Who We Are

A community coalition is a group of individuals representing diverse organizations or constituencies within the community who work together to achieve a common goal. In 2008, a group of community partners came together to begin a strategic planning process and establish a shared vision for positive change in Sitka.

The Pathways to a Safer Sitka Coalition was formed to build an equitable community where all people are able to live a healthy, safe, and thriving life. By building strong partnerships, the coalition is able to maximize resources and progress towards individual agency and collective goals.

Purpose Statements

Pathways works to build equitable, accessible, culturally responsive services and systems so that individuals are connected, cared for, and contributing back to their community.

Pathways’ partners use a coordinated effort to remove barriers tied to prevention of domestic violence, sexual assault, alcohol/substance abuse, suicide, child abuse/neglect, poverty, homelessness, isolation, mental health issues, low educational achievement, and harmful cultural norms.

Pathways utilizes an “upstream” approach for creating healthy social-emotional environments by prioritizing and supporting programs and initiatives that build protective factors and support community resiliency.

Pathways sees culture, specifically Alaska Native culture, as a central component of resiliency - "cultural resiliency" among Sitkans.

Pathways Partners

Building and maintaining strong partner relationships is critical to moving the work forward.

Click the logos to visit their respective sites or click here to see all organizational descriptions.

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Our Guiding Values

The way we do our work.

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Respect

We recognize the power of teamwork, practice respectful listening, and ensure that there is space for all voices.

Innovation

We seek and encourage innovative approaches to address public health issues, reach diverse communities, and improve agency operation.

Collaboration

We seek to sustain and enhance the reach and impact of our efforts through partnership and engagement with community partners.

We find the strengths within agencies and individuals and build upon them.

Strengths-based

Equity

We work to remove barriers to allow everyone to achieve their full potential.

Integrity

We maintain consistency in what we say and what we do, and maintain accountability to each other and the communities that we serve.

We support long-term integration of programs within agencies and community institutions.

Sustainability

Accountability

We maintain transparency among partners and the community through continuous quality improvement and evaluation. We strive to provide evidence-based/informed strategies for the community.

Pathways History

Partne Organization Descriptions

Coalition Partner Organization Descriptions

Center for Community’s (CFC) Early Learning Program is a program committed to children under the age of three that provides services for children with developmental delays and disabilities and their families. The Early Learning Program values the family’s primary relationship with their child, and works in partnership with the family to enhance the child’s development and support the family’s knowledge, skills, and abilities as they interact with and raise their child. Click here to visit the site.

Neurobehavioral Consultants, LLC (NBC), is a private mental health and wellness clinic in Sitka, AK. The clinic offers comprehensive evidence-based counseling services for individuals, couples, families, and groups, neuropsychological and psychoeducational assessment, cognitive training, and adoption home studies. The clinic emphasizes “Whole Person” and community wellness, health equity and social justice, and is an ally of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. Click here to visit the site.

The Sitka Conservation Society (SCS), founded in 1967, is based in Sitka, Alaska, Sheet'ká Kwáan, a small coastal town in the heart of the Tongass, the largest national forest in the United States. Their mission is to protect the natural environment of the Tongass National Forest while supporting the development of economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable communities within Southeast Alaska. Click here to visit their site.

Sitka Counseling (SC) is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to prevent and reduce the harmful effects of mental illness and substance abuse in the lives of youth, adults, and families through its mission to “contribute to the social, behavioral, and emotional well-being of our diverse community and its members by providing professional preventative and therapeutic behavioral health services in a welcoming, accessible, integrated, continuous, and comprehensive continuum of care.” Click here to visit the site.

The Sitka School District (SSD) is a PK-12 public school district serving approximately 1,150 students. It is the mission of SSD to intentionally develop Haa Latseeni (Our strength of Mind, Body, and Spirit) to inspire and prepare students to be compassionate, empowered and equipped critical thinkers within a global community. Click here to visit the site.

Sitka Tribe of Alaska (STA) is a federally recognized tribal government serving more than 4,400 Tribal Citizens in Sitka, Alaska, through its mission to “exercise sovereign rights and powers, to preserve the integrity of tribal society, and improve the lives of individual Tribal Citizens.” The STA Cultural Resources, Education, and Employment Department works to promote and support the cultural, educational, and employment related needs of STA Tribal Citizens through school- and community-based programs and services. Click here to visit the site.

Sitkans Against Family Violence (SAFV) is a nonprofit organization that serves Sitka and outlying communities through its mission to “[provide] empowerment-based safety and advocacy services for victims/survivors of domestic and sexual violence of all genders while promoting a community of nonviolence and respect.” The SAFV Primary Prevention Program works to create systems and programs that support a community's well-being by working to foster respect and healthy relationships, creating healthier, more resilient people who are less likely to experience violence in their lifetimes. Click here to visit the site.

Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) is a non-profit tribal health consortium of 15 Native communities, which serves the health interests of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian tribal members along with any rural community members in Southeast Alaska. SEARHC is one of the oldest and largest Native-run health organizations in the nation and upholds the following values: healthy lifestyle choices; high quality and responsive health system; respect and dignity for patients, visitors, and staff; and effective partnership among staff and Native people. Click here to visit the site.

Youth Advocates of Sitka, Inc. (YAS) is a non-profit mental health agency whose mission is to support the mental health of Alaskan’s youth and their families. YAS empowers youth to grow into healthy, happy, productive members of their communities by providing residential and outpatient services, and youth employment and drop-in center services. Programs are designed to give voice to youth and their families. Click here to visit the site.