Cook Inlet Housing Authority is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month. Since 1974, CIHA has provided housing and supportive services to low-income Alaska Natives and American Indians living within the Cook Inlet region.

"Twenty-five years ago, low-income Native families living in Cook Inlet had limited opportunities for housing assistance and many of our families were forced to move because of inadequate or unaffordable housing," said Frank Peratrovich Jr., executive director of CIHA. "A non-profit was needed to seek federal housing funds to address this need. A board of directors was formed and our first chairman, Carl Marrs, got the ball rolling."

Since that meeting CIHA has grown to become the sixth largest Indian housing authority in the country and has won a number of national awards for performance and program innovation. CIHA has benefited more than 640 families in becoming homeowners through a number of homeownership programs; built 267 apartment units to house low-income elders and disabled individuals; and provided free home repairs, improvements, and snow removal for more than 220 elder families and disabled individuals through the Senior Modernization Program.

In addition, CIHA supports an emergency housing voucher assistance program that is administered through Cook Inlet Tribal Council, while also providing assistance to the Brother Frances Shelter for the prevention of homelessness, and support to the Boys and Girls Clubs.

A CIHA worker adds a roof to a CIHA house recently.

"Over the years, CIHA has grown from providing a few homes in Tyonek in the mid-70s to now helping over 200 families a year achieve home ownership," said Peratrovich. "While CIHA has certainly grown, the one thing that remains unchanged is our mission ­ to assist low-income Native families with housing."

In 1996, representatives of CIRI, the Alaska Native Justice Center and Koahnic Broadcast Corporation collaborated on the creation of a radio call-in show to address important legal and justice issues relevant to Alaska's Native people. This month, "The Alaska Native Justice Hour" is celebrating three years of airing to a local and occasional statewide radio audience over KNBA 90.3 FM ­ the nation's first urban Native public radio station.

"The Justice Hour is designed as an educational outreach program," said Vicki Otte, former executive director of the Alaska Native Justice Center

and one of the show's original co-hosts. "Alaska

Natives make up more than 35.6 percent of Alaska's prison population and 46 percent of the cases referred to the Alaska Division of Family and Youth Services.

"Many people are just not educated adequately about the legal safeguards available to them and are not taking full advantage of their legal rights. It only made sense for us to partner with Koahnic and try and reach out to Alaska's Native people through the production of a call-in radio show."

The Justice Hour's original hosts, Mark Kroloff and Vicki Otte, with Shyanne Beatty, production assistant fellow, and guest host Patrick Anderson, an attorney with Hedland, Brennan, Heideman & Cooke, PC, recently in the KNBA studios.

"The Alaska Native Justice Hour" originally debuted on Saturdays at 9 a.m. with hosts Otte and Mark Kroloff, CIRI's general counsel. The first show discussed what a person should do if arrested and charged with a crime, and featured guests Brant McGee, director of Office of Public Advocacy, and John Salemi, former director of the Public Defenders Office.

"With each show, we select a topic that is relevant for the moment and helpful for a variety of people," Kroloff said. "The show is basically a forum for listeners to acquire free advice on their individual legal concerns."

The Alaska Native Justice Hour has tackled a variety of issues during the twice monthly airing of the hour-long show. Child support, rights and responsibilities of parolees, youth courts, circle sentencing, overcrowding in the prison system, religious rights, subsistence, school safety, consumer

credit counseling and sexual assault are a sampling of the topics the show has addressed. But it is the recurring "Free Legal Clinic" show that appeals to a broad audience wanting to address issues specific to individual concerns.

Callers from Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula, and other locations across the state are invited throughout the show to call in and address their questions and concerns with the Justice Hour co-hosts and visiting guest experts. In addition to Otte and Kroloff, the hosting job has broadened to include Denise Morris, current executive director of the Alaska Native Justice Center; Michelle Christiansen, a CIRI paralegal; Patrick Anderson, an attorney with Hedland, Brennan, Heideman & Cooke, PC and a member of the board of directors of the Alaska Native Justice Center; and Theresa Williams, a CIRI attorney.

Guest experts are also invited into the studio to provide knowledgeable advice and answers on specific issues. Col. Glen Godfrey of the Alaska State Troopers and Duane Udland, chief of the Anchorage Police Department, have appeared as guests, as have Judges Eric Smith and Peter Ashman, Gov. Jay Hammond, Mayor Rick Mystrom, Commissioner Karen Perdue of the Department of Health and Social Services, various Alaska state legislators and Attorney General Bruce Bothello.

The Justice Hour is currently airing every other Monday at 10 a.m. on KNBA 90.3 FM, which is heard in Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Valley.

When the Alaska Native Heritage Center's summer season begins next spring, visitors will be introduced to the Center's first summer theme: Qayaqs and Canoes -­ Paddling into the Millennium.

"All of us at the Alaska Native Heritage Center are excited to announce our second summer season, which will begin on Saturday, May 13," announced Margaret Nelson, ANHC president and chief executive officer.

"During our second summer season we will begin our theme seasons, beginning with Qayaqs and Canoes ­ Paddling into the Millennium."

Qayaqs and Canoes - Paddling into the Millennium will bring together elders from each Alaska Native culture to share their skills directly with youth and provide hands-on training as well as enable the Center to preserve and pass on tradition for future generations. In addition, the Heritage Center will continue to offer the performing and demonstrating artist series, with artists from across the state attending.

The Center is open year-round and is a gathering place that celebrates, perpetuates and shares Alaska Native tradition. It is located just 10 minutes north of downtown Anchorage and represents 11 distinct Alaska Native cultures in five groups throughout the "Welcome House" and traditional village sites. Visitors are encouraged to come face to face with Alaska's First People and interact with performers, storytellers and arts and crafts demonstrators.

The Teacher Mentor Project, part of the Alaska Native Teachers for Excellence program, is currently holding seminars and private sessions to assist individuals interested in applying for teaching positions within the Anchorage School District or other Alaskan school districts, as well as for students in the educational field. Participants of the project receive assistance with applications, interviewing, resume writing and support services.

The goal of the Teacher Mentor Project is to increase the number of eligible and qualified Alaska Native and American Indian teachers in the Anchorage School District, so that by the year 2000 they will comprise at least seven percent of all teachers. Currently, there have been 43 Alaska Native and American Indian teachers hired by the Anchorage School District and 44 by other districts and private schools.

The Teacher Mentor Project has had more than 170 participants since it began. The program, which is in its third and final year, is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and administered by Cook Inlet Tribal Council, the Anchorage School District and The CIRI Foundation.

For more information about the Teacher Mentor Project, contact Marilyn Forrester at (907) 263-5583, toll-free at 1-800-764-3382, or via e-mail at mforrester@ciri.com.