Area organizations share in $102,750 awarded to address family needs

The Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund awarded $102,750 in grants for Community Action Labs to address urgent and emerging needs of Kansas families. Recently, 41 Action Lab applications were received, and 21 projects were funded.

Applicants included nonprofit organizations, child care providers, school districts, city and county governments, and health care providers.

Over the past year, more than 2,000 people shared their personal stories via the University of Kansas Center for Public Partnership and Research’s Our Tomorrows Story Bank. The stories were analyzed by the Kansas Sampler Foundation Rural Communities group and Family First this spring. The analysis revealed patterns in the experiences of Kansans, knowledge that helped inform the work of Kansas leaders.

Participants were asked to propose Action Labs – community-centered, quick, and inexpensive intervention that bring about positive change. Funded were labs cover all areas of the state addressing the goals identified in the All in for Kansas Kids Strategic Plan:

• State-Level Coordination

• Community-Level Collaboration

• Family Knowledge & Choice

• Private Sector Collaboration

• Capacity & Access

• Workforce

• Quality & Environments

The following area organizations received funding for their Action Lab:

South Central Action Labs

• Stafford County Economic Development, Empowerment for All, $5,000

Southwest

• Russell Child Development Center, Transportation Support for Health Care Access, $5,000