Population To Be Served: Our NC Project will serve the 12,350 youth, age 24 and under, of the Yukon Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta region of Southwest Alaska, an area covering 75,000 square miles, is larger than the state of Washington. This region includes 58 federally recognized tribal communities and has one of the highest concentrations of indigenous Native Americans in Alaska and the Lower 48 states.
Strategies / Interventions: Calricaraq, our Yup’ik ancestral way of healthy living, is being reintroduced to our people through the traditional healing staff of the BH Prevention Department at YKHC. Calricaraq is an Elder-driven program that encompasses our Yup’ik ancestral wisdom and knowledge and is our holistic approach to help people heal from the impacts of colonization. Calricaraq serves community members of all ages, but we focus most of our efforts on parents and school-age youth. We also provide training to service providers who work with our Tribal members, i.e., health care and social service workers, Elders, hospital patients and their families, schoolteachers, first responders and others. In addition, our staff are trained in crisis response, responding to communities and family members involved in traumatic incidents (homicide, suicide, plane crashes, etc.), where we intervene for those going through times of crisis, guiding them through grief in healthy ways using cultural strengths. If funded, the Native Connections staff will have a direct focus on the youth of our region and will be part of our BH Prevention team.
Project Goals and Measurable Objectives: In Year 1 of the grant, the NC staff will 1) conduct a Community Needs Assessment, 2) Community Readiness Assessment; and create a Strategic Action Plan based on these assessments that addresses suicide prevention, substance use prevention, and mental health disorders. Secondly, we will revise our YKHC BH Postvention Protocols, including suicide, suicide attempts, suicide clusters, and substance misuse and overdose to reflect the traditions and culture of the Yup’ik, Cup’ik, and Athabaskan people of the Y-K Delta region. Finally, and what we believe will be most impactful to our youth is the traditional and cultural youth outreach services and activities to our Y-K Delta Region villages. This outreach will be provided through Calricaraq workshops, Qaruyun (healthy Yup’ik living and coping skills) workshops, and QPR Suicide Awareness Training.
Number of people to be served annually: 300
Number of people to be served through the lifetime of project (5 years): 1,500
Summary of Project:
Calricaraq (“living well”) is an Elder-driven program using Yup’ik ancestral wisdom and knowledge to help people heal. We serve the Yup’ik, Cup’ik and Athabaskan youth in the fifty-eight villages of the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta of Southwest Alaska. Our intervention includes Calricaraq workshops, Qaruyun (healthy Yup’ik living and coping skills) workshops, and QPR Suicide Awareness Training. We aim to provide outreach to 1,500 youth over the 5-year grant.