Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association - Apicda

08/17/2026

Here’s a fun fact for your Monday: APICDA paid regional photographers more than $13,000 for their work in 2025! As you start wrapping up your summer activities, take a look through your camera roll and consider sending us your favorite shots. Your photo could be featured in the 2027 APICDA Calendar!

Deadline: September 30
[email protected]
https://www.apicda.com/photo-contest/
📸: 2026 Monthly calendar thumbnails.

08/14/2026

Back-to-school season is here, and Nikolski is marking two years since its school reopened! Reopening the school meant the community needed a new gathering place, since classes resumed in the former community center building. The Native Village of Nikolski made building a new community center a high priority, recognizing the importance of having a gathering place for the close-knit village.

Check out this short video about the project and the community effort that made it happen. Special thanks to APICDA scholarship recipient and Media Department Trainee Eldred Paradeza of Unalaska, who has been helping us share stories about our communities & programs through his video work.

Credits: KUCB, Lily Stamm, David Dushkin, Lorraine DeLeon & Tanya Lestenkof

08/13/2026

A little glimpse from this week’s Indigenous Language Institute workshop in Anchorage. Five Atka residents are participating in Teaching in the Language: Foundations of Total Immersion Plus (TIP) with support from APICDA’s Justine Gundersen Leadership Development Grant. The three-day workshop focuses on hands-on immersion strategies that support Indigenous language learning and everyday language use.

In 2025, APICDA provided more than $25,000 through the leadership grant to help nine CDQ community members attend conferences, summits, and other learning opportunities like this week’s language workshop. This program complements APICDA’s education and workforce development scholarships by supporting valuable learning opportunities outside of traditional accredited programs. If there’s a workshop, conference, or other learning opportunity you’re interested in attending, this grant may be able to help with the cost.

Learn more about APICDA's Leadership Grant here: https://www.apicda.com/programs/leadership-development/

Indigenous Language Institute: https://www.ilinative.org/

📸: Photo provided by Crystal Dushkin

08/12/2026

Check out the photo APICDA CLO Melanie Hoblet sent us this week of the new Harbor House in False Pass, just as the fishing season is beginning to wrap up! In its first season, the Harbor House was a great new resource for the fleet, providing showers and laundry, space for boat repairs, improved communications and safety capabilities, and an office for harbor operations.

Congratulations to the City of False Pass on making the Harbor House a reality after years of planning and hard work! APICDA was proud to support the project alongside the City, Aleutians East Borough, the State of Alaska, and the Denali Commission. It’s wonderful to see it open and serving the fleet and community!

08/08/2026

Thanks to KUCB and Kanesia McGlashan-Price for covering this great story about R & C Ice Cream and Bakery and the important role this family-run business plays in King Cove. Congratulations to Carter and Rita on five years in business!

It’s wonderful to see a multi-year Aleutian Marketplace Micro Grant (AMMG) awardee featured! Since launching in 2022, the micro grant program has invested more than $153,000 in locally owned businesses like R & C’s across the region.

The Aleutian Marketplace is a partnership between APICDA, The Aleut Corporation, and the Wells Fargo Foundation.

For the past five years, R and C Ice Cream and Bakery has been more than just a place to grab a sweet treat. Since King Cove’s only seafood processor closed in 2024, the family-run shop has become a staple gathering place in the community.

08/07/2026

It’s a big week in the Lagoon with the Niilsanam Alguudaa Culture Camp happening! For the last few years, the Nelson Lagoon Tribe has chosen to use a portion of its APICDA Community Development Grant Program (CDGP) funding to support this event, a community priority that brings people together to learn and share traditions. It also creates an opportunity for Tribal members who have moved away to spend time back in Nelson Lagoon.

Here’s a fun fact: four people who visited Nelson Lagoon during camp have since moved to the community! Community leaders are excited to see the village growing, a long-held goal for the Lagoon.

It’s great to see another camp underway and all the visiting instructors and local organizers working so hard to make it happen!

📸: 2025 Niilsanam Alguudaa Culture Camp participants.

08/04/2026

It’s great to see these early photos from the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska’s Camp Qungaayux! It has been a pleasure to support Camp Qungaayux over the years. Guided by the CDQ Program’s commitment to providing social and economic benefits to our communities, APICDA supports culture camps across the region in a variety of ways, from instructor stipends and participant lodging to grant funding and transportation support. A big shout-out to the organizers and instructors who put so much work into making culture camps happen across the region each year!

07/31/2026

APICDA welcomed Sadie Newton of King Cove to the team this month as our new Administrative Assistant. She jumped right in by helping purchase, pack, and ship backpacks and school supplies for our back-to-school effort. We are delighted to have Sadie on board!

07/30/2026

There are just two months left to enter the APICDA Photo Contest! Submit your high-resolution photos to [email protected] by Sept. 30th for a chance to have your work featured in the 2027 APICDA Calendar. In 2025, APICDA paid more than $13,000 to local photographers for images used across its publications.

📸: Little foxes hiding in the beach grass during the 2025 Niilsanam Alguudaa Culture Camp, Nelson Lagoon, submitted by Candace Nielsen. The Nelson Lagoon Tribe used a portion of their APICDA Community Development Grant Program (CDGP) award to help support the camp. This community priority event brings people together and welcomes home Tribal members who have moved away. Nelson Lagoon's 2026 camp starts this Monday, August 3rd.

https://www.apicda.com/photo-contest/

07/29/2026

Check out this post from the Ounalashka Corporation highlighting Jayvee Villafuerte, one of the interns participating in APICDA-supported work-based training opportunities this summer. Across our member communities, APICDA is supporting 18 interns, one mentor/mentee pair, and two trainees through partnerships that provide hands-on experience, practical skills, and opportunities to explore future careers. Thank you to OC and all of our work-based training partners for helping create these opportunities across the region!

We have enjoyed welcoming Jayvee to our Lands and Leasing team. Always ready to jump in and help, he has provided integral administrative support this summer!