Butte, Mont., with the former Berkley Pit copper mine in the distance. Butte, Mont., with the former Berkley Pit copper mine in the distance.

My recent travels to the rural Northwest to visit clinics that have applied for the next round of Social Innovation Fund (SIF) grants have given me an even deeper appreciation of both the beauty of this part of the country and the heartbreaking human needs that we are trying to address.

I went out to Idaho, Montana, and Alaska on a 10-day trip accompanied by Diane Powers, associate director for translation and implementation for our longtime partner, the University of Washington's Advancing Integrated Mental Health Solutions (AIMS), and we visited four clinics that applied for funding.

The latest grants are part of a multi-year, multi-million dollar SIF award received by the John A. Hartford Foundation to help primary care community health clinics implement a program to improve depression care in medically underserved rural communities in the Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho (WWAMI) region.

An initiative of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the SIF funding will help the Hartford Foundation spread the evidence-based IMPACT model of depression care, in partnership with the AIMS Center. In my travels, I’ve seen first-hand the desperate need for the IMPACT program in the region, where far too many are struggling daily with unemployment, homelessness, alcoholism, substance abuse, and other serious issues.

(For more on the latest found of SIF grants, read my previous post: Apply for the SIF: Come on in, the Water’s Fine!)

I’m sharing some of the photos I took on the trip to show the stark beauty of much of the region. They also help to illustrate one of the things I’ve learned on my visits to the Northwest: how many different shades there are to the word “rural.”

Butte, Mont., for instance, has a population of 34,000 spread out over 720 square miles of mountainous terrain, a lot of which is taken up by mining operations, making it one of the least densely populated places. By comparison, Hardin, Mont., has some 3,600 people over 2.5 square miles of very flat country. And Kodiak, Alaska, has a population of about 6,500, but many villages on the island are tiny (50-100 people) and the only way to get there is by helicopter.

I hope you enjoy the photos, and stay tuned later in the spring for an announcement of the next round of grants to bring improved mental health care to vulnerable rural communities that need it.

Welcome to Butte, Mont. Welcome to Butte, Mont.
A grain elevator in Hardin, Mont. A grain elevator in Hardin, Mont.
Springtime in Greycliff, Mont. Springtime in Greycliff, Mont.
The stark beauty near Hardin, Mont. The stark beauty near Hardin, Mont.
Welcome to Pocatello, Idaho. Welcome to Pocatello, Idaho.
A panoramic view of Pocatello, Idaho. A panoramic view of Pocatello, Idaho.
If you look closely, you can see eagles flying in Kodiak, Alaska. If you look closely, you can see eagles flying in Kodiak, Alaska.
Approaching Anchorage, Alaska, with glaciers in the distance. Approaching Anchorage, Alaska, with glaciers in the distance.