A partnership sprouted recently on the west lawn of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church.

The church is building a Giving Garden featuring four raised beds and four garden plots to give a few members a chance to garden and to grow produce to donate to food shelves. But the church hasn’t been alone in its new endeavor, it’s received help from Mower County’s Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP).

“For our experience, it’s been so helpful to have that support,” said Alice Tylutki, director of missions and shared ministries at the church.

“It’s been essential for us,” she added.

The gardens at Our Savior’s are one example of how SHIP continues to sprout as a partner in wellness efforts and programs around the county.

But now SHIP is going to have longer to see the fruits of its labor. After a few years working with 18- to 20-month grants, Mower County’s SHIP has been renewed starting Nov. 1 through 2020 with a budget of $165,000 a year, which funds parts of two Mower County Health and Human Services positions and provides some money for grants.

SHIP aims to be a community partner in reducing chronic disease and improving health care costs, but that’s not an easy or quick task to accomplish, which is why Mower’s SHIP Coordinator Karissa Studier said she was glad to see the grant cycle extended.

“It’s really good that they extended it to be a larger length time,” she said, noting health projects take a lot of time to enact.

SHIP formed in 2009-10 in Mower County in its public health office but funding was quickly cut by the state, resulting in Mower losing the program. That was a concern for the county when it accepted a state grant and brought back SHIP in 2013. But now, SHIP funding is more secure as it’s in the Minnesota Department of Public Health base funding, according to Studier.

Starting in November 2013, Studier spent the first part of her time with the county planning and reaching out to the community to see where they could provide support.

Now, she’s been out promoting and partnering health-themed projects within the county.

While SHIP tracks its success stories, it’s not always easy to show and represent the success, because changes in a community’s health take years if not decades to appear in statistical measures.

“A lot of our work is really difficult to measure, specifically because it’s prevention,” Studier said.

 Raising up local foods

One of SHIPs recent focuses has been to support raised community gardens at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church and at senior home facilities, including St. Mark’s Lutheran Home, Grand Meadow Care Center, Comforcare Good Samaritan Center, Adams Health Care Center and Sacred Heart Care Center.

The senior homes raised gardens are being installed this fall with the goal to have them ready for next year’s growing season. Not only will the raised gardens give the residents a chance to continue a hobby, but they will give them a chance to connect.

“It’s really beneficial for the residents on a much bigger level on the social aspect,” Studier said.

At the senior homes, the raised beds can help extend the growing season, because they can be rolled indoors. The senior centers plan to start seeds inside before moving them outside.

“They’re excited,” Studier said. “They’re very excited for the opportunity to have some funding to kickstart some of these ideas.”

Our Savior’s community garden is starting small with the gardens next year after the land is given time to improve through sheet mulching. The gardens feature more traditional allotment plots for community members who don’t have space for gardens, but those community members have not been selected yet.

The plan is to give most of the fruits and vegetables grown in the raised beds to local food shelves like the Salvation Army, since the Lutheran ELCA Synod features a hunger-fighting program called Enough Food for All.

“This was a great way to be able to meet some of that need,” Tylutki said.

But Studier noted there are many different angles to SHIP. Studier also sees SHIP as a way to increase local access to healthy foods.

SHIP also helped form the LeRoy Farmers Market, which has been growing since forming earlier this year.

“They’ve seen a really big jump in the amount of venders that they have,” Studier said,

The market, held every Thursday, has increased in venders and participants, which Studier said is “awesome for that little town.”

SHIP has also helped the Austin Farmers Marker expand to Lyle and Brownsdale.

 Pedaling for wellness

Along with work at the markets, SHIP is also working with Austin childcare centers to promote healthy eating and physical activity, along with providing training and breastfeeding support.

Catherwood Childcare Center, for example, implemented fun ways to help keep children active through things like a balance beam and a kids’ basketball hoop.

SHIP has also partnered with Vision 2020’s Bike/Walk committee to support the upcoming Red Bike program, which aims to provide bikes for community members to borrow free of charge. The groups also partnered to help bring the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota (BikeMN) to Austin’s I.J. Holton Intermediate School for a class to train on the Walk! Bike! Fun! curriculum, which targets safe routes to and from school.

SHIP is also assisting with Austin bicycling leader’s quest to be name a bike-friendly city, and it assisted with the signage going up around Austin meant to guide and to direct people to local landmarks.

Diabetes Prevention Program that formed over the summer at the Austin YMCA.

“That’s going really well thus far,” Studier said.

Studier and SHIP have worked with Austin’s schools. At Sumner Elementary School, SHIP helped install hydration stations after the school identified drinking more water as a priority for staff and students.

It helped Woodson Kindergarten Center with its greenhouse project, and it helped Southgate Elementary add fencing around its school garden to keep out wildlife.

SHIP encourages assessments for schools to highlight areas to target, whether it be gaps in healthy eating or physical activity.

As SHIP enters its latest grant cycle — known as SHIP 4 — Studier plans to reach out to more of the out-county schools.

 Moving forward

But that’s not the only way SHIP is moving forward.

One of SHIP’s upcoming focuses could be a breast feeding coalition, which Studier is currently considering as way to connect people with key resources. The effort would include lactation consultants and following the guides of the Minnesota Department of Health to help engage the community and gauge the need.

But plenty more work is on the horizon for SHIP.

Just last week, Studier and other Mower County Health leaders were trained in motivational interviewing, which is a technique for doctors and nurses to encourage patients to take the lead in determining and meeting their health goals.

”This would really help to equip the nurse or doctor … to really initiate that conversation,” Studier said.

SHIP will also take on a bit of a new look in Mower County moving forward. Public health nurse Sally Garry will take on more SHIP duties in the future, and Studier will take on some public health roles.

Each year, public health sends out a community health needs assessment, and studier is glad that this year’s includes some questions and evaluations concerning SHIP.

That’s one way they want to keep SHIP in the public’s eye.

“We want to continue to make ship a community interest and [part of] what people are wanting to do in the community,” Studier said.