Antonia Gonzales

Photo: Josh Engle, manager and peer support specialist at True North Recovery in Wasilla, gives out cookies as part of homeless outreach efforts in Anchorage on Tuesday, November 25, 2025. (Matt Faubion / Alaska Public Media) For people experiencing addition, it can help to talk to someone who has been through recovery themselves. Peer support specialists offer a different kind of support from therapists or psychiatrists. And in Alaska, there are state certifications for peer support roles, including a special track for Indigenous people with lived experience in recovery. Alaska Public Media's Rachel Cassandra has more on peer-to-peer care in the state. Josh Engle is bundled up on one of the first really cold days in October. He walks along a forest path to do outreach in an encampment in Anchorage. He approaches a man in a weathered coat. “How long you been out here on the streets?” “Too long. Yeah. Yeah.” Several tents and makeshift structures lean together. “You connected with any resources?” Engle is a manager and peer support specialist at True North Recovery – and one of his aims today is to help guide people into recovery. It's a path Engle knows well because he's in long-term recovery himself. Now he supports people in ways that go well beyond what a more traditional therapist or psychiatrist can do. He may text with clients outside business hours, help them find work or get connected with benefits – anything that supports them in a way that might lead to recovery. “I personally, really enjoy being able to connect with them on a personal level of someone that has walked their path.” When patients interact with workers with lived experience, research shows it can aid recovery and can reduce healthcare costs. Aaron Surma is Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in Juneau, which runs training for peer support. And Surma experiences mental illness himself. He says psychiatrists and mental health professionals play an important role in supporting recovery and treatment, but there is a strong power difference. “You’re in a small room, you’re making intense eye contact, and the dynamic is that you have the expert and the person who needs help.” Surma says he was arrested multiple times during high school and was court ordered to go to Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous meetings. He says hearing peers in those groups was awesome, but things felt different when talking with his formal providers. “When I was a teenager, I was lighting stuff on fire and buying garbage bags of weed. So then to go into a small room and talk to somebody who you know, like, imagine the counselor from “South Park” who’s saying ‘Drugs are bad, Mkay?’ And it’s a million miles from what you know.” He says it's easier for peers to bridge those gaps in early recovery. Peer support specialists speak the language of addiction and mental illness and also understand the more traditional language of behavioral health professionals. Seeds of Eden, which offers addiction recovery services and community-based behavioral health services, recently received a $30,000 grant from the South Dakota Community Foundation. The grant will help the organization’s work to provide sober living, peer support, care coordination, and case management, including a project to build a recovery housing facility on the Standing Rock Reservation on the South Dakota side. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe straddles the South Dakota and North Dakota border. Isaiah Keller is one of the co-founders of Seeds of Eden. He says they're already secured a home, which is being remodel to offer future services. “The house that we have been remodeling is about 90% complete. So, a small portion of the funds that were awarded will go to finish that project, that house and to make it livable and to make it functional.” Keller says Seeds of Eden was designed to help fill a gap when it comes to addiction recovery services, and he says the group realized there was a need for assistance within tribal communities. He says they've been working closely with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Native American board members, and Native advocates. “We’ve partnered with a really good ally and advocate.  And her name is Bobbi Jamerson. She’s the chairwoman of the Bear Soldier District on the South Dakota side of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. And she has been advocating and promoting recovery and community involvement. We’re at a point right now where we feel like we have some great traction and some great movement.” Keller says they would like to expand services across South Dakota and beyond. Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today. Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts. Check out the latest episode of Native America Calling Wednesday, December 10, 2025 – Mental health experts point to personal connections to maintain winter mental health

  Elaine Miles reflects on the reaction to her encounter with ICE   Satellite broadband opens up health care access for Arizona vets  

  Native leaders receive dozens of artifacts returned by Vatican   Promise to Arizona tribes is first legislative act by Grijalva in Congress   Cherokee Nation concludes emergency food response after declaration  

  Canadian ministers address final day of AFN special chiefs meeting   'Native Highways' is back with a holiday special on FNX this Friday  

  Bush fellow from White Earth wants to level up with a law degree   Dene family shares its restoration of coming of age ceremony for girls  

  AFN rejects changes to oil tanker ban off BC after pipeline MOU   Young Navajo rodeo athletes take reins as next generation of cowboys  

  Master carvers restore house posts outside Totem Heritage Center   Two eagles blessed during Native wildlife celebration in Phoenix  

  Construction workshop trained those who will rebuild Kipnuk   Treuer, tribal judge and 2025 Bush fellow, seeks to Indigenize the bench  

  Storm evacuees in Anchorage hotels miss subsistence lifestyle   Human Rights for Kids report highlights trauma-to-prison pipeline  

  Thanksgiving holiday stirs mixed feelings across Indian Country   Gila River Indian Community residents get new market close to home  

  Curley motion to remove Nygren, Montoya may not have the votes   Pourier to use Bush Fellowship to boost investing in Native artists  

  Chaco protectors urge Burgum to visit park   Newborn support service expands into Northwest Arctic Borough  

  Bush Fellow head of USD Native recruitment and engagement   New study seeks proper care for DV victims with traumatic brain injuries   Hualapai tribe chooses this year's Christmas tree for Arizona Capitol  

