Wasilla, Alaska – The Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) has announced 17 Healthy Impact and Coronavirus Prevention and Response (CPR) grant awards totaling more than $2 million.

CPR grants are unrestricted funding to support local nonprofits as they address unplanned expenses and/or lost revenue relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. The six recently awarded CPR grants totaled $232,251 and bring the total awarded under this program so far to more than $1.3 million. Recipients of the latest round of CPR grants included the following:

• The Children’s Place: $2,500 to support the Gala Havana Ball since this fundraiser had to be altered due to COVID-19.
• Pediatric Resource Center of Alaska: $30,446 to expand access to applied behavior analysis services in the Mat-Su Valley.
• Pop Warner Little Scholars Inc.: $50,000 for part-time staff to focus on COVID training and safety protocols for players and spectators, for scholarships to families who struggled during the pandemic to place their children in outdoor, socially connected activities, and to reimburse for materials purchased to mitigate COVID-19 transmission.
• Set Free Alaska, Inc.: $49,305 in COVID-related operating support and $50,000 for housing, food and support services for individuals needing to quarantine due to COVID-19.
• United Way of Mat-Su: $50,000 to support the Early Childhood Partnership which will purchase nutritious snack items in bulk to be distributed as pre-assembled snack sacks to local childcare providers.

Healthy Impact grants are for projects over $15,000 that will improve the health and wellness of people living in the Mat-Su Borough. The Mat-Su Health Foundation awarded 11 Healthy Impact grants totaling $1,844,661 to the following organizations:

• Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness: $85,831 to fund adding a Mat-Su Youth Support Specialist to their team and YAB support.
• Alaska Farmland Trust: $242,700 to support ongoing operations.
• Alaska State Fair, Inc.: $50,000 toward a livestock barn for youth agriculture activities in the new youth development area at the Rebarchek Agricultural Park
• Alzheimer’s Resource of Alaska.: $115,000 to support an evidence-based cognitive wellness program intended to increase mental sharpness and stabilize or slow decline for Mat-Su residents with memory loss or dementia concerns.
• CCS Early Learning: $494,550 to fund furniture, fixtures and equipment for a new Head Start facility in the Knik-Fairview Census Designated Place and for paving of its driveway and parking lot.
• The Foraker Group: $35,000 to support guiding nonprofits in the Mat-Su and Alaska toward a path of sustainability and $50,000 to support leadership transition.
• Mat-Su Baseball, Inc. Palmer: $85,000 to upgrade the bathrooms for improved community usage, accessibility and public health during the pandemic.
• Onward & Upward, Inc.: $193,335 to support ongoing operations and to fund technical assistance for a long-term business plan with sustainability projections.
• REACH 907: $245,000 to expand organizational services to become a Medicaid-billable children’s mental health clinic.
• Set Free Alaska, Inc.: $248,245 to support housing, food and behavioral health services for up to nine individuals at a time who are in need of quarantine services.

Information about all Mat-Su Health Foundation grant programs is available here.

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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 healthymatsu.org .