MSHF awards nearly $700K

WASILLA — More beds for homeless families, construction of a playground and community library, and funding for an assessment of senior needs are among the projects receiving funding through nearly $700,000 in Mat-Su Health Foundation grants.

Including the $685,705 in awards announced this past week, Healthy Impact Grants, the foundation has given nearly $25 million for local causes and projects that contribute to healthier communities, MSHF Executive Director Elizabeth Ripley said.

“These are the community assets, so we try to be very good stewards of these community assets,” she said. “We have some very good things going on in this community that are worth supporting.”

Receiving the largest amount this go-around is Family Promise Mat-Su, which was awarded $195,500 to purchase its Nelson Avenue facility in Wasilla. The nonprofit organization work with area churches to help find housing for homeless families. Allowing Family Promise to purchase the building it currently leases freezes up thousands of dollars a year that can be put more toward serving clients, Ripley said.

“Part of becoming a sustainable organization is paying your rent, paying your staff,” she said. “They are doing all those steps, and they’ve moved around a bit. This allows them to branch off and be able to house families there as well as at churches. It gives them breathing room and gives them room to house more homeless families.”

Owning their building is a huge step for Family Promise Mat-Su, said executive director Laurie Kari.

“As the owner of the facility, we have a little leeway (in how it’s used),” she said.

They can put another 10 beds at the Nelson Avenue location to augment the beds being provided by local church congregations, she said. At any time, Family Promise can be providing shelter from three to five families. The additional beds will increase that to being able to house five to seven families at a time.

“These 10 beds well always have to be maintained as shelter beds,” Kari said. “These are saved shelter beds for the community that won’t go away. The actual purchase and ownership of this facility means we will have tens of thousands of more dollars available for our services that we won’t have to be paying in rent.”

She estimates that savings at about $30,000 a year.

“That makes it so that all our operations and services for guests can increase,” Kari said.

For the health foundation, getting families out of homeless situations is critical for their health, Ripley said.

“The reason they say ‘housing first,’ is because you can’t help a family with their other issues if they don’t have shelter,” she said. “There’s no place in the state that’s doing this, so it’s really exciting what they’re doing.”

Also receiving a large grant is Wasilla Area Seniors Inc., which will use $120,000 to help fund its Continuing Care Community project, which includes an industry needs assessment, feasibility study, strategic planning and business planning for the organization.

“That’s a very interesting project that’s come out of a lot of dialogue in how we’re going to take this issue (of senior health),” Ripley said. “The senior providers have been working really hard on preparing. We have the highest rate of senior citizen growth in the country. How are we going to provide for the senior growth?”

The Mat-Su Borough also received a $135,000 grant to help fund construction of a new 7,840-square-foot library and community center in Talkeetna.

“We value this as part of a healthy community,” Ripley said of the project. “We know a lot of kids hang out at the library after school. So it’s a safe, healthy place. It’s a huge resource center in terms of accessing information for community members.”

Healthy Impact Grants help fund projects of more than $15,000 that “improve the health and wellness of people living in the Mat-Su Borough,” the foundation says in a statement announcing the grants.

Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2269 or greg.johnson@frontiersman.com

Eight local agencies will receive $685,705 in the latest round of Mat-Su Health Foundation Healthy Impact Grant awards. They are:

• Alpine Historical Society — $72,930 to help build a community playground at Alpine Historical Park in Sutton.

• Family Promise Mat-Su — $195,500 to purchase its Nelson Avenue facility.

• Mat-Su Borough — $135,000 to help fund construction of a new Talkeena Library/Community Resource Center.

• Palmer Amateur Hockey Association — $24,000 to purchase cross-ice safety boards and to build an outdoor hockey rink.

• Wasilla Area Seniors Inc. — $120,000 for its Continuing Care Community project.

• Wasilla Youth Baseball — $35,000 to build a multi-function pavilion to extend practice time at the beginning of the season when fields aren’t available for use.

• United Way Anchorage — $68,875 to establish a navigator in the Mat-Su to guide consumers, small businesses and their employees as they look for health coverage options through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace.

• Upper Susitna Seniors Inc. — $34,000 to buy a multi-use tractor and trailer.

Source: Mat-Su Health Foundation