WCA Tribal Administrator Esther Aaltséen Reese (second from left), along with Sandy Churchill, Lu Knapp and Mike Aak'wtaatseen Hoyt sing after giving a blessing to the Capitol Christmas Tree in ceremonies at the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 3. Reese said it was one of the most memorable events during her seven years leading WCA.
After 13 years with the Wrangell Cooperative Association, the past seven as tribal administrator, Esther Aaltséen Reese will leave in June to start her new job as chief operating officer for the Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority.
"Housing is the No. 1 need" across Southeast Alaska, Reese said in an interview on May 8.
The nonprofit tribal agency's mission "is to connect Southeast Alaskans with sustainable housing opportunities and innovative financial solutions," particularly aimed at meeting the need for affordable housing, according to its website.
Established in 1973, the housing authority offers a variety of services, such as temporary emergency housing, down-payment assistance, home repair and home construction assistance, and the federally funded Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
It administers a program which provides financing to construct, purchase or renovate owner-occupied single-family residences and duplexes.
The authority also operates Fireweed Place, a 67-unit apartment building in Juneau for senior citizens who can live independently.
Based in Juneau, it serves communities across Southeast.
Reese said she expects to move to Juneau in mid-June.
The WCA tribal council will start work quickly on finding a new administrator, Ed Rilatos, council president, said May 9. But there is some work to do first, he said.
"We don't really have a good job description," Rilatos said, noting that the current one is more than a decade old.
Updating the job description, advertising, interviewing and selecting a new administrator will take time. "It's going to be cutting it really close" to Reese's departure later next month, he said.
As she looks back on her years with WCA, Reese said she is particularly proud of the first totem-carving project in Wrangell in the past 38 years. That effort has included bringing back a master-carver apprenticeship program and inviting youngers into the effort.
The woodworkers have been busy this winter and spring, carving four new totem poles to raise on Shakes Island in July.
"When the poles go up will be one the biggest moments of pride," Reese said. Carvers also are making a grave marker that will be installed near the post office, which was the site of the U.S. Army fort in the 19th century.
She also is proud of the WCA's work to obtain federal approval for establishing a crisis counseling program, "based on our culture and traditional healing."
WCA announced last December that it will run the country's first tribal-managed crisis counseling program approved and funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, along with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The tribe also succeeded in convincing FEMA to cover the economic loss of traditional foods - not just the freezers that held the foods - after a November 2023 landslide near 11-Mile Zimovia Highway knocked out the power for days, ruining households' stores of seafood and berries.
Reese listed a couple more memorable achievements for WCA of the past year.
The U.S. Army apologized for the 1869 bombardment of the Tlingit village called Ḵaachx̱aana.áakʼw at a ceremony on Jan. 11. WCA worked diligently with Army officials and Alaska's congressional delegation for five years, resulting in a general traveling to Wrangell to personally issue the apology.
And, a month earlier, Reese and several other WCA leaders were in Washington, D.C., performing songs and giving a blessing as a spruce tree from Zarembo Island was lit up as the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, adorned with thousands of ornaments hand made by Alaskans.
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