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“It’s when we start working together that real healing takes place.”
Those words come from the philosopher David Hume. Still, they could be the adopted mantra for United Way of Central Minnesota’s (UWCM) work to interconnect people, professionals and practitioners with local health resources. Alexis Lutgen and Stef Rothstein, UWCM’s directors of financial stability and education partnerships, have co-facilitated the organization’s health pillar since late 2022. The two have helped bring time-tested and new approaches to how UWCM identifies and responds to local health concerns and priorities.
Since its inception in 1967, United Way has identified the most urgent needs of Central Minnesotans and mobilized a caring response to help the local community. That listening-then-mobilizing approach remains strong, and Lutgen and Rothstein are refining how that looks today with the help of advisory board members composed of various health professionals and community leaders. The group discusses what they see within Central Minnesota regarding the community’s health—specifically mental health—and what they think are the most pressing concerns. The group’s engagement with one another and UWCM is just one way the organization taps into the community to identify priorities, link local information, access resources and mobilize action that brings forth solutions.
Recently, new members joined the health advisory board, allowing the group to expand its listening and reach into even wider circles within UWCM’s service area. Representatives from St. Cloud Area Schools and a local veteran's organization have joined the group. The UWCM health advisory board welcomes new members as it seeks to reflect community diversity and find ways to address the concerns of many local groups.
Alignment and Targeting Needs
UWCM has also recently aligned the health pillar’s investment process with other United Way pillars—namely, education and financial stability—to maintain transparency and even more precisely infuse donations into area nonprofits that impact identified focus areas. UWCM funded 14 organizations for the 2024-26 investment cycle, an increase in the number that received dollars from the previous investment period. These funded partners and programs demonstrate that they offer specific and vital mental health support for local children, caregivers and older adults.
Lutgen says this alignment is one of the changes in the health pillar that she really values. “Adopting a uniform investment process is a positive change because we can support the community’s needs in the most targeted ways possible. It means decisions for the community, by the community.” Rothstein adds that refining the process has the additional benefit of creating renewed energy around health advisory board work. “The group is very dedicated to looking at how they approach issues so they can be even more effective and lean into creative, innovative solutions.”
Collaboration That Advances Innovative Solutions
That creative, innovative and collaborative energy has been the impetus behind several successful health advisory board initiatives during Lutgen’s and Rothstein’s time as co-facilitators. Health advisory board chairperson Scott Palmer, PhD, LP, retired from CentraCare Health, says UWCM improves the lives and wellbeing of our community by narrowing access gaps and opening opportunities for everyone. “The health advisory board members consider all aspects of being healthy and we are pleased that our community has responded with several initiatives that improve children’s mental health, support for caregivers and services for older adults. I am so impressed with United Way’s ability to impact our community by connecting volunteers, donors, partners, professionals and community leaders.”
For example, the advisory board first identified the need for a local mental health navigator through a mental health forum hosted by UWCM in 2022. The mental health navigator position started with seed monies provided by UWCM and is now fully established, funded and housed at Central Minnesota Mental Health Center (CMMHC). This role connects those with mental health needs to local resources, expediting the process of getting people appropriate, personalized support.
The health advisory board also identified the need for more mental health services within area schools. The group has moved forward with initiatives that incorporate more mental health evaluations for young children during preschool screening. Families and caregivers can seek support and services before their children enter kindergarten. This early intervention happens in spaces where children and their caregivers routinely visit to prepare for entry into the education system. The ability to reach and assist many in the community with mental health needs during early childhood is baked into the educational screening process.
Connections within the health advisory board are vital, and a partnership between CentraCare Health and UWCM made it possible to equip Central Minnesota families and caregivers with childhood mental wellbeing resources online. UWCM provided partial funding for this community support project, which offers information, tips and resources for families of children of all ages on CentraCare Health’s website.
Connecting Community Through UWCM’s Navigator Network
In addition to these initiatives, the UWCM’s health pillar has been developing ways to even more efficiently connect community members—sometimes with a complex combination of basic needs—to those who can help. Some helpers have access to specific resources, and when they operate within a wider network of other helpers and have access to a range of resources, their powers to support are amplified. The kind of help they provide is unique because it can assist people with many needs at once, whether they be health or other concerns.
Rothstein says 102 navigators will be part of the new UWCM network. “It’s really a lot of different and diverse roles that exist in this space. We’ve really been able to convene people at different levels. They are engaged and they are ignited, so that makes it exciting to see what’s to come in this work,” says Rothstein.
Lutgen explains that UWCM’s Navigator Network is composed of helping individuals within school districts, health care, child care, transportation, faith groups, universities, suicide prevention groups and more. “The network will do resource gathering and collaboration, and the work covers all of UWCM’s work. We have navigators who have food resources, housing resources, transportation resources, child care services and mental health services. The network brings together anyone doing work to serve the community somehow and seats them at the same table so they can access all the points they need to best serve.”
Rothstein says the network will further UWCM’s ability to listen to the community and respond in more targeted ways. “The UWCM Navigator Network’s function is embedded in this beautiful cycle of being able to hear the community and then serve people in relevant ways. The power of the network is in its ability to have navigators build personal, caring relationships and establish trust with those who are reaching out, so that they get full support that helps them thrive overall.”
Listening, Responding, Evaluating and Refining
Listening and then responding comes in many forms. Rothstein and Lutgen are looking more deeply at how data from various sources may inform their approach. Rothstein explains that the UWCM health pillar locates data in three places: “We have experts and leaders who make up the advisory board and give us their perspectives, we have data that has been collected from sources like the Central Minnesota Alliance, United Way 211, the Minnesota Student Survey (MSS), the statewide health assessment from 2024 and the data we’ve collected from UWCM’s mental health summit back in 2022. We plan on using those sources more fully, but also developing data-gathering from UWCM’s Navigator Network and continuing to gather information from lived experiences and voices from the people we serve.” Lutgen adds that by developing the network, the health pillar can access stories and data from communities that UWCM has tapped into. “The work involves determining what already exists, what we have access to and developing metrics from those sources to see if our work is moving the needle forward on positive change.”
United Way’s focus areas use an evaluative and continuous improvement approach. Rothstein and Lutgen support the health advisory board’s efforts to aim investment dollars in the most impactful ways throughout Central Minnesota and foster collaborations among service providers and community helpers that advance health initiatives in the region. The board’s retreat will refine the goals and metrics for the future and further establish how the group will be a catalyst for community action.
Rothstein and Lutgen are excited about what’s to come for UWCM’s health pillar. Listening to the community is always at the center of that evolution. “We can wish for many things as co-facilitators of this work, but it should always be community-driven so we remember to lean in and listen first. Whatever is created is going to always look a little or a lot different than we originally pictured it as we engage with folks in the community to help lead and support. It’s really about other people and UWCM is just the conduit for the work,” says Rothstein. Lutgen adds that refining the focus of the health pillar is exciting to her, no matter how the work transpires. “I think it’s really important to take that active step to say, ‘Okay, let’s do a gut check. Where could we be? Where should we be?’ And then continuing to align our focus along our priorities and goals.”
No matter what path UWCM’s health pillar follows, Melinda Gau, a long-time health advisory board member, sums up the importance of United Way’s work in Central Minnesota. “United Way is a convener and connector. The health advisory board consists of providers, educators, public health and caregivers. Bringing all of these partners together and listening to them is a powerful way UWCM can discern greatest needs and gaps in delivery of services in our area so that systemic change happens.”
