Growing up in Kansas, I often heard stories of rural towns coming together for a barn raising in which a community coordinated their efforts to build a barn in a day. Barn raising was more than a construction project — it was a vivid expression of mutual aid, shared purpose and collective strength.

Neighbors gathered not for profit, but for the well-being of one another, each person contributing time, tools, and talent to help a family build the very structure that would sustain their livelihood. These events were a testament to what’s possible when communities come together with a common goal: challenges that might overwhelm one family could be overcome with the hands and hearts of many.

Today, Mountain Family embraces the spirit of barn raising through our community partnerships. Where we have public health, education, housing, and economic opportunities, all serving under the bigger roof of community health. Just like the most enduring solutions are rarely built in isolation, the sturdy beams of a new barn with a lasting impact must be constructed through collaboration. Each partner brings their own strengths, resources, and perspective to bear on a shared vision. In an era defined by complexity, MFHC’s community partnerships offer a time-tested blueprint for progress: we are stronger, smarter, and more resilient together.

While supportive partners are important for any community health center, partnerships take on an outsized importance in our communities when half of our residents are uninsured. Mountain Family serves a higher percentage of uninsured patients than almost any other community health center in the state with 48% of Mountain Family patients were without insurance in the last 12 months. This is mainly due to the high cost of living in our areas of service, which often forces residents to make hard choices regarding their basic needs – including health care coverage.

Despite striving to provide the highest quality of medical, dental, pediatric, and behavioral health services within our clinics, health outcomes are impacted more by what occurs in the lives of our patients than what we provide in short visits. Factors contributing to health outcomes are often referred to as Social Determinants or Drivers of Health and include housing and food security, education and job opportunities, and social support networks. To ensure our patients also have access to community resources, we work collaboratively with organizations including counties, hospitals, schools, and non-profits providing other services.

Below, I’ll outline three of our primary types of partnerships that enhance our ability to serve the community needs. These are some of our bigger partnerships, but certainly not all of them.

First, our partnership with the Roaring Fork School District’s Family Resource Center, helps us ensure students and their families are holistically supported. The Family Resource Centers provide a multi-generational approach to whole person health that is strengths-based and family-centered. This reinforces Mountain Family’s approach, honoring that patients and their families must be drivers of their own health. This partnership helps create long-term solutions to health problems instead of Band-Aids and exposes underserved populations to new services.

Second, our partnerships with behavioral health providers like Aspen Hope Center, Vail Health Behavioral Health, and Health Solutions West help bridge access gaps for patients seeking long-term behavioral and mental health care. Mountain Family provides short-term solution-focused behavioral health services to those who need it and refers those with longer-term needs to our partners. This helps everyone in the community, as it more accurately meets the individual’s needs, reduces waiting times, and expands access.

Third, our partnerships with county department of human services help to ensure people can access health care coverage options, including Health First Colorado, the state’s Medicaid program. When families can access Medicaid coverage, they are more likely to receive preventive and primary care, less likely to visit the Emergency Department, and experience better health outcomes.

Finally, Mountain Family would not be able to serve its critical role within the health care systems of Garfield, Pitkin, and Eagle Counties without our hospital partners, Aspen Valley Health, Vail Health, Valley View, and Grand River Health. These organizations not only provide referral options for our patients requiring specialty care but also directly contribute to the sustainability of Mountain Family through in-kind and financial support.

Mountain Family is also grateful for our relationship with you – our community members – who play a critical role in talking about our work, ensuring via word of mouth that anyone within our community knows how to reach out when in need. From a healthy single parent with employer sponsored health insurance, to a senior with diabetes and Medicare, all our patients can expect to receive the same high-quality, integrated health care.

We believe our “barn-raising” has touched hearts all over the community because it is a prime example of what we can do when we work together. Mountain Family sees and honors the interconnectedness in our patients and the communities we live in. We give hearty thanks to our partners and community members for working with us to create deeper, more efficient pathways to health. If you are interested in learning more about our work or donating, please visit our website at http://www.mountainfamily.org

Dustin Moyer is CEO of Mountain Family Health Centers and lives in Glenwood Springs with his family.