The Trust's 2024 Annual Report is Now Available | |
Happy New Year!
We recently released our latest Annual Report. In addition to recognizing the 30th anniversary of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, we share a review of our FY24 grantmaking and system change efforts, activities on Trust lands, financial activity, and more. The report also features highlights of some key initiatives and a timeline of key events back to the inception of the Trust. If you are looking to learn more about the Trust, how we generate and invest our funds, and how we're improving outcomes for Trust beneficiaries, our report is a great resource.
You can read the report through the link below, or you can find it on our website: alaskamentalhealthtrust.org.
| |
In addition to our annual report, we also have released our comprehensive 2024 Grant Investment Report. This report lists details about each of the more than 190 grants awarded in the past fiscal year, truly demonstrating the breadth of Trust grantmaking while illustrating our commitment to supporting beneficiary-serving organizations across Alaska.
You can read our 2024 Grant Investment Report by clicking the button below, or by visiting our grants webpage, where you can also learn more about Trust grant opportunities.
| | |
Meet our New CEO, Mary Wilson, MD
We recently announced the board of trustees' decision to hire Mary Wilson, MD as the Trust's new Chief Executive Officer. Mary began in the position last week and has hit the ground running.
Mary grew up in Anchorage and graduated from Dimond High School. She attended Colorado College as an undergrad and the University of Washington for Medical School. She also has a master’s degree in public health from the University of California, Los Angeles. She began her career as a pediatrician and later advanced into executive leadership positions with the Permanente Medical Group.
Back in Anchorage since 2021, Mary is excited about her work ahead leading the Trust, particularly in helping shape and inform a system of care that meets the needs of Trust beneficiaries: Alaskans who experience behavioral health conditions, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and dementia.
Outside of work, Mary loves to spend time with her husband and her two children and three step-children, as well as with her siblings who also live in Anchorage. She also enjoys hiking, skiing, reading, and travel.
Welcome, Mary!
| | | |
Grant Highlight: Mobile Crisis Team Support in Fairbanks and the Mat Su | |
As a part of its ongoing support for the planning and implementation of crisis services in Alaska, the board of trustees recently approved grant funding to support the continuing operation of mobile crisis teams (MCTs) in Fairbanks and the Mat Su. Mobile crisis response is a key component of the Trust and partners’ initiative to improve behavioral health crisis response across Alaska using the nationally recognized Crisis Now model as a framework.
Trustees awarded $850,000 each to Alaska Behavioral Health for the Fairbanks MCT, and to True North Recovery for the Mat Su MCT. Funding will primarily support MCT staffing in both communities.
In the last year, the Fairbanks MCT responded to 744 Trust beneficiaries in crisis, and the Mat Su MCT to 583 - in both communities, the teams successfully stabilized 85% of the individuals they were responding to, lowering the utilization of emergency rooms and correctional facilities.
Learn more about the Trust's work in behavioral health crisis response.
| | |
New Parcels Added to our Over the Counter Land Sale!
If you’re looking to purchase land in Alaska, make sure to browse the new and existing inventory of parcels for sale through the Trust Land Office's Over the Counter (OTC) land sale program. With OTC land sales, anyone can purchase a designated Trust land parcel at a fixed price.
Including the new inventory, there is an array of parcel options available around the state. OTC offerings include unique parcels on the road system and in remote locations, as well as river, ocean, and lakefront properties. Visit our OTC webpage for details on each parcel included in the sale, and to learn more about the sale's policies and procedures. Revenue generated from OTC sales and other activities on Trust lands helps fund the Trust's work on behalf of beneficiaries across Alaska.
| | | |
It's National Winter Sports TBI Awareness Month | |
Alaska and winter sports go hand in hand. Unfortunately, so can winter sports and traumatic brain injuries (or TBIs). It’s National Winter Sports TBI Awareness Month, which means it’s a good time to consider the potential impact of TBIs and ways to protect yourself as you enjoy your favorite winter activities. Simple solutions like wearing protective gear in case you fall can make a world of difference for your short and long-term health.
Learn more about TBI prevention, symptoms, and treatment here.
| | |
Meet Debbie, Trust Partner
Our team at the Trust met with community partner Alzheimer's Resource of Alaska (ARA) in Anchorage to hear from clients and caregivers about how stigma around dementia and other behavioral health conditions impacts them. It's always a pleasure to meet with our partners, particularly one like ARA, who is a leading source of information, support, and services in the state for individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) and those that care for them.
While visiting at ARA, we had the chance to meet with Debbie. She works at ARA as an Education Specialist, and we learned a lot from her about empathy and how people respond to individuals who experience ADRD. It's Debbie's wish that "people (understood) that (mental health challenges) are nothing to be ashamed of." Anyone can go through them, and knowing where someone is coming from can help them navigate the experience. It's her view that "we're in a society that wants to learn and wants to welcome in different people, because we all bring different strengths to the table." Stigma is real, but in Debbie's view, we're getting better at addressing it all of the time.
Thank you to Debbie, Alzheimer's Resource of Alaska, and all our partners who shared their inspiring stories with us to help increase awareness of Trust beneficiary needs and combat mental health-related stigma.
| | | |
The Deadline for the next wave of Microenterprise Grants is Coming Soon | |
Are you or someone you know interested in a Trust Microenterprise grant? Applications are accepted twice a year, and the next deadline is March 5, 2025. Trust beneficiaries can apply for microenterprise grants to start a new small business or to expand or acquire one.
This Trust program is administered through UAA's Center for Human Development, and it has the goal of supporting self-employment opportunities for Trust beneficiaries. If this fits your goals or the goals of someone you know, make sure to apply before the deadline.
| | | |
Behavioral Health Crisis Response Update
Want to stay up to date with the latest news relating to crisis response in Alaska? Our quarterly Crisis Now Implementation Update includes community news such as the latest mobile crisis team response data, as well as system-wide updates on our collective work to improve behavioral health crisis response. Take a look at our latest issue from December 2024.
|
Fairbanks Highlighted by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration | |
Congratulations to our partners in Fairbanks at the Emergency Communication Center for being recognized in the recently released National Guidelines for a Behavioral Health Coordinated System of Crisis Care.
Fairbanks' coordination between 911 dispatch and their Mobile Crisis Team to someone in a behavioral health crisis is a highlighted examples of crisis services coordinating with other service components. Per the SAMHSA report, the team in Fairbanks is "operationalizing the philosophy of ensuring the “right care, in the right setting, when they need it.”
The Trust has been working with partners across Alaska since 2019 to help transform behavioral health crisis response; its exciting to see Fairbanks get this recognition for all the great work underway in that community.
Read the Report: 2025 National Guidelines for a Behavioral Health Coordinated System of Crisis Care (SAMHSA)
|
|
Trust Awards over $2.5M in Grants in FY25's Second Fiscal Quarter
| |
In the second quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2025, the Trust awarded 11 grants to organizations from around the state that serve and support individuals who belong to one or more of our beneficiary groups.
Our recently released grant report includes details about each project and initiative that was awarded grant funding.
|
Upcoming Trust Meetings & Public Comment Opportunities
The next regular meeting of our board of trustees will be on February 5 and 6, 2024 in Juneau. All regular board meetings include an opportunity for public comments, which can be provided in person, virtually, or in writing. We'd love to hear from you.
Visit our website for more information about upcoming trustee board and committee meetings.
To stay up-to-date on issues important to Trust beneficiaries and those who care for them, you can also tune in to the meetings of our statutory partner boards, click on the links below for more information:
| | | | | |
