On today’s episode, we are back after a hiatus. A lot has happened in the world of community health, and at Vitalyst. We are catching up with Interim CEO and Board Chair Susan Pepin.

The U.S. Senate is currently considering a budget proposal that includes significant changes to Medicaid, building upon the House-passed "Big Beautiful Bill." While the Senate version is still under negotiation, some of the proposed changes to Medicaid, or AHCCCS in Arizona, include work requirements, provider tax limits, prohibitions on gender-affirming care, and increasing the frequency of eligibility verification to twice a year, among others. On this episode, we delve into the specifics of what this budget could mean for Medicaid with Vitalyst Trustees Will Humble, Ann-Marie Alameddin, and Wendy Armendariz, as they view it from various public health perspectives. 

Links: 

Will's Blog on Medicaid 

AZFamily Story About Impact on Rural Communities and Hospitals

Meidcaid Matters Video by NOAH

Medicaid has significantly improved access to health care for rural communities in Arizona by providing coverage to low-income individuals, including children, seniors, and people with disabilities. It has helped sustain rural hospitals and clinics by offering crucial funding, reducing uncompensated care costs. As a result, Medicaid has played a vital role in maintaining health care infrastructure and improving health outcomes in these underserved areas. Dr. Jonathan Melk, medical doctor and chief executive officer of Chiricahua Community Health Centers based in southeastern Arizona in Cochise County, joined us to shed light on rural health care. 

Partners across the nation have found an untapped resource of land: churches. Vitalyst has been working with churches as part of an evolution of its school districts and housing work. LISC has been working with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide information and tools to support faith-based organizations as they explore housing development. In this episode, we will explore how these two initiatives intersect and what opportunities are available.

Links and Resources

Guide:Working With Faith-Based Organizations on Affordable Housing Development

Webinar: Building in God's Backyard 

UCSD Housing Center for Policy and Design

Housing Development Training Institute

ARCHES Report (Arizona Research Center for Housing Equity and Sustainability)

After the passage of Prop 207 in 2020, The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) was charged with creating the Justice Reinvestment Program. The proposition legalized recreational marijuana use for adults 21 and older and created the Justice Reinvestment Fund, which funds initiatives to increase safety and community resilience around arrest and incarceration, including the Justice Reinvestment Program.

There are approximately $10 million in grants across four priority areas:

All information is at www.azjusticegrants.org 

Nonprofits and professionals all across the country are on edge right now. With federal grants pausing and unpausing, the limbo must be a whirlwind for so many people working in the nonprofit sector. We all get into this work because we want to help people. But along the way, stuff gets in the way. The organizations and systems we all work with can be cumbersome and lead to frustration. How can we get out of our way? Heather Hiscox tells us on this episode. 

Heather Hiscox - PAUSE for Change Website 

Discover the Five Skills to Address Uncertainty

Top 20 Questions to Ask Your Collaborative Partner

On today's mini-episode, Vitalyst's Gabriel Jaramillo sits down with Nicole Newhouse of the Arizona Housing Coalition and Pastor Jeff Procter-Murphy of Dayspring UMC in Tempe to discuss the YIGBY initiative.  This innovative proposal would allow faith-based organizations to develop affordable housing on their properties without burdensome rezoning requirements. This initiative addresses one of Arizona's major obstacles: restrictive zoning that limits land availability for multi-family housing development. 

Yes, in God's Backyard Initiative - Arizona Housing Coalition 

Nicholas Vasquez, MD, was a Vitalyst Trustee for 12 years and Chair from 2020 to 2022. He often joined the podcast during the pandemic. On this episode, we wanted to talk to him about his experience on the Board of Trustees and Vitalyst's evolution. He sprinkled in other thoughts and wisdom throughout our conversation.

David Martinez III hosts this episode and has an insightful conversation with partners from Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement, the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation, and the Center for the Future of Arizona about how Arizonans view civic language. A recently published study finds that Arizonans react strongly to different civic language terms—more so than the rest of the country—and that these perceptions can enhance or hinder collaborative community conversations. 

At Vitalyst, we have been trying to demystify systems change as our Systems Change Grants application deadline nears in the middle of November. But we know it can still be confusing, so we had our friends at FSG join us for a conversation. 

Additional Links: 

Understanding Systems Change Spark Report – Report by FSG in collaboration with Vitalyst

The Water of Systems Change Report by FSG

The Water of Systems Change: Action Learning Exercise

Clarifying Systems Change: An Interview with John Harper, CEO of FSG

“Thinking in Systems” by Donella H. Meadows