Author: Angela Cox

Wasilla, Alaska – The Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) recently published a research report investigating the behavioral health impacts of COVID-19 on frontline workers. In addition, a new grant program to support implementation of the recommendations presented in the report was launched today.

According to the study, titled “The Mat-Su COVID-19 Related Behavioral Health Needs Report,”several factors affected the behavioral health of frontline workers during the pandemic. These included all types of stress and the inability to utilize the usual self-care/protective practices that mitigate stress, including connecting with family and friends, gathering for celebrations, rituals of grieving and other cultural practices. Many frontline workers were stressed by not feeling financially secure. The workers were also concerned about many of the same issues that have been reported in national studies including fear of becoming infected with COVID-19, the stress related to shortages of personal protective equipment, stress related to taking on new roles at work, disagreement with others over the risks of disease and constantly changing pandemic guidelines.

“While all residents have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, this research demonstrated that frontline workers were even more severely impacted, especially non-white workers and those from lower income households,” said MSHF Vice President of Programs Karen Koenemann. “The foundation’s new grant program is making funding available to address key areas identified in the report.”

The foundation will be hosting virtual information sessions for potential grantees on Tuesday, July 13 at 9 a.m. and Thursday, July 22 at 3 p.m. Registration for the free sessions is available at https://tinyurl.com/4bt59wwf.

Among the report’s recommendations for which funding may be available are the following:

• Create a system that ensures frontline workers have access to behavioral health support by identifying and funding sources of behavioral health support for frontline organizations and workers.
• Provide organizations the resources needed to prevent and identify workers burnout, compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma.
• Provide discretionary grants to organizations to be used for self-care, healing and cultural activities.

More than 400 frontline workers provided information and told their stories for the report. An online survey was completed by 358 people and 32 managers and directors of organizations serving on the frontline during the pandemic participated in interviews. In addition, four group interviews took place at community meetings. The frontline workforce was defined as healthcare workers plus workers from the following sectors who delivered essential services during the pandemic: behavioral health, child welfare/domestic violence/sexual assault, early learning/childcare, emergency services, social supports, youth residence programs, and education. Local research firm Actionable Data Consulting was contracted to complete the research.

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About Mat-Su Health Foundation: Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) is the official business name of Valley Hospital Association, Inc., which shares ownership in Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. In this capacity, MSHF board members and representatives actively participate in the governance of Mat-Su’s community hospital to protect the community’s interest in this important healthcare institution. The MSHF mission is to improve the health and wellness of Alaskans living in the Mat-Su and the tools it uses include grantmaking, convening of local partners, and policy change. The foundation’s work has resulted in significant improvements in systems that support the health of Mat-Su residents in areas such as behavioral health, child welfare, crisis response, community connections, workforce development, transportation, housing, and senior services. More information is available at www.healthymatsu.org .

 

Wasilla, Alaska – The Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) and its community resource network Connect Mat-Su are once again open to the public. The physical location at 777 N. Crusey St. in Wasilla closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but services were still provided via telephone and online. Lower coronavirus case rates in Mat-Su coupled with the availability and effectiveness of vaccines allowed reopening as an important step in making it easier for Mat-Su residents to access the assistance and resources they need to live healthy lives.

The Mat-Su Health Foundation building is open Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Some tenants in the building have reopened as well, while others are offering services in alternative ways or requiring appointments. Consumers are advised to check with individual service providers to learn their status.

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About Mat-Su health Foundation: Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) is the official business name of Valley Hospital Association, Inc., which shares ownership in Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. In this capacity, MSHF board members and representatives actively participate in the governance of Mat-Su’s community hospital to protect the community’s interest in this important healthcare institution. The MSHF mission is to improve the health and wellness of Alaskans living in the Mat-Su and the tools it uses include grantmaking, convening of local partners, and policy change. The foundation’s work has resulted in significant improvements in systems that support the health of Mat-Su residents in areas such as behavioral health, child welfare, crisis response, community connections, workforce development, transportation, housing, and senior services. More information is available at www.healthymatsu.org.

