Thrive works by engaging the passion, vision, and energy of individuals, organizations, and businesses to improve the quality of life in Allen County.
From the beginning, a big part of what Thrive did was simply listening — visiting each community in the county and engaging in meaningful conversations with residents. Turns out, just as the opportunities and challenges are different in big cities and small towns, the problems people face vary across Allen County as well. We share many of the same issues, of course, but each community has its own unique needs and wants.
Also, as it turned out, no one had actually engaged in these conversations before.
We found, as we listened, that the best ideas came from the residents themselves. When people are truly engaged — when their opinions are actually heard, and then acted upon — that’s when great things can happen.
What began as Community Conversations evolved into the Community Engagement Initiative, which evolved into the ACT (Allen County Tomorrow) Together program. As time passes, and as resident engagement increases and deepens, our focus and involvement changes as well.
Many of our local communities have started their own “Pride-Thrive” groups, which draw on both Thrive Allen County and the statewide Kansas Pride Program, to continue improving their towns:
In addition to the ongoing participation within each community, an important event is the annual Thrive Dinner, which gathers residents from throughout the county to celebrate our successes, honor our champions, and foster conversations. As part of the event, we give out Thrive Awards to exemplary people and organizations that do great work in our county.
2017 Thrive Dinner
Discussing community revitalization at the Iola Downtown Summit, February 2017.
Discussing bicycle and pedestrian issues in Humboldt, November 2016.
Discussing community issues and priorities at the Allen County Tomorrow public meeting, June 2016.
Community visioning meeting, August 2015