Era Airlines flight to Chevak and Hooper Bay

Up, Up and Away.....

Did I mention that I love my job?  I do. Every job in every field has its ups and downs, but in my opinion, my job has a whole lot of ups! 


What do you do, again?


My official title is "Early Interventionist, Senior" and in time will become the more familiar title of Developmental Therapist.  Early Intervention refers to services provided to children, birth to age 3, who have disabilities or are at risk for disabilities. There is much more to EI services than I can explain in this space, but if you are interested in knowing more about the field, Wikipedia provides a good summary here.


Early Intervention is mandated by federal law, but implemented through state Health or Education services. Every state is a little different in how they choose to implement, which agencies are involved, and even what services and service providers are called. (This made job searching a real ...um, interesting challenge.) 


In most states, one person is responsible for being a liaison for the family, gathering important information, arranging for evaluations by therapists, and helping families through the process of creating goals, amongst other things. That person is called a Service Coordinator. Then the therapists (Occupational, Physical, Speech, Developmental) plan and carry out their interventions based on those family goals. In Alaska, an Early Interventionist such as me, does the work of both Service Coordinator and therapist. 


In most states, an EI agency provides services in an area covering one or more counties, usually encompassing an area of 50 miles or less. Our agency provides services for the entire Yukon-Kuskokwim delta area, a region encompassing more than 50 villages and 58,000 square miles. That's roughly the size of the state of Oregon.   

Service area of YK Health Corporation

Do you ride a dog sled to work?
Haha. Not yet. (Dog sledding is more of a sport /very expensive hobby, so most people don't do it.) But I DO spend a lot of time in small aircraft. Each child that receives services should be seen at least once a month. I currently have about 8 villages, though not all have qualifying children in them. Some of my colleagues have villages where upwards of 7 or 8 families are receiving services. This means that we travel, on average, 1-3 days out of the work week, and sometimes the visits require an overnight stay. This week I travelled with my colleague Lyssa to the village of Hooper Bay on the Bering Sea. We checked in at the large Subregional clinic, then began home and clinic-based visits with families. We finished shortly after 5pm and were put up in (very cozy) clinic-owned apartments for the night. The next morning we visited the tribal council office (required) before flying back. This week I begin my "solo" flights. Away we go! 

Aerial view of the village of Hooper Bay 

Ever feel

like you hit 

the

JACKPOT?!

Little things mean a lot when you're far away from your favorite place of comfort and convenience. I've been anticipating the arrival of my first care packages almost as much as I have my furnishings!  I learned yesterday that my furnishings are still enjoying a vacation in Seattle, so I was that much more excited to learn that the packages my Mom and Dad sent were expected to arrive today.

THE POST OFFICE

Whatever one's physical address, mail and packages for Bethel residents go to a Post Office box.  I learned, when I applied for my own, that there are simple protocols for mailing packages to a PO Box. A majority of shipping services will mail out to PO boxes just as they would to other addresses. Occasionally, you run into a service that won't, but you can get around that by providing your physical address and tacking the PO Box number onto it somewhere. For instance:

My mailing address is:

PO Box 281

Bethel, AK 99559

If a vendor won't ship to a PO Box, I would use:

172 East Avenue

Bethel, AK 99559-0281

(See my box # on the end there?)

Any package small enough is stuffed directly into your box. If you get a larger package, a code number goes a slip of yellow card stock, which is added to your box. This 'yellow slip' is redeemed at the counter to collect your prize.  If the line is particularly long, one of the postal workers will bark out "yellow slips!" and all the lucky yellow slip holders turn in their slips and wait for the mass delivery.  

Yesterday I learned (from a co-worker) that some fortunate patrons have a yellow slip marked "BACK DOOR".  This indicates that your package is SO BIG that it must be fetched at the loading dock on the back side of the post office. Nice!

Today I learned that there is yet one more way to collect a package:

MY TRIP TO THE POST OFFICE

 Until my bicycle arrives with my furnishings, my options for running errands are:

1. Take a taxi: fast and easy, but $5 each way to anywhere in Bethel except the airport, which is $7.

2. Bum a ride from a friend: most of my friends don't have cars either. I might have to work on making more friends. ;-)

3. Walk: nothing is really very far away in Bethel.

So I put on my largest backpack (a hiking style job I'd picked up when I broke my foot in 2010) and trekked the 2.5 miles up to the Post Office. The weather being 70 and mostly sunny, this was no real hardship! On the way I checked out the Saturday Market, which was very interesting and deserves a post of its own.  When I reached the Post Office and opened my PO Box, I was surprised to find only a key attached to a good-sized keychain. Puzzled, I studied the keychain and found that it read, "Parcel Locker 69."  Intrigued, I stomped all over the premises until I found mailboxes larger than the standard ones. I located #69 and inserted the key to reveal.......my boxes. I was not disappointed! The boxes, though small, were quite heavy. So heavy, in fact, that though I managed to cram them into my backpack, I could barely balance them on my back! So a hijacked a passing taxi and returned home with my plunder. Dex and Jimmy "helped" me open them and were excited to learn that they, at least would have furniture...

In case you were curious, the inventory of my loot includes: 

Milky Way/Twix/Snickers miniatures

A huge bag of M&M's

Muffin mix (i use it to make pancakes...)

Crystal Light lemonade

International delight creamer singles

Oatmeal

A 2.5 lb bag of DD coffee.

Granola bars and trail mix (great for travel days!)

Grape Nuts (i can't eat it cold but I lOVE it hot!)

Peanut Butter & Jellies

Cat treats and soft food packets

Ramen noodles

Hand sanitizer wipes

My parents ROCK!

:-)

Ode To My Furniture

On a vast shipping barge

‘twixt Seattle and Anch’rage, 

float my best, homely goods,

what wouldn’t fit in my luggage.

My bed and my tables,

twenty-five pounds of flour.

Cat litter and dresser,

how I’ve counted the hours!

Since C-U when they rolled you

away on a dolly.

I’ve longed for you, 

tho furnished friends think,

“Why, such folly!”

Green sofa and chairs,

you’re so much needed here,

for this cold, hard wood floor

is kinda tough on my.... um...feet.

O, pots! O, pans!

My baking skills languish!

How long must I subsist

on ramen and sandwich??

Lord, if You can see it

’mongst the tonnage of metal,

please speed my wee shipment

On fleet wings, up to Bethel!

"And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went."

~Genesis 35:3

Welcome to Bethel: Hub of the Kuskokwim

We arrived in Bethel on Sunday, June 24th, 2012 at about 8pm. With all my luggage:

• 2 large suitcases
• 1 large backpack
• 1 small suitcase
• 1 large box
• 1 medium box
• 1 med tote
• 2 kennels (containing 1 each very unhappy kitty)

I didn't seem to stand out as having more luggage then your average Bethel arrivee. I have since learned that it is common practice with some Bethel residents to go to Anchorage to shop...going with 3-4 empty suitcases or large totes and coming back with them full of grocery items and other necessities. 

One of the recruiters from the hospital which is my employer, YKHC, came to pick me up and take me to the apartment which they had helped me to find and lease. YKHC also pays my first month's rent, which was a great help. 

My apartment building is less than impressive from the outside, but brand new and very pleasant inside. Dexter and Jimmy Choo have settled in nicely, each finding their favorite places to hide from all the strange noises and places to sleep when Mom is at work. (Dexter has claimed the top of my red suitcase, Jimmy one of the two window sills.) We are all greatly anticipating the day when our furniture arrives! Should be sometime within the next week...