LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which  distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming.  (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

State's Transportation Plan Gets Federal OK
28 Mar 2024 15:06

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    Federal officials on Wednesday approved most of Alaska’s four-y [ ... ]

New Funding Plan Ahead for Visit Sitka?
28 Mar 2024 15:02

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    At an hour-long work session with the Assembly Tuesda [ ... ]

Sitka 'Frankenstein' Puts Classic Tale in New Ligh...
28 Mar 2024 15:01

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    The story behind a classic, though often misunderstoo [ ... ]

State May Los Millions Over Ed Dept. Missteps
28 Mar 2024 14:59

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    The state government risks losing millions of dollars in feder [ ... ]

Gov Signs Bill On Internet In State Schools
28 Mar 2024 14:57

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday signed a bill that promise [ ... ]

Capitol Christmas Tree to Come from Tongass
28 Mar 2024 14:56

By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, known for its steep mountains [ ... ]

City League Games Thursday
28 Mar 2024 14:52

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing Wednesday in competitive division City League volleyball matches, Ca [ ... ]

March 28, 2024, Police Blotter
28 Mar 2024 14:50

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 27
At 2:36 p.m. a dead  [ ... ]

March 28, 2024, Community Happenings
28 Mar 2024 14:48

This Week in Girls on the Run By Sitkans Against Family Violence
and The Pathways Coalition
During th [ ... ]

New RFP Sought For Managing PAC
27 Mar 2024 14:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]

Seiners Get Second Day with 2 Areas to Fish
27 Mar 2024 14:46

By Sentinel Staff
    The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]

Braves Take Second in Last Minute Upset
27 Mar 2024 12:41

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]

Tuesday City League Volleyball
27 Mar 2024 12:39

By Sentinel Staff
    The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]

Kodiak Alutiiq Museum Getting New Attention
27 Mar 2024 12:37

By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
    A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]

House Hearing on Inmate Deaths Halted
27 Mar 2024 12:35

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in  [ ... ]

Nominee to Bering Sea Council: Not a Trawler
27 Mar 2024 12:34

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Police Blotter
27 Mar 2024 12:26

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Community Happenings
27 Mar 2024 12:25

Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]

Reassessments Raise Tax Bills for Sitkans
26 Mar 2024 15:22

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]

Two Areas Opened in Herring Fishery Today
26 Mar 2024 15:21

By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]

Lady Wolves Rally to Take Fourth at State
26 Mar 2024 15:16

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]

Edgecumbe Girls Close Out Season Up North
26 Mar 2024 14:58

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
    Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]

City League Monday
26 Mar 2024 14:55

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]

House Votes to Broaden Rules For Review Panel Memb...
26 Mar 2024 14:52

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday  [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Sitka Named as a Top Healthy Community

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Sitka was honored today as one of the national winners of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 2019 RWJF Culture of Health Prize.
    “The prize honors and elevates communities for working at the forefront of advancing health, opportunity and equity. Sitka is being nationally recognized for pursuing innovative ideas and bringing partners together to rally around a shared vision of health,” said a news release from the New Jersey-based organization.
    The award ceremony was held this morning in Princeton, N.J., honoring Sitka and four other prizewinning communities. Doug Osborne, a member of the Sitka Health Summit Coalition, attended the ceremony, along with fellow Sitkans Chandler O’Connell, Holly Marban, Loyd Platson, Tina Bachmeier and Vera Gibson.
    Sitka is the first community in Alaska selected for this award, from among nearly 183 applicants. The application was one of the goals of last year’s Sitka Health Summit.
    “This is an exciting award,” Osborne said in a statement. “And it’s important to note that it wasn’t given to a single organization or a group of organizations, but the entire community. There have been so many people that have worked to build a culture of health that it’s important to give a global thank you. Gunalcheesh, salamat, gracias, and thank you to everyone that’s been building a Culture of Health in Sitka’s past, present and future. This was a great team effort.”

