VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The City County Health District at their last meeting awarded the Public Health Outstanding Service Award to Kay Kringlie. Each year the board names a recipient who has gone above and beyond in volunteering and sharing their time and talents to further public health and make our community a healthier place to live.
The City County Health District honored Kringlie for her work in helping individuals improve their own personal situations which affect their health, but Kay also has worked to help the community become healthier in the broader sense of the determinants of health. Kay has done this totally by being a volunteer.
The Social Determinants of Health are conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.
Kay has mentored numerous New Americans who have moved to Valley City, teaching them English, helping them to become comfortable with living in North Dakota which is a very different culture for them and helping them become a contributing member of our town.
In 2001, in response to 9-11 which affected how we all thought about our safety and our future, Kay became a founding member of ‘What in the World Is Going On’, a community-campus organization for the purpose of addressing issues of local, national & international importance. Essentially each of the 5 yearly ‘What in the World’ presentations have had a relationship to the social determinants of health, bringing current topics to our community such as climate change, radioactive waste in ND, health and income inequality, etc. Leading this group for the past 15 years has required persistence, creativity, and attention to detail…which Kay has provided generously.
Kay has been instrumental in promoting cultural understanding and acceptance among long time Valley City residents and new Americans. Most recently she was instrumental in receiving a Consensus Council Grant to help New Americans become a part of our community. She has also consistently worked for policy and changes in laws related to issues that affect the social determinants of health.
The CCHD board thanked Kringlie for her generosity and persistence in working with, and for, the citizens of our community.
