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Carol Gore Named President/CEO of Housing Authority

Carol Gore, a CIRI shareholder and long-time CIRI employee, has been named president and CEO of Cook Inlet Housing Authority, the organization that helps provide affordable housing to low-income Alaska Natives and Native Americans residing in the Cook Inlet region.

The housing authority's clients include young families buying their first homes, homeless seeking shelter, and elders seeking affordable and safe apartments. Cook Inlet Housing Authority has been nationally recognized for its excellence and is one of the largest Indian Housing Authorities in the United States. Primarily funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, CIHA has received more than $40 million from the federal government in Indian housing block grants since 1997.

Gore has begun to implement a new vision for the agency emphasizing program quality and an expanded selection of housing services. Gore will also seek more partnering opportunities with other affordable housing providers and funding sources throughout the region, working together to help those in need of affordable housing.

Prior to her new position with Cook Inlet Housing Authority, Gore served 11 years in the CIRI real estate department, most recently as vice president of income properties. In addition to being a CIRI shareholder, Gore is a shareholder of Ninilchik Native Association and has served on the Ninilchik Board of Directors since 1983. Her family, the Cooper family on her mother's side, is originally from Ninilchik, Alaska. Cooper's Landing, on the Kenai Peninsula, is named for her great grandfather.

Carol Gore (center), CIHA President/CEO, with CIRI shareholder Robert Juliussen (left), CIHA construction and maintenance supervisor, and Grace Anderson (right), CIHA work control technician and CIRI shareholder.

Cook Inlet Housing Authority Program Update

Cook Inlet Housing Authority operates and provides funding for a variety of programs throughout Southcentral Alaska. The following highlights some of the programs offered to CIRI shareholders and other Alaska Natives and Native Americans.

The Senior Housing Program provides 267 affordable rental units to elders residing in Anchorage, Seldovia, Ninilchik and Kenai.
The Home Loan Programs have helped more than 300 low-income families become homeowners
The Mutual Help Program has assisted more than 200 low-income families with home ownership.
The Sub-Grants Initiative has provided a major source of funding for the Brother Francis Shelter, the Homeward Bound Program and Cook Inlet Tribal Council's Emergency Voucher Program, as well as other programs benefiting low-income households.

For more information about programs offered by Cook Inlet Housing Authority, call

(907) 276-8822.

Non-Profit Organizations Announce New Board Members

Several new members have recently been appointed to the boards of directors of Alaska's People, Cook Inlet Tribal Council and The CIRI Foundation.

Debra Lukin, shareholder relations manager at Koniag, Inc., has joined the Alaska's People Board of Directors. Lukin is originally from Kodiak.

debra luken Debra Lukin

Clare Swan has been elected as chairperson of the CITC Board of Directors, of which she has been a member for two years. Swan, a CIRI shareholder, resides in Kenai and is a member and former chairperson of the Kenaitze Indian Tribe as well as a CIRI board member.

C. Swan Clare Swan

CIRI shareholder Thomas Huhndorf, an electrician and commercial fisherman from Valdez, has joined the Cook Inlet Tribal Council Board of Directors. He is Chairman of the Board of Salamatof Native Association, Inc. and is currently an active committee member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Tom Huhndorf Thomas Huhndorf

CIRI shareholder

Ron Perry has been named a director of The CIRI Foundation. Perry is the president and owner of Microware Computers, Inc. and president of the Alaska Computer Training Center in Anchorage. He is also a CIRI board member.

Ron Perry

Koahnic Announces Two New Board Members

Koahnic Broadcast Corporation has added two Alaska Natives to its board of directors.

New board member Trefon Angasan is vice president of shareholder and corporate relations at Bristol Bay Native Corporation. He is also secretary of Alaska Peninsula Corporation, and a board member of Alaska Federation of Natives, Bristol Bay Native Association and the Alaska Native Justice Center.

CIRI shareholder Gail Schubert, also appointed recently as a board member, is an attorney at Foster Pepper Rubini & Reeves LLC, where she practices corporation and commercial law, general business and taxation. Schubert is also vice chair of the Alaska Native Justice Center Board of Directors, and serves on the board of directors of Bering Straits Environmental Systems & Development and Bering Straits

Native Corporation.

Primary Care Patients Like Improvements

At Southcentral Foundation's Primary Care Center at the Alaska Native Medical Center, local patients can now choose their primary care provider and be guaranteed same-day access to that provider. The only exception is if the provider is not available due to travel for work or personal business. The new system provides patients an opportunity to establish professional relationships with their primary care provider and their nursing team.

The new system has also produced positive feedback from pleased patients:

"I've been able to make an appointment on short notice and more than likely with my regular provider."

"Seems a lot easier."

"You are given a choice."

"I really enjoy seeing one doctor. Before, I had to re-explain my health problems over and over." "It's easier because the doctor already knows you."

"I don't have to wait on the phone."

"Having one doctor for the whole family is important to us."

"Having a single provider makes things more personal."

And the response has pleased Dr. Douglas Eby, Southcentral Foundation's vice president of medical services. "Our patients are happier, our providers are happier and our staff say they would never want to go back to the old way of doing business," says Eby. "Over the past year, we have learned from our customers what they want and proceeded to design a system around the

wants and needs of the patient and the family."