KFMC Health Improvement Partners Honors United Way of Harvey and Marion Counties with 2026 Health Equity Innovation Award
KFMC Health Improvement Partners (KFMC) is proud to recognize United Way of Harvey and Marion Counties (UWHMC) as the recipient of the 2026 Health Equity Innovation Award. The organization is being honored for its community-based Resource Navigation program, which connects rural residents with support for housing, health care, food, employment, and other essential needs, all through a familiar, accessible setting: the public library.
The Health Equity Innovation Award recognizes organizations and individuals who develop and implement inventive strategies to reduce health disparities and advance equity in their communities. UWHMC’s approach demonstrates how trusted public spaces and coordinated partnerships can help remove barriers that keep people from accessing support.
Meeting Rural Residents Where They Are
Based in Newton, Kansas, UWHMC serves two largely rural counties where many working households struggle to afford basic needs. According to its award nomination, 35 percent of Harvey County households and 39 percent of Marion County households live below the ALICE Threshold, meaning they cannot afford the essentials of housing, food, childcare, transportation, and health care.
These challenges often overlap. Residents served by the navigation program have an average of 2.6 areas of need, with housing, employment and income, health, and food among the most common. Rather than requiring residents to navigate separate systems on their own, the program provides a central starting point.
UWHMC placed the program inside Newton Public Library to make asking for help easier. The location offers a free, familiar public space without the stigma some residents associate with entering a government or social service office. Services are person-centered, strengths-based, culturally responsive, empathetic, and accessible, with no cost or eligibility requirements to receive navigation support.
Connecting People to Resources and to Each Other
At the time of its nomination, the program had served 196 individual clients through more than 911 encounters and made over 300 outbound referrals. Each referral is designed as a warm handoff, helping residents connect with services rather than simply giving them a phone number.
The program had also received 146 inbound referrals from 32 partner organizations, while another 53 clients arrived without a referral. Community members themselves represented the largest source of inbound referrals, reflecting neighbors’ role in connecting one another with support.
UWHMC is also working to address language barriers identified by residents, including limited translation services and difficulty advocating for themselves in health care settings. The organization is hiring a bilingual Resource Navigator to help Spanish-speaking residents access information and assistance in Spanish.
Building a Sustainable, Replicable Model
The program builds on existing community infrastructure. Newton Public Library and NMC Health provide annual support through a renewable memorandum of understanding, while UWHMC employs and supervises the navigator. This shared approach allows partners to sustain work that no single organization could support alone.
Navigation also draws on UWHMC’s broader role as a community convener. The organization brings together the Healthy Harvey Coalition, the Housing Alliance of Harvey & Marion Counties, the Child Care Task Force, and Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD). These relationships strengthen the network behind each referral and help connect individual needs with community-wide solutions.
UWHMC is expanding the program into Marion County and founded the Kansas Community Navigation Collaborative to share lessons with other communities. Because the model uses existing public spaces and partnerships, it offers a practical approach for rural communities without requiring a new building or clinical setting.
The organization tracks encounters, referrals, and support requests across seven social determinants of health domains. Its board reviews performance quarterly, and an annual Community Impact Report shares results with residents and funders.
KFMC would also like to extend a special thank-you to this year’s panel of judges, whose expertise and perspectives were instrumental in selecting the 2026 Health Equity Innovation Award recipient:
- Misty Bosch-Hastings, Director, Homeless Solutions Division, City of Lawrence, Kansas
- Jim Kirkbride, Chief Executive Officer, Ellsworth County Medical Center
- Dr. Tiffany Manuel, President and CEO, TheCaseMade
- Jolie Ritzo, CEO, Civitas Networks for Health
For information about the Health Equity Innovation Award and the nomination process, visit kfmc.org/health-equity-innovation-award.
