Our grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas®

Our work now is focused on a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas® Pathways to a Health Kansas Coordination Grant of $100,000, which will help us to:

• Network outside of the coalition and incorporate input from community representatives on activities for each strategy.
• Develop community activities that have a public, active role for key leaders.
• Develop and maintain an Action Plan, including sustainability, to identify activities, implementation steps and the long-term outputs of each focus area strategy.
• Develop and maintain a Communications Plan with engagement strategies to inform and involve the public in this initiative.

Pathways to a Healthy Kansas is the largest community grant program ever funded by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas. The Pathways program provides community coalitions with the tools and resources needed to remove barriers and engage their communities in ways that enable healthy eating and tobacco-free, active living to become a way of life. However, Cowley is one of just 16 communities so funded.​

This funding includes the coordination grant of $100,000, plus the opportunity to apply for non-competitive implementation and achievement grants of up to $400,000, for a total of $500,000.

The goal is to positively affect our communities in seven key Pathways—Community Policy, Resident and Community Well-Being, Food Retail, Health Care, Restaurants, Schools, and Worksites.​

During the Action Planning Phase, RISE Cowley will:

• Create a strong leadership team and develop community partners
• Gather community input on priorities through a survey
• Create practical and realistic implementation plans
• Seek to align past and current RISE Cowley efforts with Pathways
• Create a strong foundation for implementation of grant funding
• Avoid mistakes caused by acting too quickly

Click here to learn more about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Pathways to a Health Kansas.