Anchorage, Alaska, October 27th / PRNewswire / -- Behavioral Health Company Somethings announced that it has been selected as a sub-grantee for the Alaska Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), which is managed by the Alaska Department of Health. Through this project, Somethings will provide free peer support services to teenagers aged 13 to 26 who reside in rural and remote areas, as well as in Alaska's indigenous communities.
The Somethings model is designed to address the realities of rural and remote areas in Alaska. In these regions, long distances and limited internet connectivity make it difficult to access traditional face-to-face or video-based care. The platform provides support through low-bandwidth, text-based chat, and is equipped with certified peer counselors who offer assistance directly on teenagers' mobile phones, eliminating the need to visit clinics or medical institutions.
Companion support is not new in Alaska – for many years, this evidence-based model of care has been recognized here,” said Patrick Gilligan, founder and CEO of Somethings. “What we bring is the ability to expand this model under clinical supervision, in a form that young people are truly willing to participate in, and it is rooted in the needs of each local community. In Alaska, no young person should have to leave home in order to get help, and now they don’t have to.”
The mentors of Somethings are young adults who are similar in age to the service recipients. They themselves grew up in rural areas of Alaska, and after receiving training and certification, they provide support to their peers. Each mentor works under the supervision of a licensed clinical physician.
The project aims to provide support earlier, enhance the resilience of Alaska’s youth, protective factors, and community connections, while reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as decreasing the number of avoidable emergency visits and crisis hospitalizations. The company states that these are systemic improvements, which are particularly important in areas where the nearest psychiatric hospital beds may be hundreds of miles away and require charter flights to reach. There is no waitlist for this service, and it can operate with limited or intermittent internet connectivity. When young people need additional support, Somethings coordinates with local Alaska organizations to connect them with nearby resources.
The project is funded by the Alaska Rural Health Transformation Plan and is centered around three core pillars. The first is to expand access to healthcare: within the first six months, the project aims to reach 3,000 adolescents across the state. The second is labor force development, which involves training and certifying a new group of peer mentors, many of whom will eventually become therapists or play other roles in Alaska's mental health ecosystem. The third is community participation and sustainability: the goal is to keep adolescents within their own communities to receive support, rather than sending them elsewhere for treatment, with an estimated cost savings of $3 for every $1 invested.
Somethings is currently urgently recruiting peer mentors. For more information, please visit link.somethings.com / alaska. The application and project will be officially launched in the winter of 2026, after the first batch of mentors complete their training.
Offline community events
As part of the launch efforts, the community engagement team for Somethings is traveling to various locations in Alaska this fall to meet with teenagers, families, healthcare providers, schools, tribal health organizations, and advocates from the communities that the project will serve, including Anchorage, Fairbanks, Healy, and Chicken. These activities will help to shape how the services will be introduced, how mentors will be recruited from within the communities, and how referral pathways will be established.
Those interested in this project, or families and organizations in Alaska who are willing to host the team, can learn more through link.somethings.com / alaska.
About the Rural Health Transformation Plan
The Rural Health Transformation Program is a five-year, $50 billion federal initiative managed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Its purpose is to strengthen and modernize the rural healthcare system. Alaska is one of the regions that receives the most funding, with $272.2 million allocated in the first year. The Alaska Department of Health will disburse this money to projects that advance the state's rural health initiatives.
About Somethings
Somethings was established in 2021 and is a digital mental health platform that provides peer support for teenagers and young adults aged 13 to 26. The company helps young people cope with life challenges and build resilience by combining trained peer mentors, technology-supported care, as well as collaboration with managed medical institutions, state health agencies, and community health organizations. For more information, see somethings.com.
Media contact:
SomethingsDrew Englander, Chief of Staff[ email protected ]203-858-4346This virtual, low-bandwidth certified peer support service for adolescents and young people in rural areas of Alaska is funded by a sub-grant from CMS, which is under the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States ( HHS ). The amount of funding is 2,617,260 US dollars, which is part of a total of 272,174,855.72 US dollars allocated to the Alaska Department of Health. This total amount is 100% funded by CMS / HHS. The content of this article represents only the views of the author and does not necessarily represent the official stance of CMS / HHS or the U.S. Government, nor does it constitute their endorsement.
