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Dear Alliance Community,

September is National Recovery Month, a time to honor the strength of individuals, families, and communities who are healing and to recognize the collective work it takes to promote wellness across Alaska. The Alliance is proud to stand with partners across the state as we continue building networks that support prevention, recovery, and community resilience.

This month we’re excited to share two new ways you can get involved:

Build a Grant Toolkit Together!

We’re putting together a grant toolkit to support Alaska Native and rural communities, especially folks doing prevention, community, and wellness work at the local level. This toolkit is meant to be practical and useful, so your voice is key in shaping what goes into it. Think cultural values, community knowledge, and tools that make grant writing and reporting more accessible.

Take the survey here!

Apply to Be a Co-Chair!

Want to bring your regional experience to Alliance Leadership? We’re looking for a new Co-Chair to help guide The Alliance. This is a great opportunity to step into a leadership role, help shape our vision, and strengthen partnerships that drive meaningful change.

Apply here!

Finally, we’d love for you to join the Alliance workgroups. Our mission is to reduce the harms of alcohol through upstream prevention by shifting policies, shaping public perception, expanding resources for community-led efforts, and building collaboration across the state. Workgroups include: Policy, Communications & Social Norms, Evaluation & Learning, Data & Learning, and Strategic Design. Meeting times are listed in the graphic at the end of this newsletter.

We’re grateful for all of you and the work you do. Together, we can keep building momentum for recovery and prevention in Alaska.

Warmly,

Tesia Bobrycki

Coalition Coordinator

tbobrycki@recoveralaska.org

A Grant Toolkit for Alaska Native and Rural Communities

A grant toolkit is a practical resource designed to support Alaska Native and rural communities in navigating funding opportunities. Your voice and experiences are essential in shaping what goes into this toolkit. We hope you can guide us on the type of content you’d like to see—such as cultural values, community knowledge, and practical tools to make the grant writing process, from writing to reporting, more accessible and useful for all.

Please share your insights through this short survey

Opioid Response Network Training Opportunity

The Opioid Response Network is grant funded to provide FREE training and technical assistance to support substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts across the nation. They work with consultants to provide services that are tailored to the specific needs of your community.

You can submit a request for assistance at https://opioidresponsenetwork.org/. If you have any questions, please reach out to Stephanie Stillwell at stillws@uw.edu.

Community Conversations for Preventing At-Risk Substance Use

This fall, PC CARES ASU is offering a five-part series that combines research, cultural wisdom, and community voices to spark new ideas for preventing harmful substance use. Each session is a chance to pick up practical tools, connect with others, and explore how we can all play a role in building healthier communities.

Meetings are on Tuesdays from October 7–November 11 - the series welcomes professionals, community members, and students, with free access for non-credit participants, or one credit if you’re enrolled.

ENROLL HERE

Call for Applicants: Spirit of Youth Teen Advisory Council

Spirit of Youth is seeking applicants (ages 14–19) from across Alaska to join the Spirit of Youth Teen Advisory Council (SOYTAC). This dynamic group empowers youth voices by providing opportunities to share ideas, advocate for issues they care about, and connect with other passionate young leaders.

Each year, SOYTAC members:

• Select Spirit of Youth Award recipients
• Help plan the annual awards ceremony
• Lead community service projects
• Support initiatives such as anti-bullying and suicide prevention campaigns
• Collaborate on and promote community events statewide

Serving on the council is a chance for teens to build leadership skills, strengthen their communities, and make their voices heard.

LEARN MORE AND APPLY HERE

FWC Food Truck Festival and Resource Fair Recap

FWC hosted a Food Truck Festival and Resource Fair in June as a way to bring people together and provide a space for them to learn about how to have an alcohol-safe summer!

Ten separate Fairbanks organizations joined us to offer resources and info in fun ways, including an alcohol myths vs. facts Connect 4 game, trivia games, and more! Thanks to our community partners for helping us make prevention fun!

Huge thanks to the food trucks who came and especially to the Fairbanks North Star Borough Parks and Rec department for working with us to host it at the Big Dipper!

Over 400 people came to this event and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. We’re so grateful that we’re able to continue providing these sober spaces AND that so many of you support us in doing that!



- Fairbanks Wellness

About The Alliance

The Alliance is a collaborative effort of multiple and diverse partners across Alaska who recognize the harms of alcohol on individuals and communities. We are personally and professionally committed to working together to address this complex problem in our state.

Our primary goal is to connect and engage communities as partners — increasing protective factors, reducing risk factors, and changing social norms — to prevent underage alcohol use and eliminate all harms of alcohol use in Alaska.

Alliance Materials:

• The Alliance's common agenda
• The Alliance's Resource Page

Get Involved!

Between starting new work and sustaining our progress, there are many opportunities to participate in The Alliance! All current workgroups are open to any member who would like to join. You can always read more about our workgroups and their purpose on the Get Involved page of our website. Our network practices an emergent strategy, and we update information based on our network's needs.

• The Communications & Social Norms Workgroup is led by an experienced media and communications contractor and advances the two social norms campaigns addressing underage drinking Choose Connection and In Case You Missed It. Th workgroup also supports the Alliance's various other internal and external communications needs. This workgroup meets on the second Tuesday of each month from 1-2 pm.
• The Data and Learning Workgroup is led by an data expert and will be supporting data equity conversations and practices. This workgroup meetings on the third Monday from 3pm - 4pm.
• The Evaluation and Learning Workgroup is where members can participate in designing the annual evaluation process for the Alliance alongside a professional evaluator and receive technical assistance and support on utilizing evaluation in their work. This workgroup meets on the first Thursday of the month from 10am - 11am.
• The Strategic Design Workgroup builds structures and processes for the network to work in alignment with our values and theory of change. This workgroup is led by an experienced prevention professional and regional co-chair and meets monthly on the third Tuesday from 1pm - 2pm.
• The Policy Workgroup is led by a policy expert and works to track alcohol and prevention policies, identifies and designs advocacy actions, and provides technical assistance to individuals wanting to engage in the political process. This workgroup meets monthly on the second Friday from 11am - 12pm.

You are welcome to ask questions about those workgroups or to ask to join any of them.

Want to Lead Change? Apply to Be a Co-Chair of the Alaska Alliance!

Are you passionate about shaping Alaska’s future and driving meaningful community impact? The Alliance is now accepting applications for the Co-Chair position. This is a unique opportunity to help guide the organization’s vision, build partnerships, and amplify our collective voice.

If you’re interested in stepping up as a leader and making a difference, we encourage you to apply!

GET INVOLVED HERE

If you would like to submit content for The Alliance newsletter, please email Tesia at tbobrycki@recoveralaska.org and Kara at kstewart@recoveralaska.org.