Here’s a bit of trivia you likely didn’t know unless you live in Kearns. If that’s where you call home, you likely know it all too well.

“We have absolutely no practicing doctors or dentists in our community,” Charles Henderson said. “We have a couple just over our border – and traveling clinics or ‘wellness busses’ come through on occasion. But we have no ongoing medical or dental practices in Kearns.”

Henderson would know. A lifelong resident of the Kearns area, he is also a founding member of the advocacy group MyKearns Community Coalition.

“You can trace the history of our coalition back to 2009 when we had a fatal shooting in our community,” Henderson said. “One Kearns High School student was dead… the other, locked away for life. We held an emergency town hall meeting where about 700 people showed up. We found people in our community who are willing to devote time and energy to address community issues.”

Advocates remained active for the next several years, until the MyKearns Community Coalition was officially established in March 2016, under a slightly different name.

“Former Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams was a champion for our cause,” Henderson said. “The county helped us draft a grant request. The Annie E. Casey Foundation out of Baltimore, Maryland awarded us $150,000. Then Salt Lake County matched that grant. With $300,000 in start-up funding, we established what is now known as the MyKearns Community Coalition.”

The Annie E. Casey Foundation (aecf.org), by the way, has an interesting backstory. It was created just after World War II by the Seattle family that created United Parcel Service (UPS). But we digress – Google it.

The MyKearns Coalition Board meets monthly and has several active workgroups in place to address many issues. Workgroup names include: Policy & Advocacy, Youth Council, PR & Outreach, Sustainability, Implementation and Healthy Kearns.

Salt Lake County employee Brita Watts is the coalition coordinator and its only paid employee.  

“I’ve only been in this position about a year – but the county has provided the MyKearns Community Coalition Coordinator (paid for through grant funding) for several years,” Watts said. “We meet as a full board on the last Monday of each month. But our many workgroups are busy doing various projects all the time. We also report to and coordinate with the City of Kearns Council regularly.”

Henderson and Watts were two of the primary presenters at a recent public meeting called to address Kearns healthcare issues. The session was also facilitated by Salt Lake County Health Department Chronic Disease Program Manager Jason Cloward and his employees, Annelise Vorkink and Scott Sais.

After serving dinner to a modest group of about 15 attendees at the Kearns Library, the discussion focused on so-called “social determinants of health.” Presenter Sais explained, these determinants include: education access & quality, health care & quality, neighborhood & built environment, social & community context and economic stability.

Attendees were provided statistical information showing Kearns residents to be in very high percentiles (compared to the state average) in challenges such as food insecurity, teenagers’ feelings of social isolation and availability of mental health therapists.

“This was just the first meeting in what will be a long-term process to try to reduce barriers to healthcare in our community and to improve access to healthcare,” Watts said. “I think the meeting went great; but we know there’s a lot more to do. Our ultimate goal is to accomplish our coalition Mission Statement and Vision.”

One of the presentation slides at the meeting included these items:

MISSION – The MyKearns Community Coalition works to decrease youth substance use and other problem behaviors in Kearns through evidence-based programming, environmental strategies and comm-
unity engagement.

VISION – A unified and welcoming community for all, where individuals and families prosper, have opportunities to contribute and take pride in a vibrant and
diverse community.

Following their initial meeting last month, the Social Determinants of Health Leadership Team will hold its next public meeting Saturday, Oct. 19, again at the Kearns Library. That session will begin at 4:30 p.m., with a free dinner and child
care provided. 

“Our goal is to provide opportunities and resources to keep families safe, healthy and together,” MyKearns Coalition Chair Kristen Dietz said. “Our coalition organizes family game nights and cooking classes. We also have an active youth council.”

Coalition vice chair Don Bartlett added, “I like being involved in my community. I’m age 50 and have lived 47 years in Kearns. I graduated from Kearns High and so did both of my children – the second one, just this year. I like working to bring resources together to help unite families.”

Learn more about the many activities of the MyKearns Community Coalition on their Facebook page. λ