  Removal of MMIP report on DOJ website questioned by advocates   NCAI Day 4: Native Hawaiian health care and Indigenous jazz & soul   Two eagles blessed during Native wildlife celebration in Arizona  

  Inside the Anchorage hotels sheltering those displaced by storm   100+ winter clothing items, $15k donated during NCAI convention drive  

  NM takes lead to investigate forced sterilization of women   Native vote, lifetime achievement awards take center stage at NCAI  

  Tribes comment on Trump plan for hydropower projects   Native youth gather for NCAI convention in Seattle this week   On this day in 1895, Nez Perce tribe opens up reservation to settlers  

  Native woman released from ICE custody after 'clerical error'   CRIT acknowledges Colorado River has same rights as tribal members   NCAI annual convention and marketplace kicks off in Seattle  

  No housing available: Tribal members struggle to return home   Filmmaker Hale among 5 Native winners of this year's Bush Fellowship  

  New DV study seeks to shed light on brain injury impact   Yup'ik glossary with behaviorial health terms sent to Alaska providers   NCAI welcomes federal reopening, depending on ACA extension  

  No deal for new Colorado River rules for 7 basin states   Mallott, tribal leaders meet with Vance during Washington visit   Feds canceled grant that could have helped communities from flooding  

  Satellite broadband opens up health care access for Arizona vets   Mullin clashes with EBCI Chief, Democrats over Lumbee Recognition Act  

  Canadians mark Indigenious Veterans, Remembrance days   Tribal school district programs impacted by government shutdown  

  Remains of missing Apache teen found by police this week   Anchorage school's Yup'ik immersion program adds 70 students  

  Wisconsin tribal leaders split on sports gambling expansion bill   Gila River gives $1,000 relief payment to every 18-year-old tribal member   Lumbee chairman tells senators he's confident on federal recognition bill  

  Trump's nuclear testing plan sends shockwaves across the West   Reindeer become staple where marine sources are changing  

  Navajo Nation braces for another food insecurity issue with SNAP gap   Cherokee Nation expands emergency funds for SNAP-eligible citizens   Carvers, leaders celebrate newest addition to Juneau's totem pole trail  

  Catholic order transfers Wisconsin land back to Lac du Flambeau   Kodiak newborn support service expands into Northwest Arctic Borough  

  Volunteers to search for missing elder on Umatilla reservation   Alaska Native families prepare for loss of heating assistance funding   Shawnee Tribe declares shutdown emergency and releases funds  

  Loss of SNAP, LIHEAP funding would be 'life threatening' this winter   Beecher to be Navajo Nation AG again after council opposes Bradley  

  Vatican prepares to return Indigenous artifacts a century later   New play featuring Native stories opens in Oregon next month   Senate Indian Affairs Committee hosts hearing on shutdown impact  

  Gila River Indian Community opens new supermarket in Sacaton   SHI opens new science and traditional knowledge education building  

  Wrangell housing project on hold after artifacts found on site   INFR bull riding champion now eligible to go pro  

  Spirit Lake Tribal Council declares emergency due to shutdown   Trump approves disaster declaration for victims of Western Alaska storm   Arizona tribe polls members on possible name change   Ho-Chunk Inc targets labor, housing shortages with training program  

  Hundreds of evacuated residents in Alaska remain displaced   AFN 2025: Prioritize Alaska Native voices in decisions about wildlife  

  Tribal-led cultural burn winds down fire season in Oregon   Gottlieb, Estus, Blackjack Johnson enter Alaska Women's Hall of Fame   Chickasaw Nation among tribes marking DV Awareness Month  

  Tribal members open No Kings Seattle rally as millions protest   AFN delegates call for emergency declaration and federal assistance   Nygren faces new round of pushback after firing controller   Louisiana Purchase ratified by US Senate on this day in 1803  

  Searchers in Alaska unable to locate floating house and occupants   Wind River summit hosts workshop for 'original energy bars'  

  Bethel Search & Rescue building busy with volunteers, supplies   Alcatraz Island hosts annual Indigenous Peoples Day sunrise gathering   On this day in 1891: Northern Paiute author Sarah Winnemucca mourned  

  EYC hosts fundraiser, healing station for Typhoon Halong victims   Alaska's community groups, businesses team up for Halong relief efforts  

1 death, 2 missing, dozens rescued after record Alaska storm

  Santa Domingo Pueblo to host summit on opioid crisis   Wiring the Rez: weighing the tradeoffs of AI data center power demands   Indigenous Peoples Day defiantly celebrated despite GOP pushback  

  Tribal leaders express concern about ongoing federal shutdown   New Washington law clarifies tribal role on county health boards  

  Kirkland confirmed by Congress as Interior Assistant Secretary   Alaska Native villages reimagine the future of traditional ice cellars   October 8 declared Cherokee Nation Flag Day by council order  

  Arizona tribal communities weigh impact of government shutdown   Michigan pitch competition seeks Indigenous enterpreneurs   'The Chickasaw Nation is strong': Anoatubby delivers annual address  

  SCOTUS declines to consider appeal by Oak Flat protectors   CTSI opens new off-reservation housing development in central Oregon   Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes start return of 16 Carlisle students