Developing Child Advocacy Center opens in Hooper Bay

The Native Villages of Hooper Bay, Chevak and Scammon Bay, and Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc., (RurAL CAP) will commemorate the opening of Bay Haven’s developing Child Advocacy Center in Hooper Bay on May 16.

The event will begin at 11:00 am at the Hooper Bay School, followed by a community potluck. Designed through extensive collaboration with community stakeholders, Bay Haven’s developing Child Advocacy Center will provide children and their safe caregivers from Hooper Bay, Chevak and Scammon Bay with coordinated services following concerns of physical or sexual abuse.

Wraparound services will ensure that investigative interviews are child-friendly with certified “ChildFirst” trained staff, as well as provide support during law enforcement investigations and safety planning with child protection workers. Most importantly, the developing Child Advocacy Center will provide aftercare and survivor groups that embrace cultural values and holistic approaches as children and families move forward in their healing.

Attendees of the grand opening include tribal and city government leadership from the communities of Hooper Bay, Chevak and Scammon Bay, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime Director Kristina Rose, the U.S. Attorney General for Alaska, S. Lane Tucker, RurAL CAP Chief Development Officer Jasmine Boyle, and other local, regional and statewide leaders and program partners.

Renovation of the four-room facility located in Hooper’s Bay’s Sea Lion Building was completed in April, in space generously donated by the Sea Lion Corporation.

The developing Child Advocacy Center is an extension of Bay Haven’s services. Bay Haven includes a three-bedroom shelter for people who have experienced domestic violence or sexual assault (DV/SA) and victim services developing in Chevak and Scammon Bay.

Since opening in June 2020, the Bay Haven DV/SA Shelter has served 301 people through services offered 24 hours/day, seven days/week. Bay Haven employs 12 trained Advocates who provide safety planning, resource referrals, legal advocacy and regular groups that provide healing through cultural connections and tradition.

The Bay Haven DV/SA Shelter has been supported by DOJ Office for Victims of Crime, Sea Lion Corporation, Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous People, Coastal Villages Region Fund, Rasmuson Foundation, Tundra Women’s Coalition, Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center, ACF Muktuk Marston Family Foundation Fund, and the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

Founded in 1965, RurAL CAP is a private, statewide, nonprofit organization with a mission to empower low-income Alaskans through advocacy, education, affordable housing and direct services that respect our unique values and cultures. RurAL CAP is one of the largest and most diversified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in Alaska.