Foundations of stewardship

WASILLA — Tractors, ditches, fencing and men with hard hats were all indicators that, in a physical sense, ground had most certainly already been broken at the site of the Mat-Su Health Foundation’s new building.

Metaphors ruled the speeches given on the cloudy Tuesday morning, and the one that resonated the most was that of stewardship, mentioned first by Mat-Su Health Foundation CEO Elizabeth Ripley in commendation for the work of the foundation’s board, and echoed by other speakers, including Rev. Henry Woodall, a pastor of 15 years at Wasilla’s First Presbyterian Church.

“God owns everything and we are stewards of everything,” Woodall said. “It is our responsibility and privilege to take care of what God has given. The Mat-Su Health Foundation is a good example of what it means to be good stewards.”

The non-profit foundation, which can trace its roots in the Valley all the way back to the 1930s, and to 1948 as the Valley Hospital Association, partnered with Triad Hospitals in 2003 to help build the booming Mat-Su Regional Medical Center in Palmer, and has carried out its mission of providing citizens of the Mat-Su best opportunities for a healthy lifestyle without a home necessarily to call its own.

“The big thing was that our staff has been growing since the original deal in 2003. We got space in this building,” Mat-Su Health Foundation Director of Public Affairs Robin Minard said, pointing to the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center outpatient clinic next door. “We own 35 percent of it, but we kept asking for more and more space, but that’s valuable medical office space. Finally they just said, ‘why don’t you take this land and own the building.’”

Minard said once that opportunity came into play, the opportunity to do something bigger than just take care of their own immediate needs seemed logical.

When the Foundation’s building is complete in the spring of 2018, it will ecompass 46,000 square feet on 3.71 acres. The cost is $9 million, and of the space, the Mat-Su Health Foundation will take up about 25 percent of it.

Another 50 percent will be rented out to other non-profits, or even for-profit agencies that will coincide with the Foundation’s mission of providing health and wellness services.

“When we conducted our 2016 needs assessment, we asked people what they wanted and people said they yearned for greater social connections,” Ripley said. “This will help build connections between people.”

Mat-Su Borough Mayor Vern Halter said he planned to keep his shovel from the ceremonial groundbreaking in his office.

“I think the growth of the medical community in the Mat-Su Borough is the most significant thing we could have hoped for,” Halter said. “This is a spectacular day, and what a wonderful location right in downtown Wasilla.”