In 2017, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awarded Allen County the nation’s top honor, naming it a Culture of Health Prize winner, the first community to be honored in Kansas.

Allen County earned the Culture of Health Prize for our relentless commitment to becoming the healthiest rural county in Kansas. We’ve demonstrated this commitment by:

• Building and sustaining a robust healthcare safety net: constructing a new critical-access hospital, establishing a local federally-qualified health center, dramatically reducing the county’s uninsured rate, and recruiting new providers to the community
• Creating a built environment that supports healthy physical activity: developing over 25 miles of trails, encouraging new development in walkable locations, and constructing a new supermarket in a USDA-designated “food desert”
• Making major policy changes: establishing a drug court and food policy council, restricting youth access to tobacco through Tobacco 21, supporting workplace wellness policies at large and small employers, and encouraging consideration of all modes of transportation through Complete Streets policies

The things that Thrive has put into motion have laid the foundation for a sustainable Culture of Health in Allen County. The Culture of Health prize is fitting precisely because it aligns so well with what we’ve been working toward all these years: a local way of life that values active living and makes it easy for people to make healthy choices, and a community that thrives in terms of both physical and fiscal health. The Culture of Health Prize is a point of immense pride, a recognition of our dedication and vision, and an important part of the emotional fuel that people need to keep doing the work.

But as gratifying as the Culture of Health Prize may be, it’s not the end of the story. We continue to work, every day, to improve our community and the lives of our residents.

Together, Thrive, our supporters, volunteers, and funders, are working to make #AllenCultureOfHealth not just a hashtag, but a way of life.

The following video, produced by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, tells more of the story behind the Culture of Health Prize: 

Learn More

• • What a Story We Have to Tell
  • Learning to Thrive through a Culture of Health
  • Allen County, KS: 2017 RWJF Culture of Health Prize Winner Video