Greetings from the

Anoka County SHIP Team!

There are several things happening with SHIP partnerships in Anoka County including our evaluation surveys, a new school-funding process, Community Partner Awards (formerly known as Neighborhood Mini-Grants), continued expansion of our mental well-being work, and ongoing projects with both new and long-standing partners. We appreciate all the work you do and are excited to continue to partner with you to make the healthy choice the easy choice for all who live, work, learn, and play in Anoka County. If you’d like to say hello or connect, please feel free to reach out to us at SHIP@anokacountymn.gov.

Wishing you all optimal health and well-being in 2024!

SHIP Shape QCTV Interview

Join Cole Hanson, worksite wellness coordinator with Anoka County, as he interviews some of our successful program partners. Listen to folks from Fridley Schools, ACBC Food Shelf and Achieve Services share what makes their worksites healthy! Watch the QCTV Interview on YouTube.

Employee Manuals that Matter Event

Join us for a free SHIP@Work Event - 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb 28 at Bunker Hills Activity Center. Lunch included! We will explore the importance of creating employee manuals that truly make a difference and discover how to craft effective manuals that will engage your employees and enhance their understanding of company policies and procedures. We will also talk about compliance with the new Sick and Safe Time statute passed by the MN Legislature that went into effect on Jan 1!

Register through Eventbrite

Anoka County's SHIP Impact in 2023

This 2023 SHIP Impact flyer showcases the work we've done over the past year to make the healthy choice the easy choice for all Anoka County residents! Feel free to share!

SHIP Story Map Website

This SHIP Story Map shows all of Minnesota’s Statewide Health Improvement Partnership activities. You can break down this data by year, the county, topic area and setting. If you click on the map dots, you can see each partner highlighted separately and the stars show specific success stories. The MN Department of Health spotlighted one success story from Anoka County titled Garden Project a Towering Success at Springbrook Nature Center. Our SHIP Team is very proud of this story as well as the dozens of other stories that could have been showcased.

State of MN SHIP Annual Report

The Statewide SHIP Annual Report has just been released. There are so many ways that grantees are making a difference in our state! Check it out!

The American Lung Association is sending out this POSTCARD on behalf of Anoka County SHIP. The postcard will be delivered to Anoka County Property Managers to highlight the importance of going smoke-free in and around their buildings!

American Lung Association's State of Tobacco Control 2024

Anoka County SHIP partners with the American Lung Association for the tobacco and smoke-free portions of our grant. Minnesota's Report Card shows that, as a state, we are doing fairly well in the tobacco taxes, smoke-free air and access to cessation services, but we are failing when it comes to tobacco prevention and control program funding as well as banning flavored tobacco products. We believe with the right partnerships and programs, we can do better!

Success Stories

We highlighted three of our 2023 SHIP Success Stories, with the garden tower project that the state decided to showcase, along with one from a school and another from a workplace setting. It's a great way to introduce SHIP and get those creative ideas flowing!

Meet our new SHIP Coordinator

We’d like to welcome Lori Blaukat as our new SHIP Coordinator! Lori earned her Bachelor of Science in Community Health in 1998 after a career in the medical field left her wondering if she could play a role in preventing the injuries and diseases she saw every day at the hospital she was employed at. Since then, she has served in non-profits, schools, as well as public health, and has worked with local/state/federal grants. For the past two years, Lori was the Executive Director of Safe Communities of Wright County, a non-profit traffic safety organization. Lori was a SHIP Coordinator a decade ago and is excited to help organize the efforts in Anoka County! She lives in Monticello with her husband and two beloved cats – Paisley and Cleopatra. Her grown daughters, Kassi (age 32) and Kyra (age 24), live in Duluth and Elk River, respectively, with their significant others and pets.

Please feel free to welcome Lori to our team! She can be reached at our SHIP email, SHIP@anokacountymn.gov or directly at Lori.Blaukat@anokacountymn.gov.