Department of Doing Good helps hospitals, governments, schools, and mission-driven organizations reduce fragmentation, align leadership, and execute with coherence under pressure.
Our Alaska Initiative directly supports individuals with behavioral health needs through preventative care and recovery-focused services — with an emphasis on holistic well-being, organizational health, and sustainable community impact.
We operate not as outside consultants parachuting into communities, but as long-standing relational partners with deep roots across Alaska Native villages, boroughs, and regional health systems.
Culture-Driven, Tech-Enabled Recovery: Preventing Suicide and SUD among Alaska Native Youth and Adults
RP3DK9TUKW53
Dr. Jim Hamilton Co-Owner, Executive Coach & Lead Consultant [email protected] 907-231-6128
Central Office - Kenai, AK
While Department of Doing Good is not tribally enrolled, our engagement with Alaska Native communities spans decades and is deeply relational — not transactional. Our project lead, Dr. Jim Hamilton, brings lived, professional, and community experience that grounds this work in authentic cultural relationship.
6+ years of direct residential care experience with Alaska Native youth and families — building trust through consistent, present engagement.
8 years of holistic spiritual care serving reservations across North and South Dakota — honoring the spiritual dimensions of healing and community identity.
6 years overseeing aviation support to village leaders and spiritual advisors across 100+ Alaska villages — maintaining access in the most remote communities.
5 years coaching and consulting with leaders in the Northwest Arctic Borough and beyond — building organizational capacity from the inside out.
In the Northwest Arctic Borough of Alaska — where approximately 83% of residents are Alaska Native — the behavioral health crisis is not an emerging concern. It is an ongoing emergency, measured in lives lost and communities grieving.
These figures do not represent isolated incidents. They reflect a sustained crisis across a vast and remote region — one accessible primarily by air, river, or seasonal transport. In communities of 100 to 3,100 people, every suicide attempt, overdose, or psychiatric crisis reverberates through tightly connected kinship networks. Grief moves through classrooms, tribal councils, churches, and subsistence networks simultaneously.
Per 100,000 in the Northwest Arctic Borough — nearly six times the national rate of 12.32
Share of NW Arctic Borough residents who identify as Alaska Native
Per 100,000 statewide — a baseline requiring urgent, sustained reduction
Medicaid recipients currently receiving community-based behavioral health services — statewide baseline
Behavioral health and substance use disorders in Alaska Native communities rarely exist in isolation. They are inseparable from historical trauma, systemic inequity, and geographic reality. Healing requires approaches that honor the full context — not merely treat presenting symptoms.
Historical trauma from forced assimilation, loss of language, and removal from land compounds across generations — increasing vulnerability to mental health and substance use challenges in ways that cannot be addressed through clinical intervention alone.
Villages like Kivalina (pop. 444) and Noatak (pop. 570) are accessible only by air or river. When services are episodic or fly-in, consistency and trust erode quickly — leaving communities without the relational continuity essential for effective behavioral health engagement.
Food insecurity, housing overcrowding, economic stress, and limited educational pathways compound the behavioral health burden facing youth and young adults — creating an interconnected web of vulnerability that prevention models must address holistically.
As young people leave for education or employment, emerging leadership capacity diminishes. Those who remain — roughly 40% of youth — bear the weight of community continuity without adequate preventive support or structured pathways to recovery leadership.
For decades, mainstream behavioral health systems have focused on diagnosing and treating individual pathology through standardized clinical models. While clinical services remain necessary, this approach often proves insufficient in Alaska Native contexts. It centers Western diagnostic frameworks and locates "the problem" within the individual — rather than acknowledging the historical, relational, spiritual, and systemic dimensions of wellness and distress.
Trust, cultural identity, connection to land, and extended family networks are not peripheral factors. They are foundational. When services are episodic, fly-in, or disconnected from community realities, engagement declines and prevention falters.
Effective behavioral health in AN communities must center relationship, reciprocity, and cultural continuity — not merely symptom reduction.
