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Home Special Sections Everyone Can Be a Hero

Fowler, Matforce Fight Addiction on All Fronts

December 14, 2022
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Annual MATFORCE event “Walk With Me, Be Drug Free” at Mortimer Farms.

by Blake Herzog

MATFORCE has been doing heroic work in Yavapai County since 2006 to reduce
drug abuse and addiction and the toll it takes on families and communities.

A coalition of law enforcement and social service agencies, schools and more than 300 volunteers working across a myriad of programs, the organization and Executive Director Merilee Foster have won national awards.

“I love when it has the name MATFORCE on it instead of my name because I have to share it with so many people,” Fowler says. “I have some skills and I feel like I’ve been a part of the success, but I know there’s just been so many other people that I have to share it with and I’m so grateful to them. So, I think, well, I’m going to share this, there’s lots of heroes.”

Her latest commendation further proves the value of teamwork.

In June she was given the Outstanding Public Health/Public Safety Collaboration Effort Award by the Office of National Drug Control Policy for helping to lead a project team assembling a “toolkit” of high-quality information in English and Spanish on the dangers of fentanyl, the basis of a statewide media campaign run during the summer when the most overdose deaths occur.

Fowler has led MATFORCE since January 2007, shortly after it was formed by local leaders to stem the rising tide of methamphetamine use.

She’s been able to keep it and the adjacent Community Counts initiative ahead of the drug crisis since then through its deep involvement in schools and the community, picking up on issues before they grow more out of control.

MATFORCE has formed the state’s first Overdose Fatality Review Board and a reentry program for former inmates that has been replicated in six counties.

She says, “We’re really looking at, you know, root causes, risk and protective factors, and what can we do to enhance protective factors. What can we do to reduce risk factors? What can we do to help them with the reasons that they think they are using drugs and to combat those?”

Fowler oversees an array of programs addressing many factors including suicide prevention, safe medication disposal, a speaker’s bureau, a community garden and, most recently, a diaper bank.

She is a sought-after speaker herself and in 2017 founded Substance Abuse Leaders Coalition of Arizona, which today has 49 member agencies. And MATFORCE continues to make gains for the community, noting an 11% decrease in overdose deaths in the county from 2020 to 2021, the first decline in five years of tracking.

Still, 74 were reported over that timeframe. Fowler has persevered for 16 years in a field notorious for worker burnout.

“I feel so fortunate to be the director of an amazing organization with so many amazing individuals that have done great work,” she says. “We don’t take our money lightly. We don’t take our mission lightly. And I think that goes back to the success of it, we’re going to do the best we can to fight
a very complicated problem.”

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Come & enjoy the local scene in Prescott Arizona!

Prescott Living Magazine

3 days ago

Prescott Living Magazine
LOCAL NEWS: The Northern Arizona VA in Prescott has provided an update on their Homeless Veteran Program. . . .PRESCOTT, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona VA Health Care System’s Homeless Veteran Program, along with its community partners, housed 445 Veterans in 2022, exceeding their target goal by 157%.Nationally, the 2022 goal was to house 38,000 homeless Veterans— a goal that was exceeded by 6.3%. The Department of Veterans Affairs remains committed to ending Veteran homelessness and increasing housing placements is critical to achieving this goal.“This success is a result of efforts built on the evidence-based ‘Housing First’ approach, which prioritizes getting a Veteran into housing, then provides the Veteran with the support they need to stay housed,” said Steve Sample, Medical Center Director.In Northern Arizona, there are a variety of services designed to house homeless Veterans. The VA’s Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) Program includes VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers that provide formerly homeless Veterans with subsidized housing and a wraparound, interdisciplinary case management team to address issues that may have contributed to homelessness. The program provides justice outreach services, employment services, health care services through the Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team, outreach, and transitional housing support. The VA also works closely with community partners to house homeless Veterans through a system called Coordinated Entry, where community agencies along with the VA regularly meet to coordinate efforts and ensure homeless Veterans do not fall through the cracks.“We are fortunate that there is so much support for helping homeless Veterans in our area,” said Jessica Taylor, Homeless Program Coordinator for the Northern Arizona VA. “This success could not have been possible without great collaboration between our community partners, Housing Authorities, Tribal partnerships, and support from our local communities.”Looking ahead, the VA will continue to explore new avenues to house homeless Veterans and overcome housing barriers. In collaboration with U.S VETS, Gorman & Company, and the Arizona Department of Housing, a supportive housing project on the grounds of the VA’s Fort Whipple campus is in the initial planning stages. The VA is also expanding outreach to ensure that homeless Veterans are aware of services available to them. For Veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness— or if you know of homeless Veterans in need of assistance, call 877-424-3838.For more information on renting to or hiring homeless Veterans, visit: www.va.gov/homelessAbout the Northern Arizona VA: Through its main campus in Prescott, along with Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) in Cottonwood, Flagstaff, Kingman, Lake Havasu City, and Anthem— with additional clinics in Tuba City, Page, Kayenta, Chinle, Holbrook, and Polacca, the Northern Arizona VA provides services to approximately 33,000 Veterans over a catchment area of more than 65,000 square miles.. . .www.facebook.com/VAPrescott ... See MoreSee Less

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3 days ago

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Empty Bowls of Prescott Arizona has announced that it will distribute $24,000 to local foodbanks! Their 2022 Empty Bowls fundraising event took place in September, and donations can be made year round on their website.prescott-empty-bowls.square.site ... See MoreSee Less

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