Cowley ACTS
Addressing Challenges Together
Through Cowley ACTS (Addressing Challenges Together), impactful work continues to grow out of a more collaborative culture of community partners - including frontline service providers, non-profit directors, city/county/state officials, school district officials, private philanthropists and passionate community leaders.
If you want to stay informed regarding this initiative and are interested in being a part of the work taking place to address challenging, daunting issues in our community through one (or more) of the four focus areas - CHILDCARE, HEALTH, HOUSING or RESOURCE OPTIMIZATION - use the buttons below to join a group for updates.
Legacy, A Regional Community Foundation stands in the gap for many issues in our community - acting as a catalyst and thought leader, convening people for action and providing necessary resources.
There is often a divide between what we think we know and the reality of what is really happening. That's why we're digging into data zeroing in on kids and how poverty impacts health, education, and their potential for a successful future. Indicators with Cowley County-specific data vetted by the Kansas Health Institute have been targeted. We hope this work will bring us to a common place from which we can diagnose the real circumstances of the situation and make progress in a skillful manner.
In 2023, Legacy hosted a series of community conversations to further the work.
A number of integrated projects and initiatives led to the launch of this work. Legacy tied together our work coordinating the RISE Cowley's Blue Cross Blue Shield Storytelling Pathway with that of our SDG team from the Kansas Association of Community Foundations (KACF) cohort aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals funded by a grant from the Charles S Mott Foundation.
Additionally, Legacy is coordinating with the Kansas Health Foundation funded and supported Early Childhood Literacy Collective Impact Initiative in Ark City.
Zeroing in on Cowley County kids and how poverty impacts health, education and their potential for a successful future
Places where others are telling our story...
● APHA 2023 Annual Meeting and Expo: Atlanta Nov 12-15 – Presentation abstract Cowley county data walk: A novel community engagement approach for improving health outcomes in a rural Kansas community
● FaceBook/Updates – City Cowley County Health Department – in addition to posting banner images pointing to Legacy webpage, regular comments were included in the widely distributed biweekly Public Health Update, and the City-Cowley County Health Department added and promoted a “Cowley County Data Walk Notification” sign-up to their website.
● Pilar Pedraza with KAKE news produced a segment highlighting “A Closer Look at Cowley Kids” Data Walk information regarding depression/suicide on December 5, 2022 after learning about it from KSOK/BOBFM announcing the day after on their radio show and social media.
● Morning Mixtape interview on BOB FM 12/7/2022
● The Cowley CourierTraveler published this media release on January 24, 2023.
● The Cowley CourierTraveler published this article on December 3, 2022.
● Kansas Health Institute published an article regarding the Data Walk on their website on December 8, 2022.
● United Nations Foundation published an article on August 29, 2022.
● Brookings Institute featured the Kansas community foundation cohort in a “State of the SDGs in the US” publication as linked by Kansas Association of Community Foundation’s on March 17, 2022. KACF’s SDGs Cohort of five rural community foundations in Kansas is highlighted by Brookings Institute in the report “State of the SDGs in the US” (see p. 18).
