Tlingit & Haida wins $2.2 million in federal grants for naloxone and tribal crisis care

The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska has won $895,401 in federal funding to bring naloxone kits, vending machines and emergency cabinets to nine Southeast Alaska communities. The federally recognized tribal government represents more than 38,000 citizens worldwide, organized in Southeast Alaska through 19 community council chapters. The nine communities, Juneau, Angoon, Kake, Klukwan, Saxman, Thorne Bay, Hydaburg, Klawock and Kasaan, are reachable only by air or sea across the Alexander Archipelago. The tribe had requested $3.75 million for the five-year project. Both this grant and a second award carry award periods beginning Sept. 30, 2026.

The second award, $1,318,154 over three years, funds a project called Lightkeepers. Both come from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and total $2,213,555, two of six SAMHSA awards to Alaska organizations totaling $5.79 million. Douglas Indian Association, also in Southeast, received $349,999. Lightkeepers expands the tribe's Community & Behavioral Services Healing Center into Washington state's Puget Sound region, home to 8,000 tribal citizens. The project adds outpatient behavioral health services, crisis intervention and suicide risk assessment, plus formal partnerships with Washington 988 providers and strengthened 988 Lifeline ties across Southeast Alaska's more than 25 communities. The tribe will also expand its When Cedar Touches Water postvention model, support offered after a suicide or suicide attempt.

The opioid grant, under SAMHSA's Tribal Opioid Response program, targets naloxone sites in all nine communities by year three. The tribe plans to distribute 5,000 kits, train 250 people in overdose recognition and hold at least 160 prevention events over five years. The tribe estimates prevention services for 5,000 people and overdose or infectious-disease prevention services for 6,000. It does not provide direct treatment. People needing it are connected through referral and warm hand-off agreements with regional partners, meaning a partner takes the person on rather than handing over a phone number. Programming will be delivered with eight regional organizations, including the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, Bartlett Regional Hospital, JAMHI Health & Wellness and the Juneau School District.

The state recorded 339 overdose deaths in Alaska in 2024, about 73 percent involving fentanyl. None of the naloxone sites exist yet; the grant period opens Sept. 30.