Quackenboss leaving foundation to head mental health collaboration initiative

Aug. 23--Heather Quackenboss will leave her 10-year position as program director of the La Crosse Community Foundation to coordinate a collaborative effort to dovetail behavioral health services in the Coulee Region with the support of a $1.5 million, eight-year grant.

The La Crosse Medical Health Science Consortium was awarded the grant -- one of 10 across the state -- from the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Labeled "Changemaker" by design to highlight the goal of helping communities improve, the grant will provide $200,000 a year to support the initiative, including the full-time coordinator and a half-time evaluator.

Quackenboss will begin the job in September, according to a joint announcement on Monday from the consortium and Great Rivers United Way. Diana DiazGranados, who was appointed to the evaluator position, and Quackenboss will operate under the guidance of a steering committee representing consortium and United Way partners.

DiazGranados, who led Great Rivers United Way's 2012 Compass community needs assessment, recently returned from an overseas assignment for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in which she mentored and trained public health researchers in project design, monitoring and communications.

"Too often, we picture mental health in a negative light -- it is stigmatized or ignored," Quackenboss said in an interview. "Yet mental health has touched all of us -- whether it be a family member, a co-worker, a friend or ourselves. All of us deal with mental health every day.

"As we realize how important our mental health is, community programs have started to change to support people's mental wellness," she said.

The first year of funding is to be focused on developing a five-year plan to improve behavioral health, as well as physical health of those with behavioral health challenges and improve prevention and healthcare resources. The next five will be devoted to implementing the plan, and the last two, to disseminate and work toward sustaining its findings.

"Having dedicated staff and eight years, including a year just for planning, to improve behavioral health in our region is a rare and valuable opportunity," said consortium director Catherine Kolkmeier.

"There are so many positive projects, programs and people in our community working to improve mental health," Quackenboss said.

"This grant and collaboration give our community the opportunity to focus on area efforts that are working, look at the gaps that we are missing and develop a realistic plan that covers the entire spectrum of mental wellness and health to truly help people," she said.

"The longevity of the grant gives us the ability to get to the root of the problems and make true change," Quackenboss said.

The 10 communities that received grants, administered through the Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program, also will collaborate through their steering committees to support each other's efforts.

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