July 26, 2023 | By Emilie Jacques
The Copper Shores Podcast is BACK! With a new name and a great new soundtrack thanks to Ontonagon-native Noah Lukkari! Our first episode back - episode No. 70 overall - is actually a special insert episode thanks to our friends at Copper Country Today. We’re calling it our “State of the Foundation” podcast where we hear a little bit about nearly everything happening here at Copper Shores.
Todd Van Dyke of Copper Country Today interviewed Copper Shores Community Health Foundation President/CEO Kevin Store on the recent changes at Copper Shores and how it’s going to positively influence the community. One of the first steps in helping the community was rebranding after a double acquisition.
“We’ve contemplated the name change for some time now,” said Store. “We've talked a lot about a name that would be a little bit more inclusive and more representative of the region we serve.”
Knowing the acquisitions would serve as a good catalyst for a rebrand, Copper Shores moved forward with something that ties all of our communities together.
With three great organizations coming together, Copper Shores is better equipped to serve Copper Country residents by improving and expanding upon already established services. The foundation is uniquely equipped to both provide funding to other organizations, as well as provide services directly to community members.
“About 2.5 to 3% of foundations in the country will function as what is referred to as an operating foundation, as opposed to a non-operating funding foundation,” said Store. “We have become a bit of a hybrid.”
After lengthy discussion with Rebecca Crane, former Executive Director of Dial Help and current Senior Director of Programming, Store and others felt that they could do more for the community together by creating some efficiencies in scale, lowering some administrative costs, and amplifying some of the services that are offered.
“We may not know that they're in our circle,” said VanDyke, “Many of us would be surprised to find out what goes on with some of our friends and neighbors.”
There are many people in the community who are in need of a variety of mental health and well-being resources, and Copper Shores aims to be the organization that the community can trust and fall back on in hard times.
Listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast player by searching for Copper Shores Podcast!
