Health foundation donates $1.2 million

MAT-SU — Substance abuse treatment, ice skating and a community clinic were deemed essential to the Valley’s health and wellness judging by the amount of money each received from the Mat-Su Health Foundation.

The foundation awarded more than $1.2 million to 16 local non-profit organizations as part of the Fall 2009 Healthy Impact grants. The big winners in this cycle include Nugen’s Ranch, Big Lake Lions Club and the Sunshine Community Health Center in Willow.

Nugen’s Ranch, a facility that provides substance abuse support, received a $300,000 installment of a pledged $1 million to put toward a new long-term residential treatment facility. The planned 16,000-square-foot facility at Point MacKenzie would house 32 clients dealing with chronic substance abuse.

“The foundation is the first actual funders to step forward, except for Congressman (Don) Young,” ranch director Karen Nugen-Logan said. “The money helps me approach other funders. It should complete the plans, and I hope to break ground here very soon.”

The new residential facility has an estimated price of $6 million. In addition to the $300,000 this year, the health foundation has pledged another $700,000 for the treatment facility over the next three years.

The foundation awarded another multi-year grant to the Sunshine Community Health Center to construct a permanent primary care clinic in Willow. The clinic’s executive director, Sharon Montagnino, said the current clinic in Willow is just 1,400 square feet of modular buildings.

“It only has three exam rooms, and we can only use two because one room is not sound-proof,” Montagnino said.

The plans are for a 7,000 square foot medical center with more comprehensive services and able to handle the area’s increasing population. Montagnino said the estimated price of the new facility is about $2.6 million. The health foundation pledged $500,000 to the project with half of the money coming this year.

Additionally, Big Lake Lions Club received $300,000 for an indoor ice rink. Lion’s Club project manager Bill Haller said the rink will have 26,000 square feet of unheated space on the club’s land behind the Arctic Cat dealer. The grant money brings the club’s total to $575,000 raised for the project, with a total budget of $850,000, Haller said.

While these three groups received more than half of this year’s grant money, the sums going to the other 13 groups are nothing to sneeze at. The grants are as follows:

• $55,000 to Bishop's Attic II for Reaching Out to Help Out.

• $50,000 to Valley Community Recycling Solutions for Facility and Educational Program Bridge Funds.

• $45,033 to Mat-Su Ski Club for ski trail development, grooming and education.

• $39,400 to Big Brothers Big Sisters for Mat-Su Youth Mentoring.

• $33,157 to Palmer Hockey Booster Club for Michael Janecek Trail Project.

• $25,000 to Alaska Correctional Ministries, Inc. for New Horizons Transition House for Men.

• $25,000 to Willow Health Organization for Willow pedestrian trail master plan.

• $25,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs for AK 4 Life Program.

• $24,000 to Great Land Trust for building capacity for collaborative conservation.

• $20,613 to Mat-Su Services for Children and Adults for Mat-Su Child Passenger Safety Program.

• $14,000 to Alzheimer's Disease Resource Agency for implementation of technology plan.

• $12,797 to Willow Elementary PTA for fitness and nutrition education and equipment.

• $10,000 to UAF Matanuska Experimental Farm for a sports field complex and research facility.

Contact Todd Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.