Legacy provides support to Cowley County in pandemic

Post date: 10/30/2020

Legacy Family, We endeavor to keep you updated regarding the activities of Legacy Foundation. The paragraphs below describe another manner in which we our providing support for Cowley County during the pandemic.

Several months ago, federal coronavirus relief package funding was awarded to the State of Kansas and distributed to individual counties to assist those impacted by the pandemic. From this distribution, our Cowley County Commissioners approved Legacy Foundation’s management of a small piece of the program to facilitate cooperation among the non-profit organizations for the benefit of Cowley County households adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Cowley County retains management of the allocation and fund balances, management of the program operations and remains the definitive authority for the project.

Legacy is addressing objectives regarding social commodities in working closely with the Cowley County Administrator. This includes Voucher/Special Unmet Needs, Food, Household Needs, General Public/PPE, Transportation and development of a Cowley County Cares App. Legacy is acting as a liaison, system builder, and partnership facilitator. The timeline for implementation of this assistance is short with all funds to be encumbered by November 30, 2020.

Legacy has retained Heidi Hill and Pam Moore as consultants for the Project Management. Hill and Moore are experienced, well-connected leaders with a deep understanding of the challenges faced by Cowley County. They are collecting current data, information and insights to shape the action plan for the social commodities part of the funding.

The short timeframe for implementation of this initiative does not allow us to fully apply the collective impact model; however, we will be remiss if we do not put in place the appropriate structure toward collective impact work. It's time to leverage this recovery for sustainable resilience. When we get it right this framework will be proven, for not only this crisis, but also future challenges.

The decisions made by our Cowley County Commissioners to invest this money by supporting the people of our community can determine the future for generations of Cowley County residents. The Legacy Board of Directors considers this work worthy of our attention and assistance. We will strive to support this commendable endeavor.

Contact Legacy at (620) 221-7224 or admin@legacyregionalfoundation.org for information.