Healthy Mendocino Project Summit March 8, 2018

Healthy Mendocino Project Summit

March 8, 2018, Willits Community Center

Working Together for Healthier Communities

More then 70 people attended the Healthy Mendocino Summit on March 8th, at the Willits Community Center, from all areas of the county. Action Teams gave updates on their progress to date and were able to meet with other regional teams. Michelle Rich, chairwoman of the Healthy Mendocino Steering Committee, spoke about teamwork and building community and Shelly Mascari, Community Wellness Director at St. Helena Hospital in Lake County, spoke on working collaboratively. Thaïs Mazur, Healthy Mendocino Project Manager, was the MC and kept the meeting moving through updates, meet and greet sessions and an open house to move to other Action Team tables.

Here are highlights from the event:

Michelle Rich gave an introduction of the Healthy Mendocino website, with its beginnings back in 2013 as a central data source, moving on to the decision to work collaboratively with the county, hospitals, NCO and other agencies on a Community Healthy Needs Assessment (CHNA) and now working on the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) with Action Teams throughout the county.

The website has been a source of “Changing the Conversation” in the county towards healthy living by using a strategic approach to improve community health by identifying and using resources, considering unique community needs and forming collaborative partnerships for action. She views the work as more than being circular. She sees it as a spiral, moving through the years with the work with ongoing Collaborative Needs Assessments, countywide Health Improvement Plans, and regional Action Teams for the Priority Areas. Each time we move through this cycle we are seeing small improvements - “A Moving to Action.”

She ended with these questions to focus on: How do we tell our community health story? How do we become resilient, healthy and happy? How do we work together for a vibrant community in the future?

Shelly Mascari gave an inspirational talk using the example of a rock band to emphasize best practices on how to work successfully as a team. Rock bands have experiences in getting a unique group of people to work together. Bands don’t get paid to participate, are not part of a regular employment structure – it is extra work, there is no clear script or prescribed mode, instead you are creating together. She spoke of collaborative polarity – less structured versus more structured. There is a need for hierarchy but to do this work there is also a need for a less hierarchical way of collaborating with each other to solve complex problems. It involves getting diverse people with multiple talents to come together in a new way and create something which is bigger than themselves or their organization can individually accomplish alone. Becoming rock stars at navigating in situations with less hierarchy.

She went on to describe observations she has made for successful collaboration.

• Average musicians blame and criticize. Great musicians know the power of building up their bandmates. Together they make the commitment for positive intent. Unconditional positive regard for all members and agencies.
• Everyone needs to actually join the band. Take responsibility and make the meeting worth everyone’s time. “Join the Team.”
• Mistakes are not the end of the world, they are the path to the next inspiration and breakthrough. Make it safe to innovate and try different things.
• Great bands happen because every player is invested.
• Everyone needs a part otherwise they will not show up. There is value in different personalities. Everyone has a skill and something to add. There are archetypal roles – find the role everyone needs to play.
• Teams rally around a vision and a project – not a scope of work or strategy document. There is a need to move to action. Have inspiring projects with good leadership that allows for great action and accomplishments. “Action leads to answers.”
• Visualize the completed project. Combine efforts and resources.

Next on the Agenda, each Action Team gave a report on their progress to date.

• Heather Criss spoke for the Ukiah Action Team updating the group on their goal to lower the rate of obesity in children. Their three objectives are: 1) increase the number of 7th grade students who are physically fit; 2) increase the number of 5th grade students who are in the Healthy Fitness Zone for weight; 3) implement one workplace environmental change to promote nutrition and healthy weight in 75% of businesses surveyed. They have monthly hashtags to share an aligned message to the community, March is #mindful munching. They held a Triathlon for children in the July of last year.
• Natalie Cottrell spoke for the North Coast Action Team updating the group on their success with the Fort Bragg Triathlon for children last July. They are championing for public recognition for a healthy lifestyle, a food forest for better food choices, and a healthy and affordable program in the City Parks.

• Sharon Hildebrand spoke for the Ukiah Action Team updating the group on combining with the Children’s Action Committee which has enabled them to be a stronger team to build opportunities. They have 3 goals they will be working on: 1) promote general awareness of the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences and the importance of resiliency; 2) provide skills-based trainings that address the impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences and teaches resiliency; 3) support direct services programs that provide hands-on assistance to families experiencing trauma.
• David Hurr spoke for the North Coast Action Team updating the group on their 3 goals: 1) develop trauma-focused presentations and materials for parents, agencies, and the general community at the coast; 2) support policy decisions that promote healthy children and families; 3) improve self-regulation skills of coastal Mendocino County youth ages 12-18.

