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.