Dr. Vincent Felitti spent three days in Juneau, Alaska this week as a guest of the Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) and its president, Dr. Rosita Worl . He was invited to speak about the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experience Study and how it might benefit Alaska, specifically the Alaska Native community. Beginning with a radio appearance and a community reception with about 100 people in attendance, Dr. Felitti was well received. While in Juneau, he met with Alaska Native...

The Alaska Mental Health Board and the Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse have explored these questions and found that childhood trauma has profound costs. A national study demonstrates that costs of childhood trauma begin immediately ( $48,000 during childhood for every substantiated report of harm ), and those costs continue for decades into the future. The report,  Economic Costs of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Alaska , takes an initial look at potential savings with...

What if health issues, addictions and premature death are caused by the role of repressing childhood trauma? Vincent J. Felitti, M.D., made this case to a packed room at the Walter Soboleff Building Tuesday, backing up his assertions with decades of study, research and analysis. His conclusion was that repressed adverse childhood experiences can manifest in adults by altering their well-being, causing disease and even premature death. “Addiction is the unconscious, compulsive use of...

Representative Geran Tarr, (D-Anchorage) introduced a resolution in the Alaska State House of Representatives to encourage the governor and legislature to address ACEs in Alaska. Here is the title of the Resolution: “Urging Governor Bill Walker to join with the Alaska State Legislature to respond to the public and behavioral health epidemic of adverse childhood experiences by establishing a statewide policy and providing programs to address this epidemic.” The introduction of the...

Trauma-Informed Care This article provides a great explanation of Trauma-Informed Care and gives a good list of basic attributes or a trauma-informed environment. 

This public version of our community's ACEs brochure is included in the Connection Packet - however, since this IS acesconnections... it deserves its very own blog post :) The first version of this brochure was released earlier this spring, however,...

Developing relationships and fostering connection is the foundation to creating a healthy and resilient community full of thriving people. In late October 2015, a Connection Packet was mailed to Homer residents to support a conversation about what it...

Screening at Homer Theatre!!!

    When Alaska Health and Social Services Commissioner  Valerie Davidson  parked her car in downtown Anchorage Monday and walked to the swanky Hotel Captain Cook for a meeting with prominent policymakers, she did what she...

From the Homer News:   ....The theme of the run and ride, resiliency, refers to a new concept in coping with adverse life experiences like breast cancer. R.E.C. Room peer educators Lilli Johnson and Jonas Noomah have been working with the...

Join us for the Resiliency Run and Ride to benefit Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic’s R.E.C. Room (a Youth Resource and Enrichment Co-op). A family-friendly 1k and 5k beach run and ride at -4.3 tide Sunday, August 30th at Mariner...

Linda Chamberlain was selected to join a group of circumpolar scientists - looking holistically at health, energy, water, and infrastructure. She brings an ACEs and resiliency lens into this project!  ...