• MaryLou Leonard spoke for the Ukiah Action Team updating the group on housing being an enormous issue especially now after the fires which burned 300 units. Their goals are: 1) engage and inform the Inland Valley community about housing needs, challenges and opportunities; 2) successfully identify and influence policy makers to develop additional housing stock for all economic sectors of the community.
• Elizabeth Swenson spoke for the North Coast Action Team updating the group on their goals to work with the city to pass regulations to increase additional dwelling units, define how the GP mill site housing project will be zoned, and to get information out to the community about the housing issues on the coast.

• Carol Mordhorst spoke for the Ukiah Action Team updating the group on increasing awareness of mental health services in the county using a resource guide with links to the Family Resource Centers, clinics and non-profits and educate providers, especially private providers, how to access county services, and work on early prevention with the existing services. They would also like to evaluate the next CHNA to see what is being said about mental health. We have allot more services then we get credit for.
• Thaïs spoke for the North Coast Action Team updating the group on their goal to work on suicide prevention through education and a resource guide for continuum of care.

• Lydia Lopez spoke for the Ukiah Action Team updating the group on their goals to understand what poverty looks like in the county. They want to hear from the community to get a clearer picture of poverty by doing a survey, having a poverty summit and creating focus groups to find the challenges. They will develop materials for use by policy makers, program operators and others serving people that are living in poverty to get everyone involved with this issue. They will work on reducing the median income gap between the county and the State. The main project will be to work with families and individuals to create financial stability.
• Thaïs spoke for the North Coast Action Team updating the group on their work to create a money management seminar for single mothers at Project Sanctuary, vocational training for youth and a vocational center.

After a brief break, the Action Teams broke out into their group priority areas for a Meet and Greet. Much was discussed and shared. It was the first time the regional groups have meet with each other. There was so much enthusiasm that some of the groups did not want to move into the Open House portion of the summit which had members moving to other tables to learn more about the other Action Teams. Eventually there was movement and a co-mingling of all the groups.

Willits community members talked about forming Action Teams in their area with ideas that they have for this to happen soon.

A member of the South Coast/Redwood Coast was in attendance and plans were formulated to meet with the Action Network, Family Resource Center and Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition groups to set up Action Teams.

At the end of the summit we asked for take-aways from the whole group:

• Nice to hear from the North Coast and what they are doing because it is different than our Ukiah group.
• Liked meeting with other community members to collaborate and promote each other’s events.
• Enjoyed Shelly Mascari’s personality and inspirational talk. We are all “Rock Stars”!
• The “Launch to Learn” from Shelly’s talk was appreciated, loved the “learning by doing” message.

Special thank you for all the Healthy Mendocino Planning Group members who helped with planning, set up and clean up for the Summit. Cici Winiger and Howard Hospital for the food and beverages. Michelle Rich for her volunteer work as chairwoman for the Healthy Mendocino Steering Committee. Shelly Mascari for driving out from Lake County to be our Key Note Speaker. Thaïs Mazur for being the MC and all the work she has done to help form the North Coast Action Teams, the upcoming regional Action Teams and for her work on helping the Action Teams formulate their Goals, Objectives, Measurements and Key Strategies. 

• Julie Beardsley, Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency,
  Senior Public Health Analyst
• Barbara Howe, Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency,
  Public Health Director
• Roseanne Ibarra, FIRST 5, Executive Director
• MaryLou Leonard, Community Member
• Patrice Mascolo, Healthy Mendocino Coordinator
• Jessica Martinez, Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency,
  Senior Department Analyst for Quality Assurance and Accreditation
• Thaïs Mazur, Healthy Mendocino Project Manager
• Carol Mordhorst, ARCH Consultant
• Car Mun Kok, University of California Cooperative Education, 4-H
  Youth Development Advisor
• Sandy O’Ferrall, Adventist Health Ukiah Valley
• Michelle Rich, The Community Foundation of Mendocino County, Chair of the Healthy Mendocino Steering Committee
• Tarney Sheldon, North Coast Opportunities, Nutrition Basics Program Manager
• Cici Winiger, Adventist Health Frank R. Howard Memorial, Community Outreach Manager