In Seward, Alaska, there is one road in, and one road out. For the past eight years, Dolly Wiles has served as the tribal administrator for the Qutekcak Native Tribe there, where she is a proud member of the community. She oversees a range of nonprofit social service programs that address vital needs, from public benefits and wills to disaster relief.  

When Alaska changed its laws to allow non-lawyers to provide basic legal help, it was a game-changer for her and her team. Now, they are also community justice workers: people who receive training and assist others with the complexities of accessing public benefits and creating basic legal documents. Her team’s success, including a 98.2% approval rate for food stamp applications and ensuring all 90 of their tribal elders have wills, speaks to the justice worker model’s efficacy.  

“I think the training really empowered me and made me feel really good about what we do here. Knowing what we’re supposed to do with these applications – it’s education. It has been so wonderful learning and heartwarming experience because you see the difference immediately.” 

Even if people in Seward could find and afford a lawyer, handling tribal cases requires a level of local knowledge that most lawyers do not have in comparison to Dolly and her team. Trust plays a crucial role in Dolly’s work, as it takes time for newcomers to gain acceptance within her tribe. She understands the pride her elders feel in safeguarding their privacy and the reluctance that comes with applying for benefits. Most lawyers don’t. 

Dolly attests to the community justice worker model because she witnesses the impact on her clients firsthand. Her office’s success metrics are more than just statistics to her; they are real people, neighbors, members of her own community who otherwise might’ve fallen through the cracks of the legal system. 

“The real-life consequence if they don’t get the help they need is that they go hungry. Maybe they don’t buy a medication that they need because they want to eat. Not knowing where to turn or where to go for help is a deterring factor.” 

She knows the feeling all too well. As a young, single mom juggling two jobs while raising her young children, Dolly longed for the resources that she now provides. When working with clients, she often reflects on how much she would have benefited from having someone to assist and support her and her family as she navigated hardships. This deep understanding drives her to help clients in the best way that she can every day. 

The impact extends beyond just the clients, however—it helps the entire staff. The community justice worker training they receive empowers them with valuable tools that they can carry with them wherever they go. With a committed team of four, everyone receives community justice worker training—even the receptionist. For them, it just means more people that they are able to help. Their community justice worker training instilled the confidence they needed to support their community in meaningful ways. 

“It makes a huge difference because now you have communities and tribal members that have community justice worker training, and I have employees that have the training. The community really depends on us to help in so many different situations.”