OUR IMPACT
About Us
Our Mission
The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team’s mission is to increase access to healthy food and physical activity, promote commercial tobacco cessation, enhance quality of life and encourage economic growth. The problems of health inequity and social injustice are complex in nature and inextricably linked to key economic indicators. A healthy workforce is a prerequisite for economic success in any industry and in all cities.
Current Projects and Initiatives
Our solution to building healthy communities is by transforming the power, building trust, and encouraging community participation. Comprehensive strategy for change includes local organizing, strategic communication, community research, creating systems, and environmental changes.
Total Grant Funds Awarded Since 2016: $ 3,443,013.20
Our Staff and Board of Directors
The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team Executive Board :
Jody Love, President and CEO, Ex Officio
Josh Jones (Chair), Local Business Owner
Lindsay Madison (Treasurer), President and CEO Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce
Kayla Boyd (Secretary), APRN
Alex Barner, Business Owner and Entrepreneur
Kelly Perry, Business Owner and Entrepreneur and City of Bronson Council Member
Lucas Kelley, Director of Fort Scott Recreation
The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team
Rachel Carpenter, Executive Director
Lisa Robertson, Community Health Worker
Sherri Siebert, Bookkeeper and Grant Administrator
Our History
In 2016, the HBCAT began as a joint effort between City of Fort Scott Economic Development and Mercy Health System’s Community Benefit. The action team applied for grant funding through the BCBS KS Pathways to Healthy Kansas Grant and was subsequently awarded. The committee was comprised of community leaders who were in positions of authority or influence in order to execute policy change. Mercy Health Systems served as the fiscal agent and the action plan mirrored the community health improvement plan.
Since 2016, our work has been broadly recognized and modeled through the state of Kansas. Jody Love, leader of the HBCAT since inception, was awarded the Governor’s Council on Fitness Kansas Health Champion honoree in 2019. Our work was also recognized with the prestigious Kansas State of Wellness Community Champion Award in May 2018. The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team initiative has been identified by the Kansas Hospital Association and Kansas Health Institute as a leader in the field and used in a toolbox for Kansas hospitals as an example of best practice approaches to address community health.
The HBCAT has gained momentum and continuous support since 2016, growing from a subcommittee of the Fort Scott Visioning Committee to our own Non-Profit 501 C 3 Corporation with 4 employees in just eight years.