Coming Soon: A Social Services Hub for Southeast Alaska |
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Set in the heart of Juneau’s growing social services campus, Teal Street Center will serve more than 2,250 people each year of all ages, cultures and socioeconomic groups. Located on the corner of Alpine and Teal Streets in the Mendenhall Valley, the Center will be situated next door to the Glory Hall’s new homeless shelter and soup kitchen, and next door to St. Vincent de Paul’s transitional and senior housing units.
The Center will be a permanent, convenient and welcoming hub of resources for those experiencing physical or mental health disabilities, at-risk youth, elders, veterans, cancer patients, and low-income individuals and families.
The Center will eliminate the difficulties of transportation, time and cost for clients trying to meet with scattered providers, strengthen quality social service delivery, and is designed to be uplifting - a place of dignity for beneficiaries and employees.
First conceived in 2002, Teal Street Center’s one-stop collective impact model has been tested in Juneau since 2013 and in other communities across the country. Studies in Juneau have confirmed significant need and demand for one or more nonprofit centers as well as short and long-term economic benefits.
With Alaska facing serious fiscal challenges, Teal Street Center will maximize efficiencies for its eight nonprofit agencies with a shared lobby, reception, break room and operating costs; small and large conference rooms; an improved work environment; and convenient professional collaboration so organizations are more sustainable and can focus their resources on positive outcomes for their clients.
Teal Street Center will house:
- Southeast Alaska Independent Living (SAIL) and ORCA, their adaptive recreation program
- Alaska Legal Services
- National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) Juneau & the Juneau Suicide Prevention Coalition
- Disability Law Center of Alaska
- Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Alaska
- Cancer Connection
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United Way of SE Alaska (the nonprofit coordinator of the project)
Timeline:
Phase 1 - Property Acquisition - Complete!
Phase 2 - Design and Site Preparation - Underway and fully funded
Phase 3 - Construction - Groundbreaking Fall 2021, move-in Fall 2022
United Way is proud to be a partner in this innovative solution for Southeast Alaska. Stay tuned for ways you can get involved, and learn more at www.TealStreetCenter.org.
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This year donating has been made easy. Just click the link below.
Help Your Community Come Together in a UNITED WAY!
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Seven Months, 23 Restaurants, 75,000 Meals: United Way Juneau C.A.R.E.S. Meal Program |
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As everyone knows (perhaps, all too well), for more than year, now, the pandemic has presented challenges beyond a public health crisis. Covid not only exacerbated pre-existing issues—chief among them food security—but also created new ones, especially in Southeast Alaska, where the restaurant and hospitality industries rank among the largest economic contributors.
And yet, in crisis comes opportunity. Last fall, a consortium of citizens and local non- profit organizations instituted the Juneau C.A.R.E.S. Meal Program, managed by the United Way of Southeast Alaska. This simple but multifaceted initiative’s goal: to create business for local restaurants while simultaneously feeding the community.
Meals were served three times a day, seven days a week for seven months. 23 Southeast Alaska restaurants prepared nearly 75,000 meals for people in need by the conclusion of the program on March 31. Continuing past the original grant’s expiration at the end of 2020 courtesy of funding through the Juneau Community Foundation and The Glory Hall, which also handled delivery, Juneau C.A.R.E.S. Meal Program kitchens provided food service for various homeless and cold weather shelters, other emergency housing locations, quarantine centers, seniors and natural disaster victims in Haines. Meals included sandwiches, wraps, salads, pastas, breakfast scrambles, grilled veggies, baked goods and more, courtesy of dozens of food service professionals.
“For us, it was very valuable—business at a time when we desperately needed it,” says Travis Smith, owner of the Rookery Café. Like other participating restaurateurs, he credits the Juneau C.A.R.E.S. Meal Program with keeping the business afloat and staff on the payroll.
“Plus, it felt good knowing that people were getting meals at a time when they desperately needed it,” he says.
Juneau C.A.R.E.S. Meal Program was funded by a grant from The Alaska Community Foundation’s Coronavirus Nonprofit Relief Fund (CNRF). The United Way coordinated disbursement, thanks to program manager Kirk Stagg. By the program’s end, it had injected $895,844 directly into the local economy.
“I don’t think the numbers do justice to the program’s true impact on the community,” Stagg says. “Many are sad to see it end, but we’ll always remember the power of working together and rising to the occasion.”
