Image: Vital North Foundation

By Laura Durenberger-Grunow - Boreal Community Media - November 19, 2025

The Cook County-based nonprofit organization, formerly known as the North Shore Health Care Foundation, has undergone several big changes this year, including a new name and an expanded focus on community needs. Now known as Vital North Foundation, the 30+ year-old organization is working on a variety of projects, including partnering with local food access initiatives and preparing its Restorative Justice program for an independent future and regional expansion.

A new name

Earlier this year, the organization officially changed its name to Vital North Foundation and launched its website, vitalnorth.org, to better align its identity with its mission and values, according to a September 2025 press release. The change was also made to eliminate confusion with other local healthcare providers, such as North Shore Health.

Executive Director Anna Cariad-Barrett told Boreal Community Media that the name reflects the organization's vision for the area, saying, "We are here to build a vital northern community where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. We also wanted our name to honor the wider county that we serve: from Grant Portage to the west end of the county, and inland."

The organization's mission is to proactively identify opportunities and champion solutions to improve equitable health outcomes and community wellbeing in Cook County. 

"A key part of our work at Vital North is to seek out the gaps that lead to our toughest health challenges, the unheard stories, and overlooked issues. Success for health solutions and programming can only be met if we create solutions that meet the needs of all residents, deliver services where they are needed, and specifically design solutions for the unique strengths and challenges of our frontier community," Cariad-Barrett said.

Addressing food insecurity

One area that Vital North has focused on this past year is addressing food insecurity. Cariad-Barrett shared that "Despite the seasonal presence of wealth due to tourism, the median household income in Cook County is $12,000 lower than the rest of the state, meaning that many year-round households are under-resourced and struggle to make ends meet. Nearly a quarter of families face a cost-of-living crisis." 

To help, Vital North created the Nourish Cook County initiative, which will explore and develop solutions to reduce food insecurity, collaborating with local partners to create short and long-term solutions.

Acknowledging the important work that organizations such as the Cook County Food Access Council and other entities are already doing, Cariad-Barrett shared that Vital North is looking at where gaps currently exist and how it can "lower food insecurity and strengthen the larger food access system over time." Additionally, she shared that Vital North aims to support local partners that are already doing work by offering services such as coordinating volunteers, investing in resources, acting as a fiscal sponsor, and providing other solutions to help sustain and expand program capacity. 

The Rural Lab

Also in 2025, Vital North established The Rural Lab, a program that seeks and builds knowledge about the health and well-being challenges facing the region and designs solutions tailored to the unique resources and realities of Cook County. "The Rural Lab creates a space to explore, design, and test what works for our toughest health and wellbeing challenges. Vital North can take what we learn through The Rural Lab and develop and incubate the programs our community needs," Cariad-Barrett said.

Vital North has a long history of incubating programs, according to Cariad-Barrett, where they design and develop solutions that eventually operate sustainably on their own, such as Care Partners of Cook County, the Emergency Workforce Solutions program, and the Oral Health Task Force.

"The reason we incubate and launch programs instead of keeping them is that each program can continue to operate sustainably and independently, benefiting the community for years to come, and Vital North can bring its attention and resources to new emergent issues affecting the community," she said. 

Restorative Justice non-profit launch & expansion

Another big change will take place in 2026, with the Restorative Justice & Truancy Services program set to spin off as an independent nonprofit. The program is a "community-based dialogue program that brings people together to peacefully address harm, resolve conflict, and rebuild relationships that have been ruptured through crime or harmful incidents," according to the website. 

In addition, the Restorative Justice program is expanding its services into Lake County by building on its foundation in Cook County and Grand Portage. This expansion will include hiring a Case Coordinator in Lake County, a move the foundation views as an extension of its efforts to build trust and heal across the wider region.

The launch is tentatively planned for Summer 2026.

Community engagement

Cariad-Barrett shared that, along with new programs and expanding existing ones, Vital North is looking for community members to get involved by providing feedback on key priority areas and needs in the area, or by donating. Additionally, the organization is helping to train volunteers to assist across the whole community. "If you would like to volunteer, but aren't sure where or how to get started, please reach out to us," she said. Finally, the Vital North Board of Directors is seeking new members who can provide perspective and leadership to help build the "health of our community." Interested parties should contact Anna Cariad-Barrett at [email protected] or 218-387-9076. 

To learn more about Vital North and its programs, visit vitalnorth.org.