The MY House Podcast Ep. 69: Esther Pitts and Tyler Healy from Mat-Su Health Foundation!The MY House Podcast Ep. 69: Esther Pitts and Tyler Healy from Mat-Su Health Foundation!
The MY House Podcast Network
Leaders from MY House and Mat-Su Health Foundation talk about building genuine partnerships, staying close to youth, and centring relationships over transactions. Their conversation highlights supper club, collaborative grant work, and the importance of joy and community in supporting vulnerable young people.
40:15•8 Jun 2026
Building Community Over Supper: MY House and Mat-Su Health Foundation Join Forces
Episode Overview
- Strong, non-transactional relationships are seen as the foundation for community change, with humility and unity valued more than simple agreement.
- Hands-on involvement, such as serving at supper club, helps funders stay connected to the real impact of their decisions and the lives of youth.
- Youth are actively asked how buildings, programmes, and even meal settings should feel, which helps avoid institutional atmospheres and increases comfort.
- The Mat-Su Health Foundation aims to pair long-term strategic vision with practical support for organisations working with people in crisis.
- Finding joy and fun in the work is described as essential to surviving the grief, loss, and heaviness that come with supporting vulnerable young people.
“It’s not about the transactional part of relationship… you say like, how can I add value? And how can we link arms in endeavour to make a thriving community?”
And how can we link arms in endeavour to make a thriving community?” She shares how serving at MY House’s supper club reconnected her to the heart of the work, describing leaving in tears because she knew she was “in the place where I need to be.” Program officer Tyler Healy talks about moving from direct youth work to grant-making and how that shift lets him support organisations meeting people “at their darkest hour.” He’s candid about how his first major grant with MY House felt daunting, yet turned into a deeply collaborative process aimed at long-term stability, visibility, and community connection.
What can we learn from those who have battled addiction and homelessness while building truly caring communities? This conversation centres on exactly that, as staff from MY House sit down with Mat-Su Health Foundation leaders to talk about partnership, youth, and what real community support looks like in practice. You’ll hear CEO Esther Pitts explain why relationship comes first: “It’s not about the transactional part of relationship… you say like, how can I add value?
The chat highlights how MY House’s youth drop-in model can be misunderstood until you walk through the door, feel the “youth energy,” and see the love, care and occasional teenage angst firsthand. There’s light humour as everyone jokes about ruined run sheets and paint-colour debates, yet underneath is a serious commitment to centring youth voices—right down to asking young people how their new building should look, feel and even how meals should be served.
If you’re interested in how funders, frontline staff and youth programmes can truly work side by side—beyond cheques and formal reports—this episode offers a warm, honest look at what happens when people roll up their sleeves, share chilli, and decide to build something better together. It might leave you asking: what would happen if every funder showed up at supper club?
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