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"[Domnick] owes her progress to learning traditional Yup’ik ways of healing and dealing with life. 'Our ancestors gave us tools to navigate through the tough times of life. They taught us to take bad experiences and turn them inside out, examine them, talk about them and understand how they have affected us.' In her work with Calricaraq, she and her team help guide others through this process and gain more insight into their own lives. 'We are also finding that our elders are recalling old...

Featuring international superstars in the trauma field such as Dr. Martin Teicher and Christopher Blodgett and amazing local trainers and change makers like Kristen Mortenson and Patrick Sidmore, this 4-day will cover topics of neurobiology, ACEs, trauma-informed systems, and more. Info on registration from the website: Registration Process : Registration for the Alaskan Advanced Trauma Training Institute is online only. During the Priority Registration period from March 18 th through March...

This article describes the award by the St. Paul, Minnesota-based Bush Foundation of 24 fellowships to individuals in North and South Dakota, Minnesota and 23 Native nations to develop leadership skills. Some of the awardees are doing work trauma-specific work such as Susan Marie Beaulieu who is teaching ACEs in Native American communities. Others are using the arts, drumming and other culturally-grounded approaches to heal communities. One is a state legislator (not seeking re-election),...

As part of National Public Health week there will be a public showing of "Paper Tigers" at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Admission is free. Light refreshments will be provided. Thank you to Kate Wright, ACEs Connection member, for creating this opportunity for students and other community members to see this important film.

In order to create multiple places for people to engage with statewide ACEs and Resilience work and be part of a learning community, and in order to reach people who may be unlikely to join ACEs Connection, we have created a Facebook page for the Alaska Resilience Initiative. Please "like" us on Facebook and share with friends and family: https://www.facebook.com/AlaskaResilienceInitiative/ You can also "like" the Alaska Children's Trust on Facebook for more information and events.

At a March 8 breakfast meeting in Washington, D.C., the featured speakers—U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota (left) and Judith Sandalow, Executive Director of the DC Children’s Law Center (CLC)—used the vivid image of children growing up with “black mold climbing the walls,” referring to unsafe physical and emotional environments at home and in communities, exacerbated by poverty but not limited to poor households. Heitkamp described how the science now explains what we already...

I wanted to share this flyer and message from Jenny Baker at the State of Alaska's Adolescent Health Program, because it's a fantastic way to get Alaskan teens involved in a meaningful leadership position (which we all know is a protective factor that builds resilience) and it's a way to have their experience and voices shaping health and social service programs in Alaska so that these programs can be more effective with youth -- which is our goal, right? Please share with teens in your...

The state’s fiscal crisis is no tiny problem. Oil prices are volatile, reserves are depleting and the state is facing a financial deficit. At this year’s Innovation Summit, held in Juneau in early February, Governor Walker addressed more than two hundred of the state’s top entrepreneurs, politicians, investors and leaders. He discussed his budget plan and the need to diversify and shift the state away from a mono-focus on a non-renewable oil industry. Tough budget cuts, Walker explained are...

Please find attached the 2016 booklet for the Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) project, including Alaska and the other 13 communities that have been selected to participate in this 2 year learning collaborative. This is a great summary of the work happening in all 14 communities across the country. I look forward to working with you all in Alaska!

As a research topic, Intimate Relationships are not well understood in Indian Country. This article, [ LINK HERE ] soon to be published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, is a first small step in addressing this gap. Decades ago, I spoke about the difficulties of parenting when you had no examples to emulate. As a boy, I changed diapers, fed babies, soothed fussiness and performed scores of other child care tasks. During one of our early morning talks, my Mother told me that she was...

Hello Alaska ACEs Action members! I want to introduce myself, as I am the new Program Director for the Alaska Resilience Initiative and will be working to enliven this ACEs Connection group and make it an active and useful space for us to learn and organize together. The picture is of me with my now two-year-old daughter, Ida Luna. I am mama to her and to a baby boy due in late July. I just began at the Alaska Children's Trust a few weeks ago as the Program Director for the Alaska Resilience...

As one who has been advocating for change in addressing childhood trauma for many years now, I have learned that change is extremely difficult for most people. There needs to be a reason for it. When Dr. Felitti was in Juneau last week, his planned testimony before the House Health & Social Services Committee was cancelled. The Legislative leadership mandated no hearings could be held unless they dealt with the state budget deficit. It was odd because what Dr. Felitti has to say is of...