Collaborative Group of West Klickitat County Organizations Receives $800,000 in Funding

WHITE SALMON, Wa., April 13, 2020: A group of White Salmon service providers - the Klickitat County Link Group, or K-LINK - recently learned that it will be awarded $800,000 in total funding from the Southwest Accountable Community of Health (SWACH) in a highly competitive award process, to launch a Community-Clinical Linkages Program. 

In the fall of 2019, this group of organizations from the health, social services, educational and law enforcement sectors in western Klickitat County began developing a plan to address the needs of its community's underserved populations in response to the SWACH funding opportunity. Current K-LINK partners include: Bingen/White Salmon Police Department, Comprehensive Healthcare, Klickitat County (Mt. Adams Transportation/Senior Services), Klickitat County Health Department, NorthShore Medical Group, Skyline Health, Washington Gorge Action Programs, the White Salmon Valley Education Foundation and the White Salmon Valley School District.  

Over the next two years, K-LINK will utilize the $800,000 in funding to launch a multi-agency program targeting underserved children and families living in western Klickitat and far eastern Skamania Counties.The collaborative program will connect community members to vital services such as food, transportation, housing and healthcare - including mental health care and substance abuse treatment. Although the program was conceived prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the difficulties many in the community currently face due to the pandemic make this initiative particularly important.

All K-LINK partners contributed significant time and expertise in developing the program concept. Paul Lindberg, Collective Impact Specialist for the Columbia Gorge (a collaboration of the United Way of the Columbia Gorge and Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital), led coordination and grant-writing efforts, and Skyline Health and the White Salmon Valley Education Foundation also provided coordination and grant-writing support. For more information about the K-LINK program, contact Colleen Regalbuto of the White Salmon Valley Education Foundation: colleen@wsvef.org.

###