Salon Series is a hit

Once again we had a multitude of great social, event options last weekend; Derek and I chose to attend Short Stories on Heated Moments, second in the Salon Series at Homer Council on the Arts.

Hannah Heimbuch had pulled together a cast of five brave souls. Renee, Jamie, Kirby, Theodore and Hannah related a tale of a pivotal moment in their lives — performed “Moth” style — live, onstage, without a script.

Each speaker had tapped in to a place of vulnerability, and strength, to share with humor and self-compassion moments that might otherwise be too embarrassing to share. It was a thoroughly engaging, interesting and enjoyable evening. I wasn’t familiar with the format, but found it worked very well — each performance was followed by a break that provided time for the people in the “salon” to mingle, discuss the performance, eat some food or refresh their beverage.

Thank you to the cast and to Homer Council on the Arts for offering fresh and interesting events. I look forward to the third version of Salon Series.

P.S. in researching the name of the event I discovered that videos of the performances are on HCOA’s Facebook page.

Catriona Reynolds

ILC can help people ‘get ready’

In the wee hours of Jan. 23 we were rudely awakened by a pretty big shaker. If that wasn’t bad enough, it was followed by the tsunami sirens going off. Listening to KBBI I heard that we were to evacuate if we lived below Pioneer Avenue. I’m 105 feet above sea level, but on the bottom side of Pioneer. What do I do? I stayed. I watched many in the neighborhood leave, saw some with go bags and others with none. Next the police came through with sirens blaring and lights flashing telling people to leave. We sat (the cat, dog and myself), watched all of this happen and we stayed by choice. Others may have stayed because they had no choice.

We have people in Homer who are elderly, those with disabilities, and those who just don’t have personal transportation, what do they do? The state of Alaska has a book out called “Get Ready,” Alaska’s emergency preparedness toolkit for people with disabilities. This 60-plus page booklet helps individuals plan for the next emergency.

When setting up a disaster plan, the individual must take the first step themselves. They must recognize that they need a plan and that they may need help when it comes to setting up and executing the plan. The individual may need to rely on friends, neighbors, local churches or nonprofits. First responders will be dealing with whatever the emergency/disaster is so you may not be able to count on them.

The main thing to realize is you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. “Get Ready” has it all laid out. All you need to do is get and read the booklet. To find this booklet you can stop by The Independent Living Center in Homer at 265 E. Pioneer Ave.; we have a few. We have a link on our web site www.peninsulailc.org or you can go to http://dhss.alaska.gov/dph/wcfh. This is something we all need to think about and we should all have a plan.

David Lewis

Independent Living Advocate

Citizens can fight against corruption

Now that the Memo Dossier has been released, it proves that the U.S. Forefathers were right in installing the Second Amendment in the U.S. Constitution so the citizens of these United States can fight back against abusive government crooked officials. The new generation of school-age off-spring should be taught that. My age is 83, and I was taught that in school.

Jim Hadley

Thank You Homer Foundation

On behalf of the Kenai Peninsula Children’s Advocacy Centers at South Peninsula Haven House, I would like to extend our warmest regards to the Homer Foundation. In November I attended the Homer Foundation’s Annual Meeting, and was given the opportunity to nominate the Children’s Advocacy Center to receive a grant for $250.

The Kenai Peninsula Children’s Advocacy Centers, through South Peninsula Haven House, coordinate and provide services for children ages 0-17 years old who have been sexually abused or experienced some other form of maltreatment. Our service area extends from Seward to the head of the bay and to the villages across Kachemak Bay. We currently maintain centers in Homer and Kenai. Both sites offer a safe, child friendly environment for children to talk about what happened to them, and advocacy services for the child and family are available to help them heal. Our multidisciplinary teams work at every stage of the report of harm, investigation, prosecution, and beyond to ensure the child’s wellbeing.

The funds provided by the Homer Foundation were used towards transportation, food, and accommodations for families traveling from areas outside of Homer in order to receive the child friendly, trauma informed services that the Children’s Advocacy Center provides in times of crisis.

We wholeheartedly thank the Homer Foundation for their donation as we endeavor to provide a coordinated response to child abuse on the Kenai Peninsula. Through generous donations we can continue to provide a child centered, efficient, and respectful response to child abuse; which in turn lead to less traumatic investigations, and a higher result of success in prosecutions and treatment outcomes.

Lindsey Collins

CACS thanks Homer Foundation

The Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies (CACS) would like to thank the City of Homer Grants Program administered through the Homer Foundation for the operational grant of unrestricted funds that we received for support in 2017. Most nonprofit organizations struggle to raise operational funds as many grantors prefer to fund projects and materials, and any operations that are received are extremely important to the administrative and overall functions of a non-profit organization. We are one of many nonprofits that offer mportant services to Homer residents.

The local government dollars awarded by the City of Homer support our efforts to bring outdoor education programs to the community of Homer throughout the year and promote stewardship of our local resources.

Among the many ways that we try to contribute to the community, especially in the “off season” are through hosting multiple free programs at our headquarters building during the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival and during the school year, producing a weekly Kachemak Currents radio broadcast on the natural history of Kachemak Bay, partnering with other local organizations such as the Homer Native Plant Society to bring evening lecture series to the public, providing monthly programs for the residents of the senior center and offering fun, engaging kids activities at the Homer Farmers Market in the summer.

We have also conducted an annual clean-up of Kachemak Bay that involves over 300 volunteers — many of them students in our local schools. Through the annual CoastWalk clean-up, our local volunteers typically remove over 2,000 pounds of marine debris. Support from the City of Homer also helps us leverage funds for other grants for local projects and programs.

Operational funds are critical to “keeping the doors open” throughout the year. Thank you, City of Homer for all you do to support local nonprofits who are working hard to contribute to the great quality of life we all appreciate in Homer.

Beth Trowbridge, Executive Director

Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies