Past Projects
Tundra Women’s Coalition facility expansion & renovation
September 2006
Bethel Community Services Foundation recently awarded a $30,000.00 grant to the Tundra Women’s Coalition. The grant will be used for the TWC facility expansion and renovation. This grant along with funding from the Rasmuson Foundation, Denali Commission and self raised funds will complete the much needed expansion and renovation project.
The Tundra Women’s Coalition has a long history of providing critical services to families in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta. The expansion of the facility will enhance their ability to provide these services by giving them space to address the 13 core services provided to families from virtually every community in the Y-K Delta. For more information about Tundra Women’s Coalition: http://www.twcpeace.org/
Partners in Nursing Project
August 2006
Bethel Community Services Foundation awarded a grant of $40,000.00 over a two year period to the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association. The grant will be used to bring the UAA School of Nursing, Recruitment and Retention of Alaska Natives in Nursing (RRANN) program to the YK Delta. The grant is part of a Partners in Nursing project co-funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Rasmuson Foundation.
The RRANN Program is a mentoring, tutoring, and financial assistance program for Native students who are preparing to enter the School of Nursing and has proven successful. Alaska Natives make up only 1.5% of nurses statewide. RRANN will work to increase that percentage by allowing nursing students to train and work in the YK Delta. For more information about RRANN and the Nursing program offered in Bethel: http://nursing.uaa.alaska.edu/rrann/. The University of Alaska Anchorage offers the nursing program at the Kuskowkim Campus in coordination with the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation. For more information about the Kuskokwim Campus: http://www.bethel.uaf.edu/. For more information about YKHC: http://www.ykhc.org/.
The Alaska State Hospital & Nursing Home Association (ASHNHA) is the coordinating organization for Alaska’s hospitals and nursing homes. ASHNHA is committed to advancing knowledge about health through education and training. ASHNHA, working closely with UAASON, KUC and YKHC will manage the overall project for the BCS Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. For more information about ASHNHA: http://www.ashnha.org/
BABS Philanthropy Project: encouraging youth philanthropy in Bethel
April 2006
Bethel Community Services Foundation recently awarded a $5,000.00 matching grant to Bethel Alternative Boarding School (BABS). The donation will be used in support of the BABS Philanthropy Project, a student run project of charitable giving.
BABS is an alternative boarding school for youth from Bethel and the Yukon-Kuskokwim region. Youth attend BABS if they are at high risk of dropping out of school. BABS has a well-established public service component in their school, students are currently providing over 150 hours per month to various community service projects. The Philanthropy Project seeks to expand on that spirit of giving by establishing BABS’ own “Giving Foundation”. The students have done this by creating a mission statement, establishing grant making and reporting criteria and raising their own funds. They will use this money to fund community projects in Bethel and Y-K Delta Villages.
Grants of up to $700 are available from the BABS Philanthropy Project. For information about applying, contact Starr Jensen or Hugh Dyment at 543-5610. For more information about BABS: http://www.lksd.org/babs/index2.htm
KYUK Public Radio Program Support
July 2005
BCS Foundation donated $5,000 to KYUK for general program support. KYUK is the public broadcasting station in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta. KYUK’s first radio broadcast was May 13, 1971 which makes KYUK the first Native owned and operated radio station in the United States. KYUK has been serving the Yukon – Kuskokwim Delta with a combination of local and national programs from National Public Radio, Public Radio International, Native Voice Communications, American Indian Radio on Satellite and Alaska Public Radio Network. For more information about KYUK: http://www.kyuk.org/
BCS Foundation’s gift leveraged a matching gift of $5,000 to Alaska Public Telecommunications Inc. from the Elizabeth Carroll Fund of the Alaska Community Foundation. The Elizabeth Carroll Fund and BCS Foundation responded to the immediate crisis presented by a drastic cut in public broadcasting funds by the state of Alaska and threatened cuts to National Public Radio at the national level. For more information about the Alaska Community Foundation: http://www.alaskacf.org.
Playground equipment for Pinky’s Park
The Foundation donated $25,000.00 to the City of Bethel to update playground equipment in Pinky’s Park. Pinky’s Park is the community’s largest outdoor recreation site.
Land survey: Memorial Veterans’ Cemetery
Young village men and women from the Delta have served in the military for several generations. Men from the coastal villagers served as the first Coast Watchers during WW II. The west coast of Alaska was not defended throughout the war. This was the beginning of the Alaska National Guard which is now established in most every village on the Y-K Delta. There is no cemetery for veterans; the nearest veterans’ cemetery is 400 miles away. The City of Bethel designated 14.37 acres of land for a new cemetery site; a minimum of one acre has been set aside for a Veterans Memorial Cemetery. The Foundation funded the cost to survey, subdivide and plat the land for the Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery.
Computer Equipment: Tundra Women’s Coalition
The Foundation donated replacement computer equipment to the Tundra Women’s Coalition to upgrade and replace their aging LAN server and network computers.
Dental Health Aide and Dental Health Therapist Education
The Native people of the Delta are in desperate need of dental health care not available in the foreseeable future because of a severe, nation-wide shortage of dentists. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium has developed a system of education for dental health aides and has been educating dental health therapists in New Zealand to respond to this critical need.
The American Dental Association has allocated over $650,000.00 to stop and/or severely modify the dental health aide and therapist programs, despite the rural health need. ANTHC along with others is combating misinformation and educating the public about the dental health need and the dental health aide and therapist programs. By providing funding to the ANTHC education effort, BCS Foundation joined a group effort along with the Alaska Mental Health Trust, Rasmuson Foundation, and ANTHC, leveraging each other for greater overall impact.