Access to early intervention and preventive behavioral health care in the Northwest Arctic Borough remains critically limited. The current system is largely reactive — mobilizing resources at crisis points rather than building the upstream supports that prevent escalation in the first place.
Some villages have no local behavioral health provider at all. Residents in acute distress may have no immediate pathway to support.
Many communities rely on intermittent fly-in clinicians whose visits are too infrequent to build the relational trust essential for effective behavioral health engagement.
Telehealth encounters, while valuable, often lack culturally grounded local support — leaving youth and families without continuity between appointments.
Youth and families may wait months for care — or never connect at all. By the time the system responds, the window for early intervention has often closed.
Our approach addresses the access gap, the workforce shortage, and the cultural disconnect simultaneously — through a three-pronged model with five components built with and for Alaska Native communities. Each component is designed to complement the others, creating a prevention ecosystem.
Co-designed with Tribal partners for low-bandwidth rural environments
AN-led recovery coaches, peer mentors, and cultural support specialists
Integrated referral pathways within Alaska's Tribal health system
The digital platform extends reach; the peer workforce provides relational grounding; and system partnerships ensure clinical escalation and continuity. Together, they form a prevention ecosystem designed to be sustainable, scaleable, and community-owned.
In collaboration with Alaska Native communities and technology partner Applichat Solutions Inc., we will develop a web-based Youth Recovery and Resilience Coaching platform — co-designed with Tribal partners to ensure cultural relevance, community ownership, and trust. The platform is engineered for the connectivity realities of rural Alaska, with offline access to core resources and a pathway for expansion into AN languages over time.
Structured prompts supporting early behavioral health engagement and self-awareness — building consistent habits of reflection and connection to peer support.
Culturally resonant mood tools that flag changes over time and support proactive peer coach outreach before distress escalates to crisis level.
Content from Elders, youth in recovery, and Peer Support Specialists reinforcing identity, belonging, and relational healing through familiar voices.
Integrated access to crisis lines and direct referral pathways to Tribal and regional behavioral health providers for immediate clinical support when needed.
Optimized for rural Alaska's connectivity realities, with offline access to core resources and expandability into AN languages over time.
Reminders about local cultural gatherings, subsistence activities, and community events that reinforce connection to land, family, and tradition.
The digital platform is only as powerful as the human relationships that surround it. The peer workforce is the relational backbone of this model — trained Alaska Native community members who provide mentorship, accountability, and connection, not clinical treatment.
We will recruit, train, and employ AN community members in clearly defined roles with competitive salaries, ongoing professional development, and structured advancement pathways — creating both immediate impact and long-term workforce sustainability.
Senior AN leader managing regional workforce operations, partner relationships, and program fidelity at the community level.
Experienced, certified coach providing mentorship and quality oversight for frontline staff — ensuring consistency of service delivery across communities.
Entry-level roles focused on peer support, goal setting, life skills, relapse prevention planning, and local service navigation. Year 1 target: 5 Recovery Coaches, 3 Peer Mentors, 1 Cultural Support Specialist.
All workforce roles include training in trauma-informed care, suicide awareness, basic risk identification, safety planning support, and clear escalation protocols. Competitive salaries, mentorship, and ongoing professional development strengthen workforce retention while expanding AN-led prevention capacity across communities.
In each participating community, we will form a Village Advisory Team (VAT) of 5–8 Elders, Tribal leaders, and respected community members. These teams are not advisory in a perfunctory sense — their recommendations meaningfully shape program implementation, cultural integration, and ongoing adjustments at every level.
Provide cultural guidance and oversight to peer workforce staff
Share insight on program outcomes and community feedback on an ongoing basis
Identify community strengths, assets, and priorities for integration
Advise on integration of ceremonies, land-based activities, and traditional practices
Connect services to community events and local initiatives
VAT members receive honoraria in recognition of their time, expertise, and leadership. This is not a token acknowledgment — it is an affirmation that Elder wisdom is essential to the model, not optional.
Their guidance ensures the program remains rooted in the cultural values and community priorities of each village it serves.
