assisting patients with annual diabetes, hypertension, and cardiac visits,” Collins says. “Ilanka also co-hosts an annual health fair each year, and these funds assist us in providing medical supplies and information to community members.”
Cook Inlet Tribal Council
Cook Inlet Tribal Council Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides services to Alaska Native and Native Americans living in the Cook Inlet region, received two grants, one for $150,000 and the other for $300,000. Tim Blum, senior marketing communications specialist at Cook Inlet Tribal Council, says that the funds will be used for substance abuse prevention and treatment.
Fairbanks Native Association
Kenaitze Indian Tribe
The Kenaitze Indian Tribe, located in Kenai, was awarded about $2.5 million according to Rachel Gilbert, education director for the tribe. The grant will fund their organization’s longstanding Head Start program, which provides center-based services to preschool children who are three and four years old.
“The Tribe’s Head Start program is one component of our Tribal Education division,” Gilbert says. “The division includes a home-based Early Head Start, Head Start, after-school program, Yaghanen prevention and early intervention program, and a scholarships and career training program. The Early Head Start, Head Start, and after-school programs are no-fee services that are open to Native and non-Native children, regardless of household income. Yaghanen is open to any child from age six through twelfth grade.”
Kenaitze Indian Tribe received an initial award in March to increase service hours from 576 to 1,020 a year. The application also included a line item for construction funding, which will go toward an education facility the Tribe is building on the Kenai Peninsula.
“Construction will begin next year on land the Tribe purchased this spring,” Gilbert says.
More than 1,000 miles away in Unalaska, The Qawalangin Tribe was awarded a $325,000 grant. Kanesia McGlashan-Price, wellness project coordinator of the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska, says the Tribe was awarded a Good Health and Wellness in Indian Country Grant, which focuses on diabetes, obesity, and heart health.
The Tribe’s plan is to tackle these issues through community-based and culturally informed strategies to reduce these health conditions.
McGlashan-Price says data from the Alaska Native Epidemiology Center shows that the percentage of Alaska Native adults from the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands identified as obese between 2012 and 2016 was 54.4 percent. Nearly one-fourth of the Unalaska Native population is either pre-diabetic or diabetic, and more than a quarter of patients who visited the Oonalaska Wellness Center in Unalaska last year had a diagnosis or a problem related to hypertension.
“We are focusing on addressing Unangan chronic health diseases in Unalaska over a [five] year period,” McGlashan-Price says.
Fairbanks Native Association
“The Wellness Project will serve 755 young children and 2,307 family and staff members,” Diana Campbell, director of communication at FNA, reports.
The second grant will provide services to children ranging in age from newborn to eight years old—as well as their families—to promote wellness by addressing social, emotional, physical, cognitive, and behavioral development. The funding is for a five-year project, for which FNA is partnering with the Alaska Center for Children and Adults and ThrivAlaska. The project will service all Alaskans in the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
In addition, FNA will hire a project director, a family behavioral therapist, and provide a screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment professional.
“We have a big need for these types of services for our families in Fairbanks,” Steve Ginnis, executive director of FNA says. “FNA is fortunate to have a behavioral services department that is experienced enough to know how to apply for and implement grants to really help people, especially our at-risk youth.” 
Fairbanks Native Association
“The Wellness Project will serve 755 young children and 2,307 family and staff members,” Diana Campbell, director of communication at FNA, reports.
The second grant will provide services to children ranging in age from newborn to eight years old—as well as their families—to promote wellness by addressing social, emotional, physical, cognitive, and behavioral development. The funding is for a five-year project, for which FNA is partnering with the Alaska Center for Children and Adults and ThrivAlaska. The project will service all Alaskans in the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
In addition, FNA will hire a project director, a family behavioral therapist, and provide a screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment professional.
“We have a big need for these types of services for our families in Fairbanks,” Steve Ginnis, executive director of FNA says. “FNA is fortunate to have a behavioral services department that is experienced enough to know how to apply for and implement grants to really help people, especially our at-risk youth.”