New foundation looks for solutions to mental health issues
Karen Peterson
Board member Alyssa Schock, center, participates in the Headwaters Health Foundation of Western Montana meeting held Nov. 8 in Polson.
Karen Peterson
Brandon Burke participates in the Headwaters Health Foundation of Western Montana meeting held Nov. 8 in Polson.
Karen Peterson
Headwaters Health Foundation of Western Montana’s Chief Executive Officer Brenda Solorzano talks about the newly formed project to develop solutions to mental health issues.
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POLSON – Mental health and substance abuse conditions are big issues for people in Western Montana and a new foundation is working to find solutions.
Headwaters Health Foundation of Western Montana was in Polson on Wednesday, Nov. 8, to get input from community members about what those solutions might be. Presenters began with background about how the foundation got started.
The Missoula based foundation was created after the sale of the non-profit Community Medical Center to the Billings Clinic and Regional Care Hospital Partners. The proceeds were transferred into charitable assets to create the foundation, which is governed by a nine-member board. Alyssa Schock, of St. Ignatius, is one of the board members. The Montana Attorney General approved of the foundation’s creation.
Projected assets for the foundation are at $85 million dollars with estimated grants of $3 million coming in annually. The foundation plans to use the money to achieve their goal of mobilizing citizens to address critical community issues. They want to help engage citizens, the social sector, business organizations and the government.
Chief Executive Officer Brenda Solorzano believes the foundation belongs to the public. She said finding out what issues are important to people in Western Montana is the first step to finding solutions.
Solorzano said collected data and community input identified seven areas that need to be worked on in Western Montana. The foundation has $100,000 million for this project, which might seem like a lot, but the money has to be spread across the region, so issues must be prioritized.
Two percent of those surveyed chose the growing population of older people as the biggest problem; seven percent focused on helping adverse child experiences; 10 percent said American Indian health disparities were an issue; 13 percent said access to things like Medicaid needed addressing; 19 percent wanted to focus on the many issues facing children; 23 percent chose social deterrents to health like access to food and housing; and 26 percent saw behavioral health issues and mental health substance issues as the biggest problems in Western Montana.
With 26 percent focused on mental health, the foundation knew where to focus their efforts, so they defined the term behavioral health as the connection between health and state of mind and emotional well-being. Solorzano said the issue of mental health also includes substance abuse, awareness and prevention.
She added that the state’s high rate of suicide needs to be addressed somehow.
“We need to do something about suicide prevention,” she said.
The foundation is looking to community members in the region to discover solutions. Healthcare organizations, education professionals, mental health services employees, and those administrating children’s programs gathered at the KwaTaqNuk to provide input.
Several ideas were suggested to help address mental health and substance abuse conditions. These ideas included collaboration of all mental health services, a central place for kids to be taught success, and building an infrastructure and culture of health in communities. It was suggested that a program entitled “Wrapped in Hope” could use more collaborative services and funding. “Wrapped in Hope” helps young pregnant moms with addiction issues.
Project coordinators collected a stack of cards with solution ideas written on them. These ideas will be reviewed and added to the list of solutions the group is collecting. A website was set up for anyone who wants to add to the list at: www.surveymonkey.com/r/ hhmtsurvey.
The foundation plans to take the shared ideas and create a strategic plan for addressing mental health issues across Western Montana with the help of organizations, businesses and community members. A strategic plan is expected by January 2018.
Brandon Burke, who works with Sunburst Mental Health Services, a program with locations all across Lake County, said he is glad the foundation is working on mental health issues, and he looks forward to seeing what solutions they come up with.
Burke said that he would like to see schools get more resources to deal with issues concerning suicide.
“We need to give the kids and the community more training to empower them to handle things like suicide,” he said.