Alaska Native cultural practices are not optional extras layered onto a Western intervention model. They are integral to the therapeutic work itself. This program is designed to ensure that healing happens in culturally resonant ways — connecting youth and families to identity, land, and community as a direct pathway to recovery.
Evidence from Alaska Native and other Indigenous communities demonstrates that land-based, cultural, and relational activities build protective factors, reinforce identity and belonging, and meaningfully reduce suicide risk.
Incorporate fishing, hunting, berry picking, and traditional food preparation into recovery plans — emphasizing identity, responsibility, and connection to the land.
Use local cultural practices — drumming, singing, dancing, beadwork, and weaving — as structured therapeutic activities that affirm identity and build community belonging.
Facilitate intergenerational storytelling sessions where Elders share experiences and youth explore narratives of survival, resilience, and recovery — reinforcing protective identity.
Host camps and land-based gatherings focused on traditional skills, stories, and intergenerational connection — creating structured healing opportunities outside clinical settings.
Young people with lived experience of recovery are among the most powerful voices in prevention. This program creates structured pathways for youth to move from receiving support to providing it — building leadership, economic stability, and community connection simultaneously.
Train 4–8 peer support specialists per region, many of whom will also function as AN Behavioral Health Specialists or community health workers in the future — expanding frontline prevention capacity.
Structured cohorts where youth in recovery develop leadership, mentoring, and communication skills — building the next generation of AN community behavioral health leaders.
Compensated positions for peer specialists support economic stability and reinforce the message that recovery is a strength — not a limitation — and a foundation for career growth.
Tuition assistance, supervised field experience, and advancement opportunities toward formal clinical roles — creating a pipeline from peer support to full behavioral health workforce participation.
Community-based prevention cannot succeed in isolation. This model is designed to integrate with existing Tribal health and partner systems — reducing drop-off between community support and specialized treatment through clear referral pathways and shared care planning.
Each partnership includes clear referral pathways, shared care plans, and coordinated communication protocols to ensure continuity of care across community-based and clinical settings — eliminating the gaps where youth most often fall through.
This project will launch services across seven Northwest Arctic Borough Alaska Native communities in Year 1 — including the regional hub of Kotzebue — with a phased expansion pathway designed to reach over 37 Tribal communities and more than 80% of Alaska's Alaska Native population in those rural communities by Year 5.
Regional hub — population ~3,100. Home to Manilaq Association, regional health services, school system, and key partner organizations serving the broader Borough.
Population ~444. A remote coastal village with limited access to behavioral health services and high community need — among the most isolated communities in the region.
Population ~570. An inland village where relational community trust and Elder leadership are central to engagement strategy and program design.
Additional NW Arctic Borough communities selected in consultation with community Elders, Borough leadership, and community assessment based on need and readiness.
The 12-month project period is structured in three distinct phases — each building on the last to ensure the program launches responsibly, serves communities effectively, and is positioned for sustainable expansion beyond the initial grant period.
Configure digital platform for low-bandwidth environments. Finalize data governance. Confirm NW Arctic Borough, school, and justice system partnerships. Begin workforce onboarding and cultural co-design process with Tribal advisors.
Platform launches in initial communities including Kotzebue. Coaches and Peer Mentors complete training. Participants begin daily check-ins, mood tracking, and culturally grounded engagement through the platform and in-person peer support.
Analyze engagement data, participant feedback, and workforce metrics. Document implementation learnings and refine service delivery. Prepare expansion roadmap for additional communities in future funding cycles.
Within the first 12 months, the initiative targets measurable improvements across behavioral health engagement, workforce capacity, and clinical outcomes — all aligned with RHTP priority metrics and grounded in evidence from peer-supported, culturally grounded models.
65–75% of enrolled participants expected to regularly engage with peer coaching, digital supports, or community resources within Year 1
Projected 25–30% reduction in depressive symptoms (5–6 point mean improvement on PHQ-9 scale) among active participants
Projected improvement in substance use disorder recovery engagement and program retention through peer-supported coaching
If the program achieves its 5-year vision, the impact will extend well beyond the Northwest Arctic Borough — creating a replicable, AN-led behavioral health model of support with statewide reach and the potential to serve as a national model for Indigenous community prevention.
