Not just a funder. A knowledge source.
Understanding the problem is part of solving it. The Trust commissions original research, conducts community assessments, hosts focus groups and summits, and publishes ongoing analysis of the issues that affect health in Natrona County. We make this work public because we believe the community deserves access to the same information that informs our decisions.
Reports & Research
Youth Well-Being
This infographic synthesizes findings from three Natrona County youth engagement efforts to illustrate what local teens say they need to thrive, organized around eight dimensions of well-being and a shared call for more inclusive third spaces.
Learning Report
A comprehensive assessment of community health needs and the nonprofit landscape in Natrona County. Our Learning Report examines service capacity, population trends, and unmet needs across the areas of health that the Trust invests in.
Pathways To & Through Houselessness
A report to the community with input from currently and recently unhoused residents, exploring how risk accumulates across a lifetime, and what Natrona County can do about it.
The Economics of Health Care
A nonpartisan resource on how health insurance affects jobs, income, GDP, and community well-being. Commissioned by Wyoming health stakeholders in 2025 to analyze Medicaid expansion and Medicaid cuts across the state.
Navigating Our Justice System
A community guide mapping how Natrona County responds to people in crisis across the justice system, using the Sequential Intercept Model to show where opportunities for connection, stability, and positive change exist at each stage.
The State of Our Health
The report presents findings from a February 2026 statewide survey of Wyoming voters exploring how residents feel about health care costs, access, insurance, mental health, and quality of life across the state.
Community Engagement Research
Not all of our research lives in formal reports. Some of the most valuable work comes from listening directly to the people and communities our investments are designed to serve.
Youth Focus Groups. Direct conversations with young people in Natrona County about their experiences with mental health, substance use, school, and community. These focus groups inform the Youth Mental Health Collective’s priorities and ensure that youth voice shapes how resources are allocated.
Cross-Systems Mapping. A collaborative process that charts how services, organizations, and resources connect across sectors like healthcare, education, housing, and behavioral health in Natrona County. These mapping efforts reveal gaps, overlaps, and opportunities for coordination, helping inform where and how to focus community engagement work.
Participatory Grantmaking. A funding approach that invites community members to help decide how resources are distributed. Rather than relying solely on internal review, participatory grantmaking brings the people closest to the issues into the decision-making process, ensuring that investments reflect community-identified needs and priorities.
Community Summits. Large-format convenings that bring together service providers, community members, and decision makers around specific health topics. Summits generate shared understanding of a problem and identify actionable next steps that the community–not just the Trust–can take.
Root Causes
A monthly series exploring the upstream factors that shape health in Natrona County. Each article examines a different dimension of community health – housing, mental health access, economic stability, civic participation, childhood development – and connects it to the systems and policies that our work aims to influence.
How Research Informs Our Work
Every research project, focus group, and summit feeds back into how we make decisions. Here's how:
Grantmaking
We work to understand where the needs are greatest and where existing services are strongest. That understanding shapes which organizations we fund and how we structure our grants.
Policy & advocacy
The findings of our policy research give our advocacy partners and elected officials a shared factual foundation to work from. When we support legislative efforts or civic engagement work, we does so with data that the whole community can access.
Program design
Youth focus groups directly shape YMHC priorities. The criminal justice mapping informs NCSJ investments. Community summits surface problems and solutions that become the basis for new programming. The research doesn’t sit on a shelf. It drives what we do next.
We publish our research because we believe transparency is not just a value we state. It’s a practice we demonstrate. If we’re asking the community to trust our judgment about where to invest, the community should be able to see the information we’re basing that judgment on.