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Coeur Alaska Kensington Mine Raises $40,000 for United Way of Southeast Alaska
Increased company match and new employee fundraiser bolster 2020 gift
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Front Row L-R: Steve Ball, Coeur Alaska Technical Services Manager; Mark Kiessling, Coeur Alaska General Manager; Joy Lyon, Executive Direct AEYC-SEA and United Way Board. Back Row L-R: Rochelle Lindley, Coeur Alaska Community & Government Affairs Manager; Warren Russell, Past Chair United Way Board; William Paneak, Elgee Rehfeld and United Way Board; Emil Mackey, Country Financial and United Way Board.
Juneau, AK – Coeur Alaska has presented the United Way of Southeast Alaska (UWSEAK) with a $40,000 gift from its 2020 fundraising campaign.
The COVID-19 pandemic inspired Coeur Alaska to find alternative ways to support the UWSEAK in 2020, including hosting internal employee fundraisers and increasing its company fundraising match, since employees could not participate in their usual volunteer work in the community. Coeur Alaska Kensington Mine employees have supported UWSEAK through its Employee Workplace Campaign and the UWSEAK’s Day of Caring since 2011. In 2012, Coeur Alaska partnered with the UWSEAK and Juneau School District to establish the LEARN UNITED: Reading Tutor Program to work toward improving the literacy skills of area elementary students. The company has continued to generously invest in the program over the last nine years. Both the Day of Caring and Reading Tutor Program were paused in 2020 due to the pandemic.
The 2020 campaign gift includes $14,399.87 in employee payroll deduction contributions, $16,175 from an internal employee fundraiser, and a $9,425.13 donation from Coeur Alaska.
“Coeur Alaska is a long-standing and much-appreciated supporter of the United Way of Southeast Alaska,” said Wayne Stevens, UWSEAK’s president and CEO. “In 2020 they found new ways to help our community and make an impact.”
“At Coeur Alaska, we work as a team to make a positive difference both at work and in the communities in which we live and operate,” said Coeur Alaska General Manager Mark Kiessling. “Our long-standing partnership with United Way of Southeast Alaska exemplifies that value. In a year when communities need more support than ever, our employees worked together to support Southeast Alaska with the help from our friends at United Way.”
The Coeur Alaska – Kensington Mine employs just under 400 people. It is an underground, hard rock gold mine located in the Berners Bay Mining District 45 miles north-northwest of Juneau. The mine celebrated 10 years of production in 2020.
Steve Ball, Coeur Alaska’s Technical Services Manager, added, “Coeur Alaska has been contributing to and strengthening the community for over 30 years and our Kensington employees care deeply for our community. We are grateful to be able to support our neighbors during a challenging year.”
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AmeriCorps Retreat and Service |
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"Heroism doesn't always happen in a burst of glory. Sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history."
– Mary Roach
Our Juneau AmeriCorps Members were in Sitka for the annual retreat with local Sitka AmeriCorps members.
The Juneau AmeriCorps Members met at Sitka Memorial Park and National Cemetery in honor of, and with mindfulness of those that have put our country and well being first. Along with park staff and volunteers, Juneau AmeriCorps Members did some general landscaping and beautification while reflecting on the sacrifices others have made to give us the freedom we enjoy. Thanks to our Juneau Members and a special thank you to Roger Hames and the Hames Corporation, Lois and Doug Rhodes, Dorothy Orbison, Jan Love, and the Sitka Cemetery Association.
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In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
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Now Hiring: Office Administrator |
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United Way of Southeast Alaska has a position as Office Administrator open in our fast-paced, high-energy non-profit setting. The ideal candidate will be high-energy, self-reliant, highly organized, and extremely proficient in all phases of office administration, including database management and strong experience in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and Access. We need a candidate who can support the constantly evolving demands of the organization and its partners.
This position requires excellent customer service skills and the ability to multi-task and meet deadlines. We offer a friendly work environment. Starting salary is $21.00 per hour DOE, with salary review at 6 months. If you can “do it all” and do it well, we want to talk to you. Opportunity for growth and advancement if interested. Minimum of three years experience. Please submit resume and references via email to president@unitedwayseak.org.
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Rain or Shine Learning All The Time |
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Did you know that within the first 6 years of life, a child's brain grows to be within 95% of its adult size? Sharing your songs, stories, and traditions with your little one now can be a life-long gift. Babies brains are primed to grow and learn. From the first moments, they absorb new experiences.
Language Learning Tip: Tell a family story about berry picking. Ask your child to retell you the story. Assist them as needed.
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