Sitka Health Summit
Dear Editor: Last fall, Sitka made it to the finals of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Roadmaps to Health Prize contest. Much to our delight, Sitka was chosen as one of 12 finalists from a pool of 251 U.S. communities that originally applied.
The Sitka Health Summit Coalition would like to acknowledge all the groups and individuals who actively work towards the health of our community and gave us so much to write about.
The Health Summit initiatives such as the Bike Friendly Community project, Choose Respect Mural, Fish to Schools program, Sitka Farmers Market, Downtown Revitalization, Community Food Assessment, Fruit Tree planting initiative and Walk Friendly Sitka, to name a few, have encouraged our community to think about and be involved in broad aspects of health. At our last Health Summit, the community members chose to address some of the harder issues facing Sitka – methamphetamine use and food security. We appreciate everyone who is working on these critical areas.
Many people, organizations and businesses have pitched in to make Sitka Health Summit’s citizen-driven goals a reality. A big thank you goes to our major supporters and sponsors: the Sitka Community Hospital and the Hospital’s Foundation, SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, University of Alaska Southeast-Sitka Campus, the Sitka Conservation Society, the State of Alaska Division of Public Health, the Hames Center, the Sitka Local Foods Network, City and Borough of Sitka, Sitka Alaska Permanent Charitable Trust, Alaska Communication Services, Scott Insurance, Silver Bay Seafoods, Sitka Vision Clinic, Neurobehavioral Consultants, and White’s Pharmacy.
On April 2 we received the disappointing news that Sitka was not selected to be one of the final six $25,000 cash prize winners for the RWJF Roadmaps to Health Prize. Since that time we have learned a great deal and made many substantial improvements on several fronts. We will be back, and with Sitka’s spirit and your support it’s only a matter of time before we go all the way.
Gunalchéesh and thank you,
Sitka Health Summit Coalition
Doug Osborne, Penny Lehmann, Melissa Marconi Wentzel,
Patrick Williams, Clara Gray,
Ellen Daly and Angela McGraw
P.S. If you are interested in helping the Sitka Health Summit during this important time, please find us on Facebook or visit our new website – www.sitkahealthsummitak.org – to find eight ways you can contribute. Also, Planning Day 2014 is coming up Oct. 3. Please save the date and start thinking about your vision for improving the health and wellness of our community.
