Alaska Youth in Rural and Frontier Communities to Gain Free Peer-Based Mental Health Support through Somethings

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Somethings, a behavioral health company that connects young people with Certified Peer Specialists through chat-based support, has been selected as a sub-recipient under the State of Alaska's Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), administered through the Alaska Department of Health. Through this program, Somethings will provide free peer support to all Alaska youth ages 13 to 26 living in rural, frontier, and Alaska Native communities.

Somethings' model was designed for the realities of rural and frontier Alaska, where distance and limited connectivity make traditional, in-person or video-based care difficult to access. The platform delivers support through low-bandwidth, text-based chat, paired with Certified Peer Specialists, who work directly with youth on their phones, without requiring travel to a clinic or provider's office.

"Peer support isn't new to Alaska — it's been a recognized, evidence-based care model here for years," said Patrick Gilligan, founder and CEO of Somethings. "What we're bringing is the ability to scale it under clinical supervision, in a format young people actually engage with, rooted in the needs of each local community. No young person in Alaska should have to leave home to get help, and now they won't have to."

Somethings mentors are near-peer young adults who grew up in rural Alaska themselves, trained and certified to support their peers, with each working under the supervision of a licensed clinician.

By providing earlier access to support, the program is designed to strengthen coping skills, protective factors, and community connection among Alaska youth and to reduce depression and anxiety symptoms while lowering avoidable emergency department visits and crisis hospitalizations. These are system-level outcomes that matter especially where the nearest inpatient psychiatric bed may be hundreds of miles and a chartered flight away. There is no waitlist, and the service functions on limited or intermittent connectivity. When a young person needs additional support, Somethings coordinates with local Alaska organizations to connect them with resources close to home.

The program, funded through the Alaska Rural Health Transformation Program, is built around three core pillars. The first is expanding access to care: in its first six months, the program aims to serve 3,000 youth across the state. The second is workforce development, training and certifying a new workforce of peer mentors, many of whom go on to become therapists or take on other roles within Alaska's mental health ecosystem. The third is community engagement and sustainability: keeping youth supported in their own communities, rather than sent away for care, is estimated to return $3 in cost savings for every $1 invested in the program.

Somethings is immediately hiring for peer mentors. More can be found at link.somethings.com/alaska. The app and program will go live in winter 2026 upon the first group of mentors completing training.

In-Person Community Events

As part of the launch, the Somethings community engagement team is traveling across Alaska this Fall to meet the youth, families, providers, schools, Tribal health organizations and advocates in the communities the program will serve, including Anchorage, Fairbanks, Healy and Ketchikan. These events will help to shape how the service is introduced, how mentors are recruited from the community, and how referral pathways are built.

Alaska youth, families, and organizations interested in the program or in hosting the team can learn more at link.somethings.com/alaska

About the Rural Health Transformation Program 
The Rural Health Transformation Program is a five-year, $50 billion federal initiative administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to strengthen and modernize rural health care systems. Alaska was among the top recipients nationwide, receiving $272.2 million in its first year, and the Alaska Department of Health awards funds to projects advancing the state's rural health initiatives.

About Somethings 
Founded in 2021, Somethings is a digital mental health platform providing peer support to teens and young adults ages 13 to 26. By combining trained peer mentors, technology-enabled care, and partnerships with managed care organizations, state health agencies, and community health organizations, Somethings helps young people navigate life's challenges and build resilience. Learn more at somethings.com.

Media Contacts: 
Somethings
Drew Englander, Chief of Staff
[email protected]
203-858-4346

This Virtual Low-Bandwidth Certified Peer Support for Youth and Young Adults in Rural Alaska is supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through a subaward as part of a financial assistance award of $2,617,260, representing a portion of the total award of $272,174,855.72 made to the State of Alaska Department of Health with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CMS/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

SOURCE Somethings