Press Release; Nome CRP Hosted by VOS TFJC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nome Organizations Come Together to Develop Community Response Plan for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons
NOME, ALASKA — Local organizations, agencies, service providers, and community partners in Nome have come together to begin developing a Community Response Plan focused on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP)—the first coordinated effort of its kind focused specifically on the Nome community.
The Community Response Plan is being developed through collaboration among organizations that each play an important role in the safety and well-being of people in Nome. The effort focuses on a simple but important goal: making sure our community knows how to work together when someone is missing, endangered, or has been the victim of violence.
Rather than relying on organizations to respond separately, the plan is intended to strengthen relationships, clarify roles, improve communication, identify available resources, and create stronger connections between families and the organizations that can help.
A Community-Led Effort
During the planning process, participating organizations are coming together to discuss what currently happens when someone goes missing, where gaps may exist, and how Nome can develop a more coordinated and culturally responsive approach.
The Community Response Plan will help identify:
Who should be contacted and when;
What resources are available locally;
How organizations can better communicate and coordinate;
How families can be supported and kept informed;
Where gaps or barriers currently exist; and
What Nome can do together to strengthen prevention, response, and awareness.
The process also recognizes that addressing MMIP requires more than a written plan. It requires relationships, trust, communication, and a shared commitment to looking out for one another.
The effort is being built around a message that reflects the spirit of the Community Response Plan:
‘Our community looks out for everyone. For everyone who calls Nome home.’
The message represents the idea that community safety is a shared responsibility and that every organization has something meaningful to contribute.
The Community Response Plan is intended to complement—not replace—the responsibilities of law enforcement, Tribal governments, health providers, victim service organizations, and other agencies. By understanding one another's roles before a crisis occurs, Nome can be better prepared to respond when a person or family needs help.
Moving Forward Together
Participating organizations will continue working together to develop the plan, establish points of contact, identify resources and responsibilities, and determine priorities for continued collaboration.
Once developed, the Community Response Plan is intended to remain a living document that can grow and improve as relationships strengthen, resources change, and the community identifies new needs.
Most importantly, the effort sends a message to Indigenous people and families throughout Nome:
You matter. Your family matters. And our community is committed to working together.
Our People. Our Community. Our Response.
Participating Organizations
Norton Sound Health Corporation, Village of Solomon, Nome Volunteer Fire Dept. Search & Rescue, Nome Post Alaska State Troopers, Nome Police Dept., City of Nome, Kawerak Inc., Anvil Mountain Correction Center, Nome Public Schools, Local Emergency Planning Committee, with support from the Regional United States Dept. of Justice Missing & Murdered Indigenous Person’s Coordinator.
Media Contact
Taskforce for Justice Committee
Village of Solomon
