Grantee Spotlight

Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program  

GHPC recently spoke to Callie Bray and Tiffany Guinn (Nallunrilnguq), both from Southcentral Foundation, about how the foundation was able to work with Native communities to bring all-terrain vehicle (ATV) safety programming to youth living in a rural service area larger than the state of Colorado.  

To date, what has been the biggest accomplishment or win in your Outreach program?  
Callie: One of the biggest accomplishments with our Outreach program is being able to work together with rural communities and Tribal councils to plan, develop, and implement an ATV safety program, which was a need identified by Tribal councils.   

We have overcome logistic obstacles to provide ATV safety, education, and hands-on safe operating practices training to youth in some of Alaska’s most rural regions, all in line with Southcentral Foundation’s vision of a Native Community that enjoys physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness, and mission of working together with the Native Community to achieve wellness through health and related services. Fifteen of the 17 Federally Qualified Health Centers that Southcentral Foundation operates with the support of Tribal councils are off the road system, meaning they are only accessible by airplane or boat. To date, we held 20 ATV safety rodeos, based on the evidence-based model from the ATV Safety Institute curriculum, in 14 rural communities, engaging over 100 customer-owners (participants) and distributing over 120 Department of Transportation-approved helmets. 

Tiffany: ATVs are often the only type of transportation available in these communities. Accidents do happen frequently. Our state has the highest levels of these types of injuries across the nation. Being able to do something about it in the communities where accidents happen is really important. 

What is a tip you would share with an organization launching a similar program?  
Tiffany: The biggest learning curve for us was about communication. We already had a structure set up. We had been working with these communities and the organizations within them but maintaining that communication as part of the logistics and as part of grant reporting helped us achieve continual buy-in from the people who lived there. Without that, we would not have succeeded the way we have. Several of our trainers live in these communities, and they are champions for this program — getting young people out to the rodeos. 

How do you see participation in FORHP’s Outreach Program impacting your broader health improvement efforts? 
Tiffany: This ATV project is one component piece of a larger structural build within our organization. It may have started as a single grant program, but it is intrinsically linked now to our greater buildout for supporting people who have traumatic and acquired brain injuries. Alaska is one of two states in the nation that does not have a statewide network for such injuries. While we don’t have a clinic, there are many things that are coming together and coalescing. It will take a few more years to fully build out this system, but we know ATV safety is one component of it. 

What’s next on the horizon for your grant-funded program? 

Callie: We started conversations with our executive leadership about how to navigate funding sources within our organization to help sustain the ATV safety program we are currently operating. 

We also have been working with our grants team to seek additional funding opportunities. The goal is to hopefully expand the program to include curriculum for adults and to partner with other Tribal health organizations within the Anchorage Service Unit to expand our program there as well. 

Tiffany: The Southcentral Foundation Nuka System of Care has quite a few programs that do not generate revenue but are maintained because they are vital services that are desired by customer-owners. Southcentral Foundation’s Elder Program and the Traditional Healing Clinic are services that are not based on traditional health care outcomes but are still desired. The ATV safety program might not immediately yield a bang for our buck, but when it comes to years of potential life lost or people not struggling with terrible injuries from traumatic and acquired brain injuries from ATV accidents, there is definitely a return on investment and that is why we feel very strongly about the need to sustain this program.