Anchorage to Get Four New Mobile Case Managers

[Anchorage – October 3, 2011] - The Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc. (RurAL CAP) announces it has been awarded one of 14 grants in a nationwide request for proposals by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The Cooperative Agreements to Benefit Homeless Individuals grant award totals $1,477,000 to be spent over a three year period in support of the Home Again project. RurAL CAP will partner with the Anchorage Community Mental Health Services to provide four new mobile case managers to work directly with the homeless to get them safely housed and give them access to services.

The Home Again project will address the complex issues of access to treatment, support, permanent housing and mainstream benefits for individuals with co-occurring disorders who experience chronic homelessness in Anchorage. The goal of the Home Again is to place individuals into permanent housing and to provide them with the resources and skills necessary to maintain safe and secure housing.

Funding for this program will directly increase the number of mobile case managers serving the homeless in Anchorage. Home Again is a partnership between RurAL CAP, the Anchorage Community Mental Health Services and a multidisciplinary Community Consortium that includes Cook Inlet Housing Authority, Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Salvation Army Clitheroe Center, Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center, Southcentral Foundation, Municipality of Anchorage, Anchorage Continuum of Care, Child in Transition Program, Thread Alaska, and Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.

For Immediate Release

[Anchorage – September 30, 2011] - The Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc. (RurAL CAP) announces its participation in the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) administered by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. Meals will be made available to enrolled children at no charge without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. The CACFP is the main funder of meals provided to children in RurAL CAP’s 25 Head Start Centers and Child Development Center, and plays a vital role in improving the quality of full day child care.

The meals are provided through RurAL CAP’s Head Start sites in Alakanuk, Akiak, Chevak, Emmonak, Haines, Homer, Hooper Bay, Hydaburg, Kake, Ketchikan, Kluti Kaah, Kodiak, Kwethluk, Marshall, Mountain Village, Napaskiak, Nunapitchuk, Pilot Station, St. Mary’s, Savoonga, Selawik, Stebbins, Sterling, Tok, Toksook Bay and the RurAL CAP Child Development Center in Anchorage.

The Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc. (RurAL CAP) is pleased to announce 35 openings for full-time, one-year AmeriCorps service positions based in rural Alaska. RAVEN and BIRCH Members will begin their service in January of 2012. These community service programs recruit locally, provide $1,200 monthly stipends to AmeriCorps Members, valuable training and technical support and a $5,350 education award to AmeriCorps Members completing one year of service. AmeriCorps positions are available with the following programs:

• RAVEN (Rural Alaska Village Environmental Network) AmeriCorps Program addresses environmental and solid waste needs, recycling and backhauling, energy conservation, youth leadership and environmental education. Due to funding restrictions, communities must have a population of less than 2,500 residents to be eligible to host the RAVEN program.
• BIRCH (Building Initiatives in Rural Community Health) AmeriCorps Program improves community wellness by involving youth and other community members in wellness initiatives, service projects and a variety of other activities (such as drug/alcohol and suicide prevention, healthy youth/cultural activities, tobacco education, nutrition, gardening, fitness, etc.), as prioritized by the community.
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[Anchorage – September 1, 2011] – The Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc. (RurAL CAP) announces the release of a free mobile application (also known as app) for use on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The RurAL CAP app provides a self-directed tour through Alaska’s unique character, communities, natural resources, people and cultures.

Users will see how much a half-gallon of milk costs from Ketchikan to Anaktuvuk Pass to Hooper Bay, and compares prices from other U.S. cities. Users also see how far items have to travel back from rural communities to be recycled. Users can hear Yup’ik in the app’s Head Start Bilingual Classroom. The app gives users the ability to find out more about issues facing rural Alaskans, invite other iPhone and iPad users to view the app, and make a donation to RurAL CAP.

“As a state-wide non-profit advocating for low-income Alaskans, we get a lot of questions about why it costs so much to do our programs—shipping, travel, supplies, wages—all more expensive here,” says Rachel Morse, RurAL CAP’s Development Director. “We are not able to give everyone interested in us hands-on experience with Alaska and the work we do, but through this app, we can put Alaska in their hands.”

The RurAL CAP app is available for free in the Apple iTunes store at http://bit.ly/ruralcap-app.

The Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc. (RurAL CAP) was awarded $500,000 from the Rasmuson Foundation to renovate an Anchorage motel into Karluk Manor, a Housing First facility that provides housing to chronically homeless alcoholics; and $300,000 to construct a new early learning center in Toksook Bay that will house Head Start and Parents as Teachers programs.

The Toksook Bay Head Start will be similar in design to the Nunapitchuk Head Start, pictured at left. The proposed Karluk Manor Design is pictured at right.

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