A letter from our CEO: Meeting the moment

By Beth Worthen, CEO

When the Natrona Collective Health Trust began its work more than four years ago, we developed both a mission statement to define what we do and guiding principles to define how we do it. These guiding principles are embedded in our daily operations and inform the four major areas of our work: community engagement, grantmaking, policy/advocacy, and monitoring Banner WMC.

As we have centered on our community, we’ve realized that most people in Natrona County share common goals: affordable, high-quality healthcare, economic stability, and a safe, healthy, thriving community. Like those who share these aspirations, we’ve watched the actions of state and national lawmakers with a mix of frustration and sadness.

In the now concluded Wyoming legislative session, a majority of lawmakers prioritized social wedge issues such as bathroom bills and DEI bans over addressing urgent needs in healthcare access, mental and behavioral health services, maternity care, public education, economic diversification, and community infrastructure.

At the national level, important health data and research have been erased from federal sources, and the future of federal grants for rural healthcare services, mental and behavioral health, and community development remains uncertain. Federal budget proposals have included significant cuts to Medicaid, which would immediately put both Wyoming patients and healthcare facilities at risk, especially as our healthcare system already faces challenges such as difficulty recruiting providers, rising labor and drug costs, and one of the highest uninsured rates in the country.

The state and federal actions we’ve described will do little to improve the health and well-being of our communities, nor will they address the critical challenges we face. Because we are deeply committed to ensuring that everyone in our community has a fair opportunity to be as healthy as possible, we ask ourselves: What can the Trust do? How do our guiding principles commit us to action during this important time?

We’re committed to boldness in using our voice to support health-promoting policies and actions, and to speaking out against those that undermine health. We’re doing this by gathering information from nonprofit partners and sharing it with the media, our local and state elected officials and our congressional delegation. We will continue to speak up in the media, online, in meeting rooms, and anywhere we’re invited. The barriers to generational health are not going away, and neither will our willingness to speak up.

We’re leaning into systemic change by advocating for ways to address the root causes of health disparities, developing long-term strategies that support our vision of better health for everyone in Natrona County. Some examples of our work in this area include:

• Facilitating and sharing a study on the economic impact of expanded healthcare coverage in Wyoming,
• Collaborating with law enforcement, government agencies, and nonprofits to compare the costs of the status quo with the benefits of prevention and diversion initiatives to make our community safer,
• Partnering with a collective of community members on youth mental health initiatives, and
• Working with the Governor’s Office to support the WY We Care initiative in Natrona County.

We’re fostering inclusivity and compassion by going directly to those closest to the problems we’re working to solve, because they know best what’s needed. We are committed to treating the people and organizations with whom we work with fairness, dignity, and respect, and we encourage our partners to do the same. We believe that efforts to build a sense of belonging are crucial to creating a community where everyone can be healthy and thrive – and we champion those who do the same.

We’ll continue to operate with transparency, adhering to our internal policies and external laws and regulations. We’ll share what we learn, communicating evidence-based knowledge and community-guided wisdom about improving health in our community.

And if there’s ever a time to be flexible and adaptive, it’s now. We want to hear from our grantees, other funders, community members, and elected officials about the challenges they’re facing. We’re eager to brainstorm solutions and find ways we can help. Some exciting news on this front will be coming soon, with updates on impact investing, planning grants, and more.

While we’re committed to doing our part, we know that funders do not have the same resources as the government, and philanthropy cannot fill every gap. It is the government’s responsibility to address economic, education, and health policy on a large scale, while philanthropy can focus on unmet needs and areas the government cannot address. That’s why we’re collaborating with other funders across the state to collect and share data about the impact of philanthropy in Wyoming and to highlight examples where government and private funders have worked together to improve lives in our state.

As we recommit to working harder in this space, we are deeply grateful for the relationships we’ve built with community members in education, healthcare, nonprofits, mental health services, state government agencies, businesses, and more. Your vision and work inspire us every day. Our relationships with you truly fuel and empower our collective efforts. It’s an honor to walk this path together, and we are excited to continue moving forward with you!