Reaching more than 80% of Alaska's Alaska Native population across rural and remote regions
50+ AN Behavioral Health Specialists and 20+ peer support specialists, totaling ~90 FTE by Year 5
Projected reduction from ~150 to ~100 attempts per year among program participants
Target: at least 85% of participants report services as culturally relevant; 90%+ of community leaders support continuation
Necessary partners to launch are on board. This is not a proposed coalition — it is an active one, shaped by years of relational investment in the Northwest Arctic Borough and across Alaska. Each partner brings specific capacity that complements and strengthens the overall program model.
Regional Tribal health organization serving the Northwest Arctic Borough. Active engagement with hospital and health coordination services — developing partnership conversations currently underway.
Anchorage-based provider specializing in Alaska Native youth behavioral health. Provides clinical oversight and tele-health infrastructure to support clinical escalation pathways.
Offering tribal guidance to keep the project grounded in Inupiaq culture, language, and community values. A committed partner helping connect the project respectfully with tribal members, families, and local resources.
Engaged relationships with local and Borough decision makers and school system leadership. Borough collaboration supports community access, school-based referrals, and regional coordination.
Engaging the District Attorney's office as a partner for diversion programming, restorative justice pathways, and reentry support — connecting justice-involved youth to peer recovery services.
Technology partner supporting platform development, recruitment operations, communications strategy, and compliance oversight. Led by CEO Adam Chambers with deep expertise in rural digital health deployment.
Beyond institutional partners, the program is deeply embedded in the community fabric of Kotzebue and the Northwest Arctic Borough through long-standing relationships with faith communities, educational institutions, and care providers.
Department of Doing Good, LLC maintains a physical presence in Alaska as our primary base of operations — ensuring we are accountable to the communities we serve, not operating from afar. Accountability is built into our geographic and relational footprint.
1510 Kittiwake Court, Kenai, AK 99611 — Kenai Peninsula Borough. Serves as our operational hub for program development, coordination, and partner engagement.
Alaska-based staff and contracted team members work from home offices throughout the state, providing on-the-ground relational presence and traveling to partner communities as needed.
Our organizational service area spans the Kenai Peninsula Borough, Northwest Arctic Borough, and multiple additional boroughs and census areas across Alaska — designated Multi-Region.
Dr. Jim Hamilton currently travels to Kotzebue every 2-3 months, maintaining direct relational presence in the Northwest Arctic Borough and serving leaders and organizations throughout the region.
The first 12 months establish core infrastructure designed to sustain itself once in place. The platform, the peer workforce, and the partnership network are all designed for durability — not dependency on continued RHTP funding. Even if RHTP funding does not continue, Department of Doing Good will maintain the platform and workforce model for participating communities.
Once configured, the digital platform continues providing daily check-ins, mood tracking, culturally grounded resources, and referral tools at relatively low ongoing operating costs — maximizing value per dollar invested.
Trained Recovery Coaches, Peer Mentors, and Cultural Support Specialists remain embedded in their communities — providing ongoing mentorship, early support, and service navigation long after launch.
Prevention contracts with Tribal health organizations and community behavioral health programs will generate ongoing revenue to support supervision, workforce coordination, and platform maintenance.
AN Behavioral Health Specialist roles will be positioned within existing Alaska Medicaid mechanisms for community health workers and behavioral health aides — creating a sustainable billing revenue stream over time.
Infrastructure & Pilot — Establish platform, workforce, and partnerships in 7 NW Arctic communities. RHTP funding covers full program costs. Begin documentation of replicable model.
Expansion & Revenue Development — Expand to 20+ communities. Begin Medicaid reimbursement and Tribal health contracts. Recruit and train additional coaches. Early outcomes data refines service delivery.
Statewide Integration & Financial Independence — Services reach ~100% of AN population centers. Predominantly AN workforce employed. Diversified funding: Medicaid billing + Tribal contracts + grants + earned revenue.