 

Wasilla, Alaska – Connect Mat-Su has launched a new service to support residents who have questions about COVID-19 vaccination. Specially trained operators can provide answers to general questions about COVID-19, information about local vaccination appointments and walk-in clinics, and transportation support to help individuals get vaccinated. Connect Mat-Su Vaccine Call Line operators are available Monday through Friday from 12 p.p. to 5 p.m. at (907) 373-2628.

“The new Connect Mat-Su Vaccine Call Line was developed to help community members who have questions about COVID-19 vaccination get the answers they need,” said Mat-Su Health Foundation President and CEO Elizabeth Ripley. “Our hope is to support residents in making an informed choice about what is right for them and their families.”

People who call the Connect Mat-Su COVID Vaccine Call Line will receive the same tailored experience the service provides for all of its clients. In addition to the vaccine call line. Connect Mat-Su was developed by the Mat-Su Health Foundation and community partners to be a comprehensive and innovative health and social services information and referral resource center. It links residents with access to the information, referrals, and direct assistance they need to thrive physically, mentally, socially and emotionally.

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About Mat-Su health Foundation: Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) is the official business name of Valley Hospital Association, Inc., which shares ownership in Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. In this capacity, MSHF board members and representatives actively participate in the governance of Mat-Su’s community hospital to protect the community’s interest in this important healthcare institution. The MSHF mission is to improve the health and wellness of Alaskans living in the Mat-Su and the tools it uses include grantmaking, convening of local partners, and policy change. The foundation’s work has resulted in significant improvements in systems that support the health of Mat-Su residents in areas such as behavioral health, child welfare, crisis response, community connections, workforce development, transportation, housing, and senior services. More information is available at www.healthymatsu.org.

 

Wasilla, Alaska – The Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) has welcomed two new employees: Chelsea Hedrick as Connect Mat-Su community resource specialist and Jeff Winell as R.O.C.K. Mat-Su community engagement coordinator. MSHF has also promoted Jessie Burbank to Connect Mat-Su community resource specialist II.

As Connect Mat-Su community resource specialist, Hedrick is the first point of contact for Connect Mat-Su, a social services information and referral resource center operated by MSHF. She provides social service navigation and referrals, as well as works to develop and maintain an extensive database of resources available in the community. Before accepting her current position, Hedrick held a temporary role coordinating a COVID-19 call line for Connect Mat-Su. She previously worked as a project coordinator with Bozeman Green Build and the Madison River Foundation, as well as an Alaskan Conservation Corp member with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. She holds an Associate of Applied Sciences in fisheries technology and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Alaska.

In his role as R.O.C.K. Mat-Su community engagement coordinator, Winell is responsible for driving strategic work forward by supporting day-to-day communications and administration, community engagement and data functions. He facilitates and coordinates authentic community engagement, informing the collective goal of creating transformative change in the systems that affect children and families in the Mat-Su. Winell brings a great deal of experience in client-facing communications and community programs. Before joining MSHF, he worked as a contact center representative at Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union and program director with Take2 Ministries Alaska. Winell holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and ministry leadership from Cornerstone University in Michigan.

In her new role as community resource specialist II, Burbank will work closely with the Connect Mat-Su team to develop and maintain a database of health and social services resources within Mat-Su and will engage in outreach to develop and strengthen relationships with social service organizations, providers and programs. She will be responsible for refining, executing, and reporting on the information and referral follow-up process, assuring that consumers receive the services they need and identifying system gaps/areas for improvement. Before joining MSHF in 2020, Burbank worked at The Children’s Place where she assisted children and families impacted by child abuse. She graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and a minor in women’s studies.

