Collaboration & Partnerships
CIHA’s success relies on on our strong tribal partnerships as well as collaborations with other nonprofit groups and for profit businesses. No organization can do everything alone. We work together for a stronger Alaska.
Ernie Turner Center
CIHA had the opportunity to act as Cook Inlet Tribal Council’s project manager on the new Ernie Turner Center near the Native Village of Eklutna. The new center, which includes 16 new beds for addiction treatment, is named after Ernie Turner, a local recovery activist who passed away in 2010. After overcoming his own alcohol addiction, he devoted himself to setting up treatment centers geared toward Alaskan Native and Native American people in Seattle and Anchorage.
Path to Independence
Path to Independence (P2I) was born out of an informal conversation between CIHA and Weidner Apartment Homes, the largest private landlord in Anchorage. P2I has grown into a short-term rental support and housing stabilization pilot program in Anchorage that employs rapid rehousing principles to move homeless persons into housing and connect them with suitable employment. P2I's goals include promoting long-term self-sufficiency and reducing instances of recurrent shelter stays among employable low-income persons.
We’re thankful for all of the local support that has made Path to Independence possible, including funding commitments from 23 different partners across the public and private sectors in Anchorage. We’re also honored to have won a $15,000 Strong Communities Award from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines for Path to Independence. Thank you to everyone who voted in the national competition, and to First National Bank Alaska, for supporting Path to Independence and nominating the program as an FHLB of Des Moines member lender.
Marina Karina
After extended efforts to purchase each individual unit in Mountain View’s Marina Karina (M::K) complex, the redevelopment of these blighted buildings began the summer of 2018. CIHA engaged a story circle of Mountain View stakeholders to help establish the new name Ch’anikna Commons, a Dena’ina phrase meaning “for my children,” for the development. This project continues 15 years of development in Mountain View. Upon completion in 2019, this development will introduce 21 units of revitalized high-quality affordable family housing.
The redevelopment of Marina Karina is part of a larger effort to catalyze new investment around a resiliency district in the heart of the neighborhood. Under the leadership of the Anchorage Community Land Trust, and spurred by our collective investment in M::K, the MV Boys & Girls Club and MVCC have engaged the Municipality of Anchorage on conversations to bring new improvements to the adjacent park and community center beginning in 2020.
CIHA also has a Memorandum of Agreement in front of the mayor in an effort for this housing redevelopment to try to catalyze what we are calling a resiliency district. Several partners are already involved, including Anchorage Community Land Trust, Boys and Girls Club, Mountain View Community Council, and Parks and Recreation. Community partners such as these are essential to our continued success in Mountain View and throughout Anchorage.