Alaska's SPF SIG e-Newsletter

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June 2013

In This Issue

• Welcome to Julie in Wrangell and Amy in Fairbanks
• The Nome Softball Association
• Homer’s Telephone Surveys + Youth Council Development
• Lock-Up Your Liquor Campaign Begins in Petersburg and Wrangell
• Yakutat Focuses on Women’s Wellness
• Annual Coalition Survey
• Training and Support Survey Update
• Webinar Materials from “Media Campaigns, Social Marketing and Social Norms Campaigns”
• Next Month’s Newsletter

Welcome to Julie in Wrangell and Amy in Fairbanks!!

Julie Falle has recently started to work with the AICS SPF SIG team in Wrangell/Petersburg. As the Prevention Coordinator/Grant Coordinator in Wrangell, she will be working on implementing the various interventions in their strategic plan and tracking successes. Julie has her Master’s Degree in Social Work (University of Tennessee, 2010) and has a strong interest in program design, international policy and crisis response. Her capstone project for her master’s degree involved conducting agency and community assessments for a local hospital in Haiti. She has experience in HUD grant management for the Salvation Army, residential direct care and case management for at-risk populations, and psychiatric clinical services in both outpatient and inpatient settings.
The Fairbanks SPF SIG program welcomes Amy Bollaert to their team as the coalition coordinator position and with the Fairbanks Native Association. Amy serves as a liaison between FNA BHS and the Fairbanks Prevention Coalition. She will assist in identifying, establishing and maintaining relationships with community partners and will facilitate communication for ongoing activities, capacity building and coalition meetings. Amy came to Alaska through the military over 20 years ago. She graduated from UAF with a BA in Business Administration, majoring in marketing and has worked over 10 years in the nonprofit arena. Amy has helped low income families eliminate barriers to employment, assisted families with SED-diagnosed children increase self-sufficiency, and worked in the State of Alaska District Attorney’s office. Amy has hit the ground running! She is an articulate and hard-working individual whose professionalism and personal attributes will be a true asset to the SPF SIG project. Fairbanks is delighted to have Amy as a new member of their team!

The Nome Softball Association

from Lisa Ellanna-Strickling
One of Nome’s SPF SIG goals is to decrease youth access and exposure to alcohol during the games and practices sponsored by the Nome Softball Association. The age range for adult players for softball teams is 16 and up. A concern was expressed that alcohol is typically present at the adult games and practices. The Association and the Nome Community Alcohol Safety Team (CAST) have worked together to develop a new policy that bans alcohol from the dugouts during games and practices. Congratulations on working together to develop and implement this environmental strategy!

Homer’s Telephone Surveys + Youth Council Development

from Esther Hammerschlag
The Homer SPF SIG team is conducting a telephone survey of Homer and Anchor Point residents asking questions about their own alcohol consumption and their perceptions of alcohol consumption in the rest of the community. This survey will provide the baseline data needed for the evaluation of their Positive Community Norms Campaign.
The team is also beginning to plan the development of a Youth Council to support alcohol-free programming in the community and give youth a stronger voice in policy issues. This group is currently evaluating where the Youth Council might be housed and options for sustainability beyond the SPF SIG grant.

Lock-Up Your Liquor Campaign Begins in Petersburg and Wrangell

from Kimberly Kilkenny
Recognizing that one of the easiest places for youth in their communities to get beer is on a boat, Petersburg and Wrangell are conducting “Lock-up Your Liquor” workshops for vessel owners. Above is a picture of Stephanie Rodriquez, SPF SIG Prevention Social Worker, welcoming guests to a workshop conducted on opening day of the Petersburg Memorial Day King Salmon Derby!

Yakutat Focuses on Women’s Wellness

from Lisa Nelson
Because women in Yakutat were identified with high rates of binge drinking for reasons ranging from relieving stress to increasing social bonding outside of the home, the Yakutat coalition built a strategy around wellness for women.
Twice per month, the coalition is holding Women’s Wellness classes and averaging about 10 women per class. Session 3 focused on Communications (following the model of Crucial Conversations from Vital Smart) and was facilitated by Lisa Nelson. Nine women attended. Women shared that this session was helpful and invigorating. Subsequent session topics and facilitators are being determined by input received from women participating in the class.
The coalition’s intent is that the Women’s Wellness classes will serve as a way for women to increase their knowledge of and experience with holistic wellness practices that improve their overall health and well-being – while having fun, learning and bonding.

Annual Coalition Survey

The State’s Evaluation Team is beginning their annual survey of the coalitions. The survey will take about 15 minutes to complete. All active coalition members are asked to participate in the survey and one randomly-selected respondent from each participating coalition will receive a $50.00 Amazon gift card.

Training and Support Survey Update

During our Grantee Cohort teleconference on April 18, 2013, you gave us many suggestions about the types of training and support you would want over the next year. We indicated that we would be following up on this conversation with a coalition-wide survey asking for more detailed suggestions. Unfortunately, this survey would have “collided” with the above-mentioned Coalition Survey. Rather than risk “survey fatigue,” we decided to delay this survey. We will continue to move forward on developing some preliminary training and support opportunities based on the ideas you have offered so far. We plan on conducting the survey in July to gather additional suggestions.

Webinar Materials from “Media Campaigns, Social Marketing + Social Norms Campaigns”

Last month, several coalition members enjoyed the “Media Campaigns, Social Marketing and Social Norms Campaigns” webinar by Anne Rogers, M.Ed. from the Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies West Resource Team. For those of you who were unable to attend, the following resources can be found on the Alaska SPF SIG website under Tools and Resources, Step 4: Implementation. We hope to get an audio version of the webinar soon.
• Media Campaigns: Social Marketing, and Social Norms Campaigns PowerPoint
• Media Campaigns: Sample Outcome Evaluation Questions
• Media Campaigns: Sample Process Evaluation Questions
• Media Campaigns: Measurement Metrics Worksheet
• Media Campaigns: Resources and Tools

Next Month’s Newsletter

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this newsletter. Please send any information you would like to share in the next newsletter to Agnew::Beck. We appreciate your contributions!