Kodiak Man Wants Senior Advocates In Every Village

Jay Barrett/KMXT

A Kodiak man wants to have a senior advocate in every Alaskan village. But he wants to roll out his plan on Kodiak Island first.

Iver Malutin is the elder advocate at the Kodiak Area Native Association. His job is to be a conduit for senior concerns to the regional social service nonprofit, and it’s his mission to expand services to elders everywhere on the island.

At 77, Malutin easily qualifies for senior status himself, but don’t call him an elder.

— (Senior 1 16 sec “Today my sister is 97 … starting to quit playing basketball.”)

The name of his movement is “Honoring the Elders.” He says the most important aspect of taking care of elders is providing them with the healthy traditional foods they grew up on:

— (Senior 2 37 sec “There are so many elders … and having happy elders.”)

He said when his mother was in her 90s and in the hospital, all they fed her was Western food:

— (Senior 3 13 sec “Just to given an example … happy ending of life.”)

Malutin’s plan is to have an advocate in every village to be in regular contact with the elders there:

— (Senior 4 56 sec “With this program … if that elder wants to be called.”)

Malutin is on the Alaska Native Elders Health Advisory Board, and is scheduled to make a presentation to them today in Anchorage. He is also making a presentation at the Alaska Federation of Natives Youth and Elders Conference early next week, and hopes to speak on the main floor of the AFN convention late next week, also in Anchorage. He’ll then bring the proposal to the Alaska Commission on Aging, on which he sits.

But first, he wants to launch the plan in Kodiak’s six villages.

— (Senior 5 27 sec “First off we have to … really good program for the elders.”)

Funding will be the biggest obstacle to overcome, he says, but adds there are plenty of grants for senior services he hopes to tap.

I’m Jay Barrett.

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