ANTHC partners to integrate a holistic community health approach in Oscarville
July 21, 2017
On the north bank of the Kuskokwim River, 401 miles from Anchorage, lies the community of Oscarville, Alaska. In December 2014, the Oscarville Traditional Council volunteered the village to serve as the pilot community for the implementation of a holistic approach project, with the goal of creating healthy, thriving and sustainable communities by bringing together important communal pieces, including culture, housing, energy, infrastructure, water/sewer, community health and economic development.
Oscarville’s candidacy for the pilot project stemmed from the sanitation, environmental and project development concerns facing the community, including no running water, no functional clinic, erosion and rapidly decreasing water levels.
As a response to these issues, ANTHC partnered with Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation, Association of Village Council Presidents and Cold Climate Housing Research Center, along with local leaders to successfully integrate the holistic approach into the community of Oscarville. At this point, the holistic approach has procured grant funding from both the Bureau of Indian Affairs Tribal Resilience Program and the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development Indian Community Development Block Grant-Imminent Threat to assist in the remodeling of the Oscarville water treatment plant and a new well for community water. Other ANTHC Environmental Health and Engineering projects include a Portable Alternative Sanitation System unit and a Sustainable Solid Waste Management plan.
ANTHC Project Manager Jacqualine Schaeffer credits much of the holistic approach’s success to the determination and engagement the Oscarville Traditional Council and its Tribal Administrator, Michael Stevens. Stevens’ participation in roundtable discussions and knowledge regarding methods to better improve community sustainability are reasons why Schaeffer calls him, “the project’s catalyst for success.”
Learn more about the Portable Alternative Sanitation System at https://www.anthc.org/clean-water-and-sanitation/.