Qissunaq Native Connections - The Qissunaq Native Connections Program will serve our youth of Chevak, a Cup'ik Eskimo community located on the banks of the Ninglikvak River in Southwest Alaska. We serve youth up to age 24, providing behavioral health (BH) services using Canricaraq, a holistic, Alaska Native wellness program, to help our youth heal from past traumas, and help any youth suffering from BH disorders, and to prevent any future suicides from occurring. Canricaraq, translated the way to be healthy , is a curriculum based on the traditional values and ways of the people in the YK Delta region of Southwest Alaska, and involves the incorporation of the ancestral traditional values, practices and teachings into prevention and treatment programs to help our Indigenous people heal from BH disorders. Our Native Connections Program staff will focus on providing outreach to the community to build their knowledge of identifying youth at risk for suicide, establish protocols for responding to suicides and establish a first responder protocol for BH emergencies in our community so we have the ability to respond to BH crises. A Tribal Strategic Action Plan will also be developed to provide a guide for the strategies and activities to be completed during the five-year grant. At the heart of our intervention will be the annual Canricaraq Gathering, a three day event that teaches participants how to get on the healthy road of life, and the Canricaraq Facilitator Trainings, also three days in length, that teach participants how to begin facilitating Canricaraq activities to help our community members get onto the road to wellness and recovery. In addition, we will have a strong presence in the school, where we will give weekly presentations and instruction on how to live a healthy Cup'ik lifestyle. Finally, our NC staff will promote healthy and safe activities for our youth to participate in. Our measurable goals and objectives include the 1) development, review and update of our policies and procedures related to preventing and responding to youth at risk for suicide, 2) trainings utilizing Canricaraq teachings for the school and community, 3) planning and facilitating a series of youth activities, such as fishing and camping trips, Native arts and crafts taught by elders, and movie nights and lock ins to provide healthy options for our youth to engage in, and 4) facilitate Canricaraq Gatherings and Canricaraq Facilitator Trainings for the community members. The measurement of goal one will be from the documents that are created or updated, and goals 2 through 4 will be based on the number of participants and their survey responses. It is anticipated we will serve at minimum 100 youth per year, and 500 in the five-year grant cycle.
