Building Stronger Communities: Culture, Creativity, and Collaboration

November 21, 2024

Weaving culture and community builds stronger Southeast Alaska

In this newsletter, we spotlight a recent workshop for artists looking to grow their business skills, offer tips on starting your journey toward financial independence, and recap the Sustainable Southeast Partnership Catalyst gathering in Kake. You’ll also get a behind-the-scenes look at an inspiring in-person retreat for Resilience Circles participants. Join us as we celebrate the initiatives helping to empower and sustain our communities.

Also in this newsletter:

Ḵutí expands its reach and connects communities across Southeast Alaska
Upcoming Small Business Grants & Opportunities.

(Photo courtesy of Laura Revels)

Artists dive into Business Basics in Spruce Root’s virtual workshop

On November 6-8, Spruce Root presented its Business Basics for Artists workshop with Sealaska Heritage Institute.

Eighteen artists convened for the three-day virtual workshop and learned a variety of subjects, from marketing to business planning to pricing.

"I’m so glad I took this class!” said Laura Revels, a Business Basics for Artists participant. “It’s helped me focus on my goals as a working artist and realize I was pricing my work too low. The break-even portion was a real eye-opener, and the class overall gave me valuable insights into the business and financial side of making and selling art."

Financial Wellness Program Manager Haley Armstrong leads Path to Prosperity Business Competition finalists through key strategies to managing their finances. (Photo by Cale Green)

Looking to unlock the path to financial empowerment?

Spruce Root now offers complimentary one-on-one Financial Wellness coaching. Services are tailored to your unique financial goals and needs: our coaching provides personalized guidance, from mastering budgeting basics to navigating the complexities of credit and debt.

Empower yourself with the knowledge and tools to confidently manage your finances and build financial security.

Learn more and sign up today at www.spruceroot.org/financialwellness

(We’re also holding a virtual Financial Wellness workshop Dec. 12-13. Learn more at the link above.)

(Photo by Shaelene Grace Moler & Lee House)

SSP Catalysts gather in Kake for annual work planning

In late October, Sustainable Southeast Partnership (SSP) Catalysts and representatives from their host organization convened in Kake to do their annual work planning for 2025.

Over the three days, catalysts and representatives from their host organizations engaged in various collaborative, strategic and community-oriented activities.

Other highlights included creative moments, such as a group painting session, creating annual goals and action plans, paired walks, storytelling and reporting and a catalyst pitch session to wrap up our planning activities.

SSP November Hangout

November's SSP hangout is happening 9-11 a.m. AKST Tuesday, November 26, 2024.

Our hangouts happen monthly on the fourth Tuesday. Click here for the Zoom link.

If you want to add the recurring event to your calendar, click here. You can also find the SSP Monthly Hangouts on our website under the opportunities and announcements page.

JOIN HANGOUT

Resilience Circles practitioner Chris Bryant leads cohort participants through physical health and nutrition coaching. (Photo courtesy of Scott Burton)

Resilience Circles practitioners and participants gather for in-person retreat

Resilience Circles hosted their second intensive, three-day participant retreat for Indigenous entrepreneurs.

Participants engaged in an array of in-person work sessions covering personal and business financial planning, marketing and branding, earth gym, physical health and nutrition, and an Indigenous values exploration talking circle.

The group spent the final day of the retreat on Shelter Island for a Cultural Wellness day that included a plant identification scavenger hunt, Indigenous storytelling, language practice, and song and dance.

MORE PHOTOS

The receding Davidson Glacier on a flight from Haines. (Photo by Bethany Sonsini Goodrich).

Woven Peoples and Place: Ḵutí expands across Southeast Alaska

(Ḵutí is a Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and Sitka Sound Science Center landslide mitigation project rooted in community priorities across Southeast Alaska.)

Climate change affects communities across the world.

Southeast Alaska is a temperate rainforest with high levels of precipitation expected every year, but the increasingly warm climate is causing more rainfall events.

Several longstanding rainfall records have been broken in recent years across the region.

This increase in rain is felt even more when it comes as an atmospheric river, a long narrow band of moisture carried from the tropics to the Poles.

In recent years atmospheric rivers have been increasing in both frequency and severity across Southeast Alaska, thus increasing the potential of landslides.

The Sitka Geo Task Force supported the assembly of tribal leaders and landslide experts to help create a landslide risk dashboard specifically for the community.

The dashboard was the culmination of three years of hard work with community partners and provided an opportunity for the community to have input in a system that is meaningful to the people it serves.

Join Spruce Root's 2-day virtual Financial Wellness workshop on December 12-13 and gain the knowledge and tools to build a brighter financial future! Register today.
Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training: This Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved course will satisfy the grower training curriculum requirements under the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule. There is no charge for class participants. Space will be limited, so pre-registration is required. 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day, December 9 and 10, 2024.

Registration closes November 25, 2024. Contact the DEC Produce Safety Team by email producesafety@alaska.gov to register.

Save the date

Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit will be held Feb. 20-22, 2025 in Juneau (General registration opens December 1)

Thank you to all our partners, supporters, donors and communities for continuing to share in our vision for the region!

Spruce Root is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). Our services for small businesses include coaching, training and lending for startup enterprises, working capital, business expansion, leasehold improvements and other business capital needs. We are a driver of a regenerative economy across Southeast Alaska so communities can forge futures grounded in this uniquely Indigenous place.

Grow With Us

Spruce Root
One Sealaska Plaza
Suite 400
Juneau, AK 99801

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This institution is an equal opportunity provider. Spruce Root does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability.

Newsletter: Weaving culture and community builds a stronger Southeast Alaska