Marrulut Enitt is Alaska's first remote
state-licensed facility
Dillingham, Alaska-- The Marrulut Eniit
(Grandma’s House) assisted living facility
is the first state-licensed assisted living
facility in remote Alaska. The facility
consists of 10 accessibly equipped housing
units and an apartment for a full-time
manager.
The Bristol Bay Housing Authority, through
collaboration with the Alaska Housing
Finance Corporation, Bristol Bay Health
Corporation, HUD, and the Cordes Development
of Sunset Beach, California, developed the
Marrulut Eniit Assisted Living Facility.
Each unit is equipped with a living area,
bedroom and small kitchen. Common areas in
the facility include a dining and
multipurpose living area, kitchen facilities
for group dining, separate storage area for
each tenant, general storage area, a common
laundry, common whirlpool and a large fenced
courtyard overlooking Nushagak Bay.
“Grandma’s House is a very important
contribution in that it preserves the wisdom
of the elders,” says Dave McClure, executive
director of Grandma’s House “and it allows
for interactions between youths and elders.
It is a demonstration of what can happen
when agencies collaborate for a common
goal.”
Prior to the completion of the project,
elders from the region were forced to leave
their families and culture to live in
assisted care facilities in Anchorage,
Alaska. Many never returned to the Bristol
Bay region alive, and the transition to
Anchorage accelerated their demise.
In the Yupic Eskimo and Aleut cultures, elders are the most
important cultural resource. The completion
of the Grandma’s House facility enables the
elders to remain in the local area and
continue to interact with their families,
young people and the community as a whole,
while living in quality accommodations under
the supervision of licensed caretakers 24
hours per day. In the Yupik Eskimo and Aleut
cultures, the wisdom, knowledge and life
experiences of the elderly are appreciated
and acknowledged by the younger generation.
According to McClure, “Bringing back the
elders enables the community to preserve its
cultural heritage and also provides assisted
living to those in need.”
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