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Consultant presents 100% Communities assessment and 907 Navigation app to Kenai council
Summary
A consultant described a community assessment model called 100% Communities and demonstrated the statewide 907 Navigation app, developed to centralize service resources and make them easier to find, after a local access assessment showed low perceived accessibility across ten vital services.
Abby Strouffert, a South Central consultant who works in prevention and community access projects, presented the 100% Communities model and a demonstration of the 907 Navigation app during a scheduled public‑comment presentation at the Kenai City Council meeting on March 19.
Strouffert explained the 100% Communities framework — a community organizing model that assesses accessibility across 10 ‘‘vital services’’ (medical, dental, behavioral health, housing security, food security, transportation, parenting supports, early childhood education, community schools/youth mentoring, and job training). She said the local access assessment, launched in 2023, showed resident‑reported accessibility at 50% or lower across all ten categories.
The assessment, Strouffert said, led to action teams for eight of the ten service areas and to a statewide partnership with the Alaska Impact Alliance, which supported dashboard and data analysis work. With funding from the Mental Health Trust, the alliance and partners helped adapt a 37‑page community resource PDF into a mobile app, 907 Navigation, that is available on iPhone and Android and has about 1,500 downloads statewide, Strouffert said.
Why it matters: Strouffert said the app is intended to reduce fragmentation and duplication among local resource lists and make it easier for residents and service providers — including first responders and employers — to find up‑to‑date information quickly. Councilors asked about outreach and distribution; Strouffert said flyers, social media graphics and YouTube material already exist and that the app debuted at Project Homeless Connect.
Council questions and staff notes Council members asked how the city could help promote the app and whether first responders and dispatch could use it as a referral tool. Strouffert said the rollout is in its early stages and welcomed partnership through employer relationships, website links and presentations to the school board. Chief Ross and other council members confirmed they had previewed the app during Project Homeless Connect and that agencies serving unhoused residents were among the initial users.
Next steps Strouffert said the app’s YouTube walk‑through and promotional materials can be shared with council; a request was made that staff circulate the links to council members. No formal action or funding requests were made to the city at the meeting.
Provenance: presentation and discussion begin at the council packet’s scheduled public‑comment item (transcript block starting at 1409.705) and continue through the app demo and council Q&A (ending at transcript block ~2089.225).
