Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas has selected the RISE Cowley health coalition in Cowley County, along with 23 other communities in Kansas, as a grantee for the second phase of its Pathways to a Healthy Kansas initiative. RISE Cowley, people promoting healthy living, is one of 12 returning communities that were selected in the initiative’s first phase of grants, which brought $500,000 in grant funding to Cowley County over the past three years in the areas of active living, healthy eating and tobacco cessation. Since the initiative began in 2016, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas has donated more than $11.7 million in grants and assistance to communities throughout Kansas, including Cowley County. The Pathways program was created to inspire long-lasting, community-wide health and wellness in communities across Kansas, and has been rooted in Kansas for over 75 years. The Phase 2 grant funding includes a coordination grant of $200,000 for each community.
In addition, Cowley County will have the opportunity to apply for non-competitive implementation grants in six different Pathways amounting to $200,000, for a total of up to $400,000.