Big gains in health for Mat-Su residents

To the editor:

The Mat-Su Health Foundation Board of Directors and staff would like to formally thank Mat-Su Borough Mayor Larry DeVilbiss and the Mat-Su Borough Assembly for scoring big for the health of Mat-Su residents. They funded the Health and Human Services Matching Grant, Mat-Su Sexual Assault Response Team operations and a larger education budget and passed an additional tobacco tax. MSHF is supportive of all of these efforts.

Tobacco use is one of the biggest threats to personal and public health, and these kinds of taxes are a proven strategy to improving both. Because of the borough’s generosity and foresight, fewer youth in Mat-Su will start smoking. And current underage and adult smokers will smoke fewer cigarettes. This translates to big gains in health for Mat-Su residents.

The funds from the tax will go toward education, which is one of the top social determinants of health. They will also go to supporting the borough’s match and administration of the Human Services Matching Grant and operations of the Mat-Su SART Team. Our recent Community Health Needs Assessment said that alcohol and substance abuse was the greatest health problem in Mat-Su, followed by child and youth abuse and violence, access to mental health care, depression and suicide, and domestic violence and sexual assault.

The Human Services Matching Grant provides funding to organizations that address these very issues. With the funding for Mat-Su SART operations, we have a chance to change Mat-Su’s high violent crime rate, to improve the care provided to victims and to put these criminals behind bars and send a message that this behavior isn’t tolerated in Mat-Su. With this appropriation, the Mat-Su Borough Assembly chose respect for women in Mat-Su.

We appreciate working with borough elected officials to create a strong Mat-Su economy and the healthiest borough in the nation. We’re grateful for their support of these programs that address what Mat-Su residents have told us are critical to a healthy community. They knocked it out of the park with a grand slam for health. Many thanks and congratulations!

Elizabeth Ripley

Executive Director

Mat-Su Health Foundation