Supports alcohol tax

To the editor:

The Mat-Su Behavioral Health Service Providers are a group of nonprofit agencies that have provided behavioral health services to the Mat-Su Borough for the last eight years and have witnessed firsthand how alcohol abuse destroys families and individual lives.

The providers group was formed in 2005 with the goal of integrating mental health and substance abuse services for the residents of the Valley. Over the years, our services have expanded, and we now offer a wide array of social services to our community. Yet, as our service array has grown, what we’ve found is that alcohol abuse continues to fuel many of the issues our services are meant to address.

The goal of every social service agency is to not only provide for the immediate needs of our clients, but also to work for prevention. Proposition B-1 offers every voting Mat-Su Borough resident the opportunity to work for prevention. A vote to increase the alcohol tax in our borough is a vote to reduce alcoholism within our community, especially for the under-aged resident.

Behavioral health providers are working hard to help families in the Mat-Su to be healthy. Please help us do this by voting yes on Proposition B-1.

Kevin Munson, chair

Mat-Su Health Services Behavioral Health

Integration Team