HEALTH Initiatives

By increasing the community’s support of responsible parenting, nurturing family relationships, and respectful care for our elderly, we foster health, safety, and wellbeing.

We are, in essence, carrying out our mission: Improving lives by mobilizing communities to create lasting changes in their conditions.

Examining health-care issues

In collaboration with Coconino County Health Department, Coconino County Board of Supervisors, City of Flagstaff, Blue Cross / Blue Shield of Arizona, and North Country HealthCare, UWNA facilitated a free performance of “A Right to Care.” This one-woman show nationally featured Sarah Jones, the Tony Award–winning playwright, actor, and poet performing characters from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds in an examination of health care issues from a multicultural perspective. The audience of more than 400 individuals from service agencies, small business, health care groups, and other venues was educated about the ways in which ethnic, racial, and economic health disparities impact people’s daily lives.

UWNA, Coconino County Health Department, Coconino County Board of Supervisors, and Blue Cross / Blue Shield of Arizona conducted a Town Hall in late 2008. Invited community leaders viewed the documentary “UNnatural Causes… is inequality making us sick?” The film and facilitated conversation, emphasized to the audience about how their decisions about policies and practices contribute to the health of community members.

Underage drinking

UWNA worked with two coalitions to prevent and reduce substance abuse, including alcohol, and to direct youth toward healthier life choices. The coalitions included Williams and Coconino County, Coconino County Juvenile Justice programs, the Coconino Alliance Against Drugs, Citizens Against Substance Abuse (CASA), the Williams Alliance Against Drugs and the Governor’s Office. As a result,

• Two programs were implemented to mobilize parents, businesses, media, policymakers, and law-enforcement efforts in educating the community about underage drinking dangers.
• Five families graduated from FASTWORKS, a program that puts parents as the number one prevention agent in their children’s lives.
• Teen Time, a program designed to keep youths off the streets during peak drinking hours, served 386.