Every prevention program operating in high-need, remote communities carries inherent risks. We have identified the primary risk categories and built mitigation strategies into the program design from the outset — ensuring the model is as resilient as the communities it serves.
This is a coaching model — not a clinical one. All coaches and peer mentors are trained in suicide awareness, basic risk identification, safety planning, and escalation protocols. Any indication of imminent risk triggers immediate referral to licensed clinicians or Tribal behavioral health providers.
Mitigation: Clear scope definitions, mandatory training, and established referral pathways to crisis teams.
The platform will use secure authentication, role-based access controls, and protected cloud storage. Data sharing agreements with Tribal and community partners define permitted uses, access boundaries, and retention standards.
Mitigation: Ongoing staff training in confidentiality, regular security reviews, and system monitoring protocols.
All coaching activities are mapped against existing Tribal and state services to ensure the platform complements — not duplicates — clinical care. Ethical review processes include Tribal consultation and IRB oversight where appropriate.
Mitigation: Ethical review processes including Tribal consultation and university or Tribal IRB oversight.
Programs without community trust and genuine partnership risk low engagement and ultimately fail. This risk is mitigated structurally — the program cannot proceed without community endorsement.
Mitigation: Co-design with Tribal partners, Village Advisory Teams, existing relational trust built over decades, and Elder involvement in all program decisions.
This project is not narrowly aligned with a single RHTP initiative. By combining prevention technology, culturally grounded workforce development, and community-based care, it advances multiple dimensions of Alaska's Rural Health Transformation Program simultaneously.
Core program focus — early intervention, SUD recovery support, and suicide prevention for AN youth across the Northwest Arctic Borough.
Low-bandwidth digital platform co-designed for rural Alaska Native communities — optimized for real-world connectivity constraints.
Multi-sector partnerships across Tribal health, justice, education, and faith communities — creating a unified prevention ecosystem.
Upstream prevention reducing crisis-driven utilization and long-term behavioral health burden on the regional health system.
Comprehensive workforce training in trauma-informed care, peer support, and cultural integration — building lasting local capacity.
AN-led peer workforce pipeline from Recovery Coach to Community Coordinator — approximately 90 FTE by Year 5 across the state.
This project is at the Defined Approach stage — with a clear scope, committed partners, and an established Alaska operational base. Core infrastructure, partner relationships, and platform development are underway. Year 1 funding will accelerate the transition to full implementation across seven Northwest Arctic Borough communities.
The full program vision spans 5 years, with annual funding cycles supporting phased expansion from 7 pilot communities to statewide reach across 37+ Tribal communities and more than 80% of Alaska's Alaska Native population.
Estimated range: $1,500,000
Covers platform configuration, first round of workforce recruitment and training, partner formalization, and pilot deployment across 7 NW Arctic Borough communities.
Years 2–3: $2.5M & $3.4M range for expansion Years 4–5: $3.8M & $4.3M transitioning to diversified earned revenue
12 months initial period · 5-year full vision
Beyond the grant award, we welcome RHTP learning and support opportunities that strengthen implementation quality, partner connections, and long-term scalability across Alaska.
Opportunities to learn from other RHTP grantees — especially those working in rural AN communities — would strengthen our model and reduce duplication of effort across the state. Shared learning accelerates impact.
Assistance connecting with additional Tribal health organizations, behavioral health providers, and AN community networks across the service area would accelerate expansion and deepen integration with Alaska's broader health system.
Technical assistance in federal reporting requirements and project management infrastructure would strengthen accountability and program fidelity across multiple partner sites — ensuring rigorous documentation of outcomes and learnings.
There is a clear opportunity to strengthen prevention and early intervention through a web-based health support model designed specifically for remote Alaska Native communities — one that extends reach across geographically isolated villages while honoring community-based models of trust and connection.
This is not a program being done to Alaska Native communities. It is a program being built with them — grounded in decades of relational trust, co-designed with Tribal partners, and led by AN community members at every level. The cultural grounding is not a feature. It is the foundation.
Preventing Suicide and Substance Use Disorder Among Alaska Native Youth and young adults in the Northwest Arctic Borough — Rural Health Transformation Program