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Hello from SHIP

It's officially summertime, which also means there are lots of chances to be active outside, enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables during Minnesota's peak season and hopefully spend time in nature or on a vacation to revitalize your wellbeing. The Anoka County SHIP team hopes you are finding lots of opportunities to be healthy this summer and live by the SHIP motto, "Make the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice.”

Anoka SHIP Partnership with U of MN Extension

Transforming local food shelves to become SuperShelves.
Making employee breakrooms calming spaces for staff in schools.
Certifying a small cultural grocery store to accept SNAP-EBT.
Filming a community cable TV spot highlighting creative local workplace wellness success.

What do all these have in common? They are a direct result of a strong partnership between Anoka County SHIP and University of Minnesota Extension.

For the past seven years, Anoka County SHIP has partnered with University of Minnesota Extension to implement the SHIP program throughout the county. Currently, three SHIP educators are contracted to support the SHIP program from the University.

The partnership resulted because of Anoka County's creativity. The county recognized that by contracting with partners to staff the SHIP program, the county could implement the program, reap the benefits of the resources and gain support from their partner agencies. (Currently SHIP also partners with the YMCA for SHIP School-based strategies)

As a result, the SHIP program receives training, support and resources from University of Minnesota Extension’s extensive statewide network of educators and programs. For example, the SuperShelf food shelf transformations that are being implemented in the county receive guidance and staff support from Extension’s SuperShelf team of coordinators. The calming employee breakrooms were designed with technical assistance from an Extension educator who focuses on mental wellbeing. The Extension SHIP health and wellness coordinators have access to Extension resources such as evaluators, master gardeners, and faculty specialists to help them in their community work, as well as technology resources, programming equipment, and administrative support.

Would you like to learn more? The Extension SHIP Educators would be happy to talk to you about the benefits of this important partnership. Email SHIP@co.anoka.mn.us to connect.

Summitted by Trina Adler, Program Director- University of MN Extension

Farmers' Markets and Market Bucks

Summer is the time for fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables. Click here for information about local farmers markets in Anoka County. Select markets accept SNAP/EBT and you can TRIPLE your buying power using market bucks. Click here for more information on market bucks.

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SHIP Shape-Invest in your wellness clip with QCTV

Join Cole and some of Anoka County's chamber leaders in discussing how investing in your staff, your organization, and wellbeing best practices can help not only our community but your bottom line in this edition of SHIP Shape! View the full episode here.

American Lung Association and SHIP

On Tuesday, June 13, the American Lung Association shared education around the harmful effects of vaping among youth at the Multicultural Community Resource Fair held at the Fridley Fire Department. Data from the 2022 Minnesota Student Survey shows vaping prevalence is highest among students who identify as American Indian, African American, and Hispanic. Among those, 6.9% of *students in Anoka County have indicated they have used an e-cigarette or vaped in the past 30 days.

*Data from the Minnesota Department of Health & MSS Interagency Team

*Indicates 8th, 9th, and 11th grade students only

Community Mental Wellness Grant Opportunity

The Mental Wellness Campaign for Anoka County (MWCAC) is dedicated to supporting efforts in the Anoka County community that align with their mission to erase the stigma of mental illness. They have developed a grant application process to support innovative project proposals that can expand the impact within the community. For more information visit their website.

Meet our new Healthcare and Wellbeing Educator, Amanda Zenk

I graduated from St. Kate’s with my MPH in Global Health in 2022; prior to that, I earned a BA in Women’s Studies (with a minor in Anthropology) from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. After working for about a year at a domestic violence shelter after graduation, I realized instead of helping people after they were already in need, I wanted to get to the root cause of the issue and try to stop the problem before it happened. Once I learned about public health, the rest fell into place! My passions within the field include women’s health, environmental health, and mental wellbeing.

Though I haven't been able to do it as much recently, I love to travel; I met my two best friends while studying abroad in Ireland as an undergrad and we do a trip every year together! I'm a big reader and love both fiction and non-fiction because I am always wanting to learn. Though I'm not an expert, I also really enjoy knitting. Most importantly, I LOVE snuggling with my cat, Olive! If we're ever on a video call together, I'm sure she'll drop in to say hello! Feel free to reach out at Amanda.Zenk@co.anoka.mn.us