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About Mat-Su health Foundation: Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) is the official business name of Valley Hospital Association, Inc., which shares ownership in Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. In this capacity, MSHF board members and representatives actively participate in the governance of Mat-Su’s community hospital to protect the community’s interest in this important healthcare institution. The MSHF mission is to improve the health and wellness of Alaskans living in the Mat-Su and the tools it uses include grantmaking, convening of local partners, and policy change. The foundation’s work has resulted in significant improvements in systems that support the health of Mat-Su residents in areas such as behavioral health, child welfare, crisis response, community connections, workforce development, transportation, housing, and senior services. More information is available at www.healthymatsu.org.

 

Wasilla, Alaska – The Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) is working to develop a vibrant, mixed-use Community Health Campus on land it owns surrounding Mat-Su Regional Medical Center and is seeking input from the public about the project. Mat-Su residents are encouraged to complete the Mat-Su Community Health Campus Project Survey now through March 31, 2021, at matsucommunityhealthcampus.org.

MSHF contracted with HDR, Inc. to create a master plan that will help provide a long-range vision for how the community health campus can best be designed to serve as a center for health and wellness. The plan will include a long-range vision for the campus that:

• Develops a vibrant center for health and wellness in the Mat-Su;
• Fosters growth of a community health-based campus;
• Considers long-range community health campus expansion, including mobility and parking needs, future health services, and complementary services; and
• Understands community needs and values.

Written project comments and requests to receive a hard-copy survey can be submitted to the project team via email to info@matsucommunityhealthcampus.org or by mail to MSHF Mat-Su Community Health Campus Master Plan, 777 N Crusey Street, Ste. A201, Wasilla, AK 99654

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About Mat-Su health Foundation: Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) is the official business name of Valley Hospital Association, Inc., which shares ownership in Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. In this capacity, MSHF board members and representatives actively participate in the governance of Mat-Su’s community hospital to protect the community’s interest in this important healthcare institution. The MSHF mission is to improve the health and wellness of Alaskans living in the Mat-Su and the tools it uses include grantmaking, convening of local partners, and policy change. The foundation’s work has resulted in significant improvements in systems that support the health of Mat-Su residents in areas such as behavioral health, child welfare, crisis response, community connections, workforce development, transportation, housing, and senior services. More information is available at www.healthymatsu.org.

 

We grieve.  We grieve again.  We have watched yet another video of police restraining a person of color.  This time it was in Wasilla. This time it was local police kneeling on an Alaska Native woman, then hogtying her and taking her to their police car.   It goes on for over eight minutes. Thank goodness she could breathe.

The event and the videos create recurring trauma for people of color.  Our Alaska Native friends and colleagues tell us that when they watched that video, they pictured their nieces, nephews, and siblings.  They worry in terror that their family members will be treated that way because violence toward Alaska Native peoples and people of color has been going on for hundreds of years in America.  With each generation, it looks different, but the violence persists.  They remember other physical, emotional, and cultural assaults experienced by friends and family at the hands of law enforcement, many other institutions, and by individual citizens.

The repeated humiliations, which we watch over and over and over on social media and the news, are exhausting to the soul.  They make it hard to breathe.  While the place, circumstances, and faces change, the agony is always present.

We also grieve for law enforcement.  Law enforcement officers are on the front lines of these crises, and they risk their lives every day.  Just two months ago, a Wasilla police officer was shot after a traffic stop. Any use of force is trauma to the officer as well. They are under enormous stress and are the ones we rely on to respond when all our other systems or interventions fail us.

None of these parties likes the attention they generate.  These situations and videos are painful for law enforcement, scary for bystanders, and heartbreaking for families.  We second guess every move of all the players and justify positions. But that does not move us forward.

These same Alaska Native colleagues ask and invite us to build bridges where these actions and assaults divide.  They ask us to build community and belonging for Alaska Native peoples and all people.  They ask us to help usher understanding, to see—really see—each other as human beings.

Members of the AK Funders Group have supported many types of efforts, programs, and priorities to move this understanding forward.  We are committed to ensuring a diversity of voices in our boardrooms and staff.  We share our learning journeys with each other and with our partners.