Executive Vice President of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Julie Morita, far left, and Sheri Johnson, at far right, director of University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, stand with Sitkans, from left, Chandler O’Connell, Vera Gibson, Tina Bachmeier, Holly Marban, Doug Osborne and Loyd Platson. The Sitka group was presented the 2019 Culture of Health Prize in Princeton, New Jersey. (Photo provided)

    For Sitka organizers, this was a long time in coming, and a huge honor.
    “They won’t pick a community, unless they really earn it,” commented Loyd Platson, a member of the Sitka coalition, in an interview last week.
    “We didn’t want to win an award; we wanted to earn it,” agreed Osborne. “If we see ourselves as a healthy community – that can influence what we say and do in healthy ways.”
    Osborne, a health educator at SEARHC, said Sitka and the four other prize winning communities will each receive a $25,000 cash award. But Osborne was just as pleased to join a network of prizewinners, and have Sitka’s accomplishments shared throughout the nation.
    “Learning opportunities, funding opportunities,” Osborne said. “It’s a chance to share our story and a chance to celebrate the work we’ve done.”
    The other four winning communities are: Broward County, Florida; Gonzales, California; Greenville County, South Carolina.; and Lake County, Colorado.
    It’s the third time Sitka has applied, but Osborne said in an interview last week that a lot has happened since the last application in 2013.
    That has included multiagency and nonprofit organization efforts that led to the start of a teen center at The Cloud, the construction of the Community Playground, Teen Nights at the Hames Center, and scholarships to make healthy activities more accessible; increasing the tobacco possession and use age to 21; and adding lighted crosswalks, to name a few.
    Other assets highlighted in the application included strong collaborations, such as Sitka’s Indian Child Welfare Act partnership and Wooch.een Preschool; investment in youths, such as the Culturally Responsive Schools initiative, youth scholarships, and Sitka Counseling’s prevention work; and community development that balances social, ecological, and economic well-being, such as Sitka’s use of renewable energy, initiatives like Spruce Root’s Community Investment Fund and being a bike- and walk-friendly community.
    “It’s an impressive list when you think about it,” commented Osborne, in the interview. “We wrote a lot about partnerships. ... We’ve done a lot of healing and reconciliation work in the last five years as well.” He listed the Indigenous Peoples Day celebration and the addition of Tlingit names for rooms at Harrigan Centennial Hall as examples.
    Sitka also highlighted many “firsts” it’s achieved, including the start of the civil rights movement under Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp 1, being the first Bike-Friendly Community, and the first to pass a distracted driving law.
    “Sitka can do something and be an example to the state,” Osborne said.
    “Sometimes with the budget crunch, we don’t celebrate the other side,” Platson said. “We’ve been the first in a lot of things in the state. Being recognized and having national recognition are above and beyond that.”
    Richard Besser, president and CEO of the foundation, said in the announcement of the Culture of Health Prize winners:
    “The 2019 RWJF Culture of Health Prize winners recognize that health is about more than just healthcare. It’s about what happens where we live, work, learn, and play. They are fundamentally reshaping their communities so that everyone has a fair opportunity for health and well-being. These communities show the nation that solutions are within our grasp when we use local data to identify challenges and work together to implement solutions brought forward by residents.” 
    To become a prize winner, Sitka had to demonstrate how it excelled in the following six criteria:
    - Defining health in the broadest possible terms.
    - Committing to sustainable systems changes and policy-oriented long-term solutions.
    - Creating conditions that give everyone a fair and just opportunity to reach their best possible health.
    - Harnessing the collective power of leaders, partners, and community members.
    - Securing and making the most of available resources.
    - Measuring and sharing progress and results.
    The application took an effort from many quarters of the community, including health care providers, social service organizations and nonprofit organizations.
    Chandler O’Connell, Sitka Conservation Society community catalyst, said:
    “This award shows a commitment to improving health for everyone in our town, which means addressing disparities and promoting equity in all areas of life in Sitka, including access to housing, nutritious foods, and meaningful opportunities. It also means tackling longstanding issues such as colonization, racism, and climate change, which are all intertwined with community health.”
    Sitka is planning a local celebration on Dec. 12 and 13, with more details available soon.
    The news release said Sitka is celebrated through in videos, written profiles and photos are available at www.rwjf.org/Prize.

You have no rights to post comments

Login Form

 

20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.

50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.

Calendar

Local Events

Instagram

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Instagram!

Facebook

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Facebook!