Vitalyst Spark

Today we’re joined by Justin Chase, President and CEO of Solari Crisis and Human Services. As you’ll hear from Justin, Solari, formerly known as Crisis Response Network, provides an array of important resources to individuals experiencing challenging times. These challenges could range from a mother needing to locate to closest food bank, to finding a safe place for your loved one who’s experiencing a bipolar episode. Solari even works with 911 dispatch units to refer mental health calls to appropriate levels of care. Solari is a connector. They improve community health by improving connections between people during some of life’s most difficult periods. Solari’s mission is simple: Inspiring Hope. And after hearing from Justin, it’s easy to see exactly what that means.

Links:

Today we’re talking with Dr. Amanda Burke from the Center for the Future of Arizona about the Arizona Voters’ Agenda, a new resource which takes a radically different look at voters’ interests and political campaigns in Arizona. What is this radically different approach? Instead of continuing to fuel the fires of division that seem to inundate our lives, CFA’s latest research reveals the issues that a majority of us actually agree on. As it turns out, despite the smoldering embers we constantly encounter, there is plenty of untapped common ground where Arizonans agree – common ground which, if championed by political candidates, could lead to a winning formula for elections and an improved quality of life for Arizonans. Speaking of elections, Arizona’s 2022 Primary and General elections are on the horizon (August 2nd and November 8th, 2022).  Make sure your voice is heard by visiting www.arizona.vote.

• The Arizona Voters’ Agenda can be found at www.arizonafuture.org

Today we’re joined by two Arizonans working to create healthier communities that recognize, address and prevent traumatic experiences. We’re not referring to the type of trauma you see in the traffic section of the news each day. Rather, we’re discussing the impacts of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs, as they’re commonly known) and toxic stress that can stem from harmful relationships with the people, places and policies that surround each of us. These experiences are often connected with things like abuse and neglect, domestic violence, substance abuse in the home, or the loss of a loved one. Sadly, recent evidence indicates that Arizona has the highest rate in the nation of people experiencing multiple ACEs. Today’s guests are working to change that. Angie Burleson is the Executive Director of the Arizona ACEs Consortium, a statewide collaborative that engages professionals and agencies to increase awareness about the causes, effects, and opportunities to decrease ACEs in our community. They do so, in part, by training school leaders, teachers and staff to create trauma-sensitive environments for Arizona’s children. Shomari Jackson is a member of the ACEs Consortium and is incoming Executive Director of the South Mountain Works Coalition, a non-profit working with youth and leaders in the South Mountain communities of Phoenix to prevent substance abuse.  If you or anyone you know are navigating through a traumatic experience, or if it would be helpful to speak with a peer who’s gone through a similar experience, support is always available by calling Arizona’s Crisis Line at 1-800-631-1314 or by calling the Peer Support Warm Line at 602-347-1100.

For more than 100 episodes, we’ve hosted this podcast to highlight the inspiring work of Arizonans working to create healthier communities. We’ve spoken with experts focused on a wide range of issues, ranging from food systems to housing to transportation, as well as local leaders among Arizona’s Latino, Black, Tribal and Rural communities. Today, we’re doing something a little different. Today, we’re taking a moment to look inward, to pull back the curtain, and to better understand the motivations, milestones and mechanics of Vitalyst Health Foundation. This is a conversation with President and CEO, Suzanne Pfister. If you’ve ever been curious about what makes Vitalyst Vitalyst, or what the future of community health may hold, this is the episode for you. We hope you enjoy.

Referenced Materials:

• Vitalyst’s Strategic Roadmap Refresh

Today we’re taking a long-overdue look at the health and well-being of refugee communities in our state. You may not know this, but Arizona is widely known as a welcoming state for refugees from around the world. These are individuals and families who have fled their home countries due to persecution or fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. In the last six months (October ’21 through March ’22), Arizona has helped over 2,600 people resettle, the majority of whom are fleeing Afghanistan. This brings us to today’s panel discussion with a local leader from Lutheran Social Services – a refugee resettlement agency in Arizona – and two local representatives of We Are All America (one of whom is a former refugee from Afghanistan, and the other a former refugee from Bosnia-Herzegovina). We hope you enjoy.

On today’s episode (the 100th episode of the Vitalyst Spark Podcast!), we’re capping off Women’s History Month by bringing you a conversation with Dr. Amalia Luxardo, CEO of the Women’s Foundation for the State of Arizona. Dr. Luxardo graciously shares her personal journey to her leadership role at the Women’s Foundation and gives us a glimpse into how Arizona’s women and girls are forging new paths to social, political and economic change.

Well, this it. Barring any unforeseen developments (knock on wood), this is the last COVID-19 Roundtable episode of the Vitalyst Spark Podcast. We’re not out of the woods, but case numbers and deaths are rapidly declining, hospital admissions have waned, and the latest CDC guidance shows Arizona moving toward a low level of community risk.  So, for what we hope will be our final COVID-19 Roundtable discussion, we brought our panelists back to reflect on the past two years – the successes, the challenges and the lessons learned

In this episode, we’re talking about Arizona’s legislative session with Zaida Dedolph, Health Policy Director with Children’s Action Alliance. Yes, we’re all exhausted from the constant barrage of partisanship and political anger we hear about on a daily basis, but rest assured, this is not one of those conversations.  Instead, this is a conversation that attempts to understand the fundamental power dynamics currently at play within Arizona’s Legislature, and offers an overview of a handful of promising bills you may not be aware of that are moving through the lawmaking process.  Zaida and I talked on February 25, 2022, at the end of what’s know as “cross over week” at the legislature. It’s often stated that change is the only constant, and that is certainly the case at the legislature, so things may have changed by the time you hear this.  We hope you enjoy.

Links for show notes:

• Learn more about Children’s Action Alliance: www.azchildren.org

In recognition of Black History month, we’re speaking with two leaders in Arizona who are working to advance the health and well-being of Black Arizonans. Teniqua Broughton is the Executive Director of the State of Black Arizona, an organization best known for its thorough publications that highlight…well…the state of Black Arizona. These ‘Volumes’, as they’re titled, provide an evidence-based foundation from which one can better understand the experience of African Americans in our state. We’re also thrilled to welcome Dr. Charlene Tarver, CEO of the Women’s Economic Institute, an organization working in Arizona and New York to advance economic security for all women and girls, with a specific focus on Black women. During the pandemic, Dr. Tarver also founded the Black Arizona COVID-19 Task Force, which, as you’ll hear, gained national attention for its work. Let’s dive in. 

• • Supporting Black-led Organizations – Here’s a list of resources for community members, partners, and fundholders who are interested in supporting Black-led organizations.

This week we’re back with our COVID-19 Roundtables guests, Dr. Kara Geren, Dr. Joshua LaBaer and Will Humble, discussing the latest – dare I say – optimistic developments in the pandemic.  We’ve been on this ride before, and we know we’re not out of the woods. Far too many Arizonans are still being infected with COVID-19 each day and our hospitals are under extreme pressure, but the latest research and trends do indicate that brighter days are within sight.