The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority (Trust) is actively working to develop improved mental health crisis response systems in Anchorage, Mat-Su, and Fairbanks.  The Trust is working with the State and numerous community partners to implement the Crisis Now model – which is working in many communities across the nation to prevent suicide, reduce wait times in Emergency Departments and correctional settings, and to provide the best supports to individuals in crisis.  In addition, the Mat-Su Health Foundation, in partnership with the Trust, and law enforcement has supported the formation of a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Coalition that has launched three Crisis Intervention Training Academies in Mat-Su. CIT Training was developed by law enforcement to give officers the tools and practices to effectively deescalate situations and reduce unnecessary individual and officer harm.

The Alaska Native Justice Center’s team provides essential advocacy support on behalf of Our People and direct services to survivors of crime, tribal representation in child welfare cases, assistance to those re-entering from incarceration, and essential guidance for those navigating the justice system.  ANJC also provides a voice in local and statewide conversations and decisions about how to address disproportionality in victimization, incarceration, and child welfare for Alaska Native people in the justice system.

Rasmuson Foundation convenes diverse leaders from across the state to listen and learn – and take action. This last year, we worked with partners on a video that makes clear we stand with the Black community of Alaska. We provided grant support to organizations that serve Alaska’s diverse communities. In the works: a multi-media storytelling project to further amplify diverse Alaska voices.

We certainly do not have all the answers. We do believe if we work together, we can prevent these kinds of situations.  We can find more dignified ways to help people suffering a crisis.  The AK Funders Group is committed to continuing and encouraging courageous conversations across our great state that will lead to understanding, appreciation, and celebration of the many peoples that call Alaska home. Please join us in forging these connections across color, creed, and community where you live, work, play and pray.

Elizabeth Ripley, President/CEO, Mat-Su Health Foundation

Mike Abbott, CEO, Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority

Gail Schubert, Board Chair, Alaska Native Justice Center

Michelle DeWitt, Executive Director, Bethel Community Services Foundation

Diane Kaplan, President/CEO, Rasmuson Foundation

John Rozzi, CEO, Valley Charities, Inc.

Tom Schulz, Superior Court Judge (RET)

Desiré Shepler, President/CEO, Alaska Family Services

Stephanie Allen, Executive Director, United Way of Mat-Su

Michael D. Miller, Executive Director, Homer Foundation

Wasilla, Alaska – The Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) has welcomed Evie Shields to its team in the role of assistant controller. Shields is responsible for all day-to-day accounting operations including functional responsibility over accounting, accounts payable, accounts receivable and payroll. With nearly 27 years in her field, she brings a wealth of knowledge to the foundation. Most recently she worked at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium where she spent more than 10 years as both the accounting manager and operations manager. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a specialization in accounting with a minor in mathematics from Wayland Baptist University in Anchorage.

Vandana Ingle was promoted to senior program officer. Ingle oversees the foundation’s Healthy Futures focus area, leading workforce development efforts to ensure that Mat-Su residents are served by a trained and qualified healthcare workforce. She also manages the foundation’s academic and vocational scholarship programs. Ingle was hired by the foundation in 2016 as a program associate and promoted to program officer in 2018. Prior to joining the MSHF team, she served as director of development and communication at Frontline Mission. Ingle earned a master’s degree in communications media for children from SNDT College, India, a bachelor’s degree in ministry from Nazarene Bible College in Colorado Springs, and a bachelor’s degree in commerce/banking and finance from the University of Poona, India.

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About Mat-Su health Foundation: Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) is the official business name of Valley Hospital Association, Inc., which shares ownership in Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. In this capacity, MSHF board members and representatives actively participate in the governance of Mat-Su’s community hospital to protect the community’s interest in this important healthcare institution. The MSHF mission is to improve the health and wellness of Alaskans living in the Mat-Su and the tools it uses include grantmaking, convening of local partners, and policy change. The foundation’s work has resulted in significant improvements in systems that support the health of Mat-Su residents in areas such as behavioral health, child welfare, crisis response, community connections, workforce development, transportation, housing, and senior services. More information is available at www.healthymatsu.org.