THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE MADISEN!

Madisen could not have anticipated all that would happen in her service year when she arrived in Fairbanks in February 2021. Yes, the pandemic was in full swing (and she eventually contracted COVID right before her service year ended). However, Madisen also changed host sites (through no fault of hers) with about 4 months left to serve. While this type of move does occasionally occur,  that fact makes it no less difficult on the VISTA. It is a testament to Madisen's perseverance and dedication to social justice that she completed her year of service. With an eye toward eventual graduate school, Madisen ended her year on a strong, solid note. Personally, I will miss her love of all things sushi! May everything work out exactly you hope, Madisen - you deserve all the good!

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"Madisen was with our Community Partnerships department for just a few months however she left a mark that will lend to a complex projects’ success.  She brought an excitement to the work of finding exemplars for our collaborative community health needs assessment (CHNA).  A CHNA is a year-long project that identifies the inequities, gaps, and needed improvements in community health.  Madisen dug deep and wide and identified the lessons learned from other communities that created collaborative assessments of health factors and outcomes.  During this coming year, we will refer often to the materials she researched and organized as guidelines for our work.  She also helped build the initial proposal for a project to secure Federal funds for healthy and equitable communities projects to Fairbanks.  These projects will bring much-needed relief to people and programs impacted by COVID and will also build infrastructure needed to contend with pandemics.  Madisen is a skilled researcher, grasps the complexities of a project quickly, and is genuinely fun to work with.  She has a positive energy that is contagious and makes teamwork a real joy."

Carol Davila
Community Partnership Program Manager
​Foundation Health Partners

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