Episodes
Thursday Oct 05, 2023
E119: Arizona Town Hall: Equity for All Arizonans
Thursday Oct 05, 2023
Thursday Oct 05, 2023
On this episode of the Vitalyst Spark Podcast, we will be talking to Tara Jackson, President of Arizona Town Hall. The current topic Town Hall is convening Arizonans to discuss is one that is key to all of us, Equity for All Arizonans. Equity is critical if we want to maximize the potential of our communities, and that takes understanding what equity is and its true benefits. Tara will tell us more about the Town Hall process and how the Town Hall team is taking this topic to communities across the state.
Links
Equity for All Arizonans Background Report
Friday Sep 15, 2023
E118: The Nature Conservancy and the Evolution of Systems Change
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Friday Sep 15, 2023
On this episode, we are talking to Anna Bettis, Arizona Healthy Cities Program Director at The Nature Conservancy. We are talking about the Conservancy’s 2017 Innovation grant, predecessor to Vitalyst’s Systems Change Grants. The grant was provided so the Nature Conservancy and partners could work with communities and create Heat Action Planning Guides, which identified strategies to reduce heat and improve the ability of residents to deal with heat. Anna will tell us what this project has evolved into, what it takes to create systems change, and how systems change is a moving target. We hope you enjoy the conversation.
Show notes / Links
- EPA webinar: https://www.epa.gov/heatislands/equity-action-heat-planning-greater-phoenix
- Changing the Story of Heat in Metro Phoenix Together: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/b9c35f205ea14015a23b446ff75eeeb4
- Urban Heat Leadership Academy Youtube channel:
Tuesday Aug 22, 2023
E117 - Superior: Gateway to the Copper Corridor
Tuesday Aug 22, 2023
Tuesday Aug 22, 2023
On this episode of the Vitalyst Spark Podcast, we are joined by Chris Casillas of Regenerating Sonora. He talks to us about his family’s ties to the Copper Corridor, his TAPAZ Sponsored Project Regenerating Sonora, and what is happening in Superior, Arizona, which will host the 12th Annual Prickly Pear Festival on Saturday, August 26th, 2023.
Links:
Friday Jul 28, 2023
E116: The Long Game: A Conversation with Floribella Redondo of AzCHOW
Friday Jul 28, 2023
Friday Jul 28, 2023
On this episode of the podcast, we are joined by Floribella Redondo, pioneer in the community health worker community in Arizona, and president of the Arizona Community Health Workers Association (AzCHOW). We talk about the difference between community health representatives, community health workers, and promotoras, and the beginnings of the work in Arizona. We also dive into what it took to pass legislation, the patience systems change takes.
Links
Arizona Community Health Workers Association (azchow.org)
Monday Jun 26, 2023
E115: Systems Change Takes Time: Coconino Coalition for Children & Youth
Monday Jun 26, 2023
Monday Jun 26, 2023
During this episode of the Vitalyst Spark Podcast, we will be exploring systems change and talking to 2023 Systems Change Grant recipient Coconino Coalition for Children and Youth to talk to us about their Self-Healing Community System and Policy Change in Coconino County initiative. We will be joined by members of the Coalition, including Virginia Watahomigie, Executive Director; Becky Daggett, Mayor of Flagstaff; and Andrea Meronuck, Clinical Director with Northland Family Help Center.
Links
Coconino Coalition for Children & Youth https://coconinokids.org/
Northland Family Help Center https://northlandfamily.org/
City of Flagstaff Mayor’s Office https://www.flagstaff.az.gov/1406/Mayor-Council
Self-Healing Communities with Kevin Campbell https://coconinokids.org/self-healing-communities-with-kevin-campbell/
Comprehensive Analysis of Historical Trauma https://coconinokids.org/comprehensive-analysis-of-historical-trauma/
Igniting Self-Healing Communities Informant Interviews (Spark Grant) https://coconinokids.org/shc-partners/
Friday Jun 09, 2023
E114: The Arizona Food Systems Network
Friday Jun 09, 2023
Friday Jun 09, 2023
On this episode of the Vitalyst Spark Podcast, we are joined by Kenneth Steel and Shelby Thompson from Pinnacle Prevention. We are talking about food systems in Arizona and the work of the Arizona Food Systems Network.
