Wrangell Cooperative Association is looking for project ideas from community members ahead of a special stakeholders meeting planned for Dec. 2 and 3.
WCA has developed the 2015 Community Needs Survey to assist in the endeavor, allowing Tribal members and other residents the opportunity to identify needs, projects or programs that would be of local benefit.
The process is being spearheaded by Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority, which has arranged for planners to be brought down for the meeting and has made funds available to prepare a report using the survey’s data. This report would in turn be used to support future project proposals and grant applications.
Along with THRHA planning and grant administrator Joanne Wiita-Gamble, Chris Mertl of Corvus Design and RIM First People president Michael Fredericks will be flown in for the two-day sessions. Held at the new Cultural Center on Dec. 2, from 1 p.m. throughout the afternoon the meeting will focus on identifying needs and setting priorities based on the feedback received. The following morning these ideas will be worked into a resolution, which will lend direction to future project funding applications.
WCA administrator Aaron Angerman explained the needs survey is the first being conducted by the Tribe in recent years.
“This is a pretty big step,” he said. Information gathered from it will reflect the needs of WCA’s constituent members, which in turn will be used to support future applications for Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) project funding.
Indian Community Development Block Grants through HUD directs funding to projects for Native communities, primarily in the areas of improved housing, living environment, and economic opportunities.
Though more weight will be given to WCA members, Angerman said the input of all community members would be valuable.
“We need a nice little array of people with a broad range of ideas,” he said. “This is the chance to put in your two cents on what you’d like to see in Wrangell.”
Angerman used the idea of a community kitchen as one example, something that could be used to promote traditional foods and nutritional education, and facilitate subsistence use. He said such a facility would fill a need in the community, since the facilities at the SNO Building have been removed and the Nolan Center kitchen is of limited usability.
HUD funds would be aimed at such facilities construction and capital development projects, but the study results can lend weight to a variety of grant applications.
Copies of the survey are available at the WCA Tribal Office on Lynch Street. Requests for copies can also be made by calling 874-4304 or by email at wcatribe@gmail.com.
“This is a chance to get big money in the community,” Angerman added.
He hopes the survey will also encourage members of the Tribe to become further engaged in its activities, and that in turn the association would be better equipped to meet their needs.
“It’s pretty important, and we want to keep doing this,” he explained, adding it would be something he would like to see continue in the future.
WCA is also looking for nominees to its Council, with elections approaching in January. Four of the eight seats are up for election, with members serving two-year terms. The Tribe is also looking for volunteers to serve on the election committee.
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