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Beltrami County awarded $348,695 MDH infrastructure grant; cannabis grant to fund youth advisory committees
Summary
Beltrami County Public Health told the board it received a Minnesota Department of Health infrastructure grant for $348,695 through June 2027 and described a separate cannabis prevention grant that will fund youth advisory committees in area high schools in partnership with BASC.
Amy Bowles, Beltrami County Public Health Director and Community Health Services Administrator, briefed the board on two grants. She said the county was awarded $348,695 through the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Infrastructure Grant, with funding through June 2027. The grant’s stated goal is to build partnerships that include representation from tribal nations and historically underserved groups to inform community health planning.
Bowles outlined project partners named in the grant work plan: Sanford Health; Red Lake Comprehensive Health; Cass Lake Indian Health Service (IHS); the Northwestern Indian Community Development Center; Beltrami County Public Health’s information officer and emergency manager; and North Country Community Health Services. She said the county has added representation from Leech Lake since the application and sought to add White Earth representation as well.
Separately, Bowles summarized work funded by a cannabis prevention grant. The plan described in the work plan calls for forming youth advisory committees at Bemidji High School, Trek North and Voyagers High School (eleventh and twelfth graders), with three separate meetings per school and a combined fourth meeting to develop youth perspectives on cannabis and substance use and to design a prevention campaign. Project leads include Kim Graham (BASC executive director), Cammy Kelm (public health social worker) and Brianna Schroeder (BASC intervention program specialist). Bowles said BASC will help implement diversion‑oriented youth prevention activities.
Board members asked clarifying questions about partners; Bowles reiterated the grant timeline (through June 2027) and the county’s intention to build on existing tribal and community partnerships. No formal vote or funding decision was taken during the presentation.