Shownotes / Links
Arizona Food Systems Network www.azfsn.org
Pinnacle Prevention https://www.pinnacleprevention.org/
Farm Bill Overview https://www.usda.gov/farmbill
Anti-Hunger & Food Systems Advocacy Call Registration https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kc-6grT4sHdSXHCu2ghuuKaYeu9ZifU5_#/registration
Tuesday May 23, 2023
E113: Medicaid Unwinding
Tuesday May 23, 2023
Tuesday May 23, 2023
Today’s topic: the end of Medicaid’s continuous enrollment requirement, also known as “The Unwinding.” What is this “unwinding”? Since the beginning phases of the pandemic, the federal government has prohibited states from disenrolling Medicaid members, regardless of their eligibility status. The goal was to protect the health insurance coverage of individuals and families who were most at-risk during the pandemic. Fast forward three years, and with the fading of the pandemic, the federal government has allowed states to restart their normal process for determining Medicaid eligibility beginning April 1st. What does this mean for Arizona? It means a large number of people who are currently covered by Medicaid – roughly 650,000 Arizonans – may no longer qualify and may be at risk of losing their coverage. Fortunately, Arizona’s Medicaid program, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (commonly referred to as AHCCCS) and local partners have long been preparing for this unwinding and are working hard to ensure that Arizonans take action to maintain their Medicaid coverage or find quality coverage elsewhere. Today we’re talking to two colleagues who work to improve health insurance coverage across Arizona: Claudia Maldonado, with the Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers, and Matt Jewett, with Children’s Action Alliance. In partnership with organizations across the state, they are helping to lead the charge to protect Arizonans’ coverage during the unwinding.
Show Notes:
- Medicaid/AHCCCS members need to update their information on www.healthearizonaplus.gov.
- To speak with an assister about your health insurance options, visit www.coveraz.org or call 2-1-1.
- To find helpful materials related to the unwinding, visit www.coveraz.org/unwinding.
Thursday Apr 06, 2023
Thursday Apr 06, 2023
On this episode of the Vitalyst Spark Podcast, we are talking about impact investments, and we are joined by Kerwin Brown, of UPI Loan Fund, and Dave Castillo, of Native Community Capital, two of Vitalyst’s recent impact investments. Also joining the podcast is Suzanne Pfister, Vitalyst’s President and CEO, to talk about what impact investing means to Vitalyst and philanthropy. We discuss the roots of both organizations and why it’s important for organizations to make socially conscious, impactful investments that create opportunities for underserved communities.
Show Notes Links
Local First Arizona Rural Micro-Loan Fund
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
E111: Promising Housing Practices in Arizona
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
On this episode of The Vitalyst Spark podcast, we're going to be talking about housing, a huge issue that the state is facing overall, not just through the pandemic, but prior to. Housing has been on a climb in price and rental prices continue to increase. And we're seeing a lot more people struggle, and it's getting more difficult for everyone to squeeze more out of their dollar. That's why we're talking about this today, something that Vitalyst has been involved in from a programmatic aspect for the past few years. And we've been really delving into it. We're going to be talking about housing and a newly released publication Spark Brief called Promising Housing Practices in Arizona, that features what organizations are doing across the state to mitigate the housing issue. Our guests are Suzanne Pfister, president and CEO of Vitalyst Health Foundation, Gabriel Jaramillo, Director of Healthy Communities of Vitalyst Health Foundation, and Darlene Newsom, former CEO of UMOM New Day Centers.
Guests
Suzanne Pfister, President and CEO, Vitalyst Health Foundation
Gabriel Jaramillo, Director of Healthy Communities, Vitalyst Health Foundation
Darlene Newsom, Former CEO, UMOM New Day Centers
Links
Promising Housing Practices in Arizona Spark Brief
Promising Housing Practices Webinar with Maricopa Association of Governments
Friday Feb 17, 2023
Friday Feb 17, 2023
On today’s episode, we are joined by Juan Salas, Director of Operations and Accounting with the Technical Assistance Partnership of Arizona, or TAPAZ as we refer to it in-house. TAPAZ is a fiscal sponsorship organization that provides back office technical assistance to nonprofits across the state but he will tell us more about that. Also on today’s podcast is Nicola Winkel, Project Director with the Arizona Coalition for Military Families. They are the largest sponsored project of TAPAZ, and are doing some really great work across Arizona to improve the lives of military members and their families. We hope you enjoy learning more.
Resources:
Technical Assistance Partnership of Arizona www.tapaz.org
Arizona Coalition for Military Families www.arizonacoalition.org
BeConnected www.connecveterans.org
BeConnected Career Navigation www.arizonacoalition.org/careernavigation/
Overview of Arizona Roadmap to Veteran Employment https://youtu.be/yF2Uv7EGik0
Military/Veteran Resource Navigation Training www.arizonacoalition.org/navigator/
13th Annual Statewide Symposium, April 19 -20, 2023 (Scholarships available) www.arizonacoalition.org/symposium/
Connect to help and support at 1-866-4AZ-VETS (429-8387)