NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 31, 2023
CONTACT: Tracy Onchwari, Public Health Planner
218-725-5204 (office)
St. Louis County hosts first Public Health Innovation Project Showcase
St. Louis County Public Health is hosting its first ever Innovation Project Showcases to highlight the success of five projects that have been implemented by area agencies thanks to funding from the county. Each project addressed a health priority, including mental wellness and mental health support, youth substance use, and food insecurity.
The showcases are open to the public and free to attend, though advance registration is requested to ensure adequate space. The first showcase will be Thursday, February 2, 10-11 a.m., at the St. Louis County Government Services Center - Virginia, in the Liz Prebich room. This event will feature the work of:
- Range Mental Health, which partnered with the Virginia Fire Department to create a mobile response unit in northern St. Louis County. This improved response in the community to mental health, youth substance abuse, and food insecurity concerns.
- Mesabi Range College and Recovery Alliance Duluth for training Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselors and County Social workers throughout the county to provide support to youth with substance use disorders in St. Louis County.
A second showcase will be held Thursday, February 9, 10-11 a.m., at the St. Louis County Government Services Center - Duluth, in the Lake Superior Room. This event will feature the work of:
- American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO), which has developed a community kitchen in their Gimaajii-Mino-Bimaadizimin building. This helps address food insecurity in the Duluth area by increasing direct access to prepared meals for AICHO program participants and the wider community and also creates access to a commercial kitchen for food producers.
- Stone Soup, a partnership that addresses food insecurity and provides mental health support for people in the Hillside and West Duluth areas. Stone Soup involves Ecolibrium3, the Duluth Community Garden Program, Community Action Duluth, and the Duluth Children's Museum.
- Recovery Alliance Duluth to expand its programming to northern St. Louis County, offering peer recovery support, education, and awareness to eliminate stigma surrounding recovery and substance use.
Back in 2020, St. Louis County put out a request for proposals, inviting community organizations to submit ideas, which the county would help fund, to address priority health areas that had been identified in the St. Louis County Community Health Assessment. Five community organizations applied, and the County Board approved investing more than $360,000 to support these agencies in implementing their proposed projects.
To register for the north SLC showcase event, visit here: Public Health Innovation Project Showcase (North SLC). To register for the south SLC showcase event, visit here: Public Health Innovation Project Showcase (South SLC).
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