Talkeetna nonprofit seeding community growth

Building strong and healthy communities is a team effort. One Talkeetna-area nonprofit organization is doing its part to keep the northern Susitna Valley thriving. The Jessica Stevens Community Foundation has been supporting area nonprofit organizations for 18 years. The organization, which is an affiliate of the Alaska Community Foundation, takes its name from a prominent Talkeetna resident who died in a 2007 car accident.

Stevens was instrumental in bringing organized health care to the region. Her efforts transformed a single-provider clinic with a shoestring budget into a federally qualified community health center with a staff of 40 professionals in a new state-of-the-art rural clinic.

Outside her work in health care, Stevens was active in the area’s arts community and was always an inspiration to others wanting to give back to their community. The Foundation was started as a way to support the community initiatives that she believed in, like compassionate health care, innovative education, and community enrichment through the arts and cultural expression.

Diane Ziegner, chair of the Foundation’s advisory board, said the decision to name the Foundation after Stevens honors her legacy.

“Jess was the first medical provider in our area, and she gave her heart and soul to keeping our community healthy and thriving,” Ziegner said. “She worked tirelessly for the betterment of everyone, and through her inspiration we strive to further her efforts.”

Community needs still outpace available grant funding, but the Foundation is making steady progress. Today, with a $2 million endowment, the JSCF is stronger than ever. A December grant for $592,000 from the Mat-Su Health Foundation has bolstered the organization’s ability to make a difference in the northern Susitna Valley.

Dedicated to being a “Bridge Fund,” the grant allows for more flexibility and shorter processing times to get money to local nonprofits to help bridge short term funding gaps and allow organizations time to focus on big picture sustainability.

“With The Bridge Fund we are able to assist nonprofits with unforeseen expenses due to equipment failure, loss of income stream, higher costs of necessary goods and services, and other emergency or unexpected events,” Ziegner said.

The nonprofit Mat-Su Health Foundation has been making investments like this in community health and wellness since its inception in 2007, when it became part owner of the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. Since then, the Health Foundation has returned more than $160 million of its share of hospital profits to the community in the form of scholarships, sponsorships and grants to other nonprofit organizations across the Valley.

With more than 20 nonprofits in the area providing food, transportation, child care, recreation opportunities, senior services, and much more, the new grant helps the JSCF make a difference.

“The value of the Health Foundation funding cannot be overestimated,” Ziegner said. “They offer support on so many levels, and they understand that providing that support improves the health of our communities.”

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https://jessicastevenscf.org