The Kansas Health Foundation works with more than 40 long-term, core support partners and grantees across three main impact areas: Building Power & Equity Partnership (BPEP), Civic Life and Policy and Network Mobilization.
My role at the foundation focuses on our network mobilization partners—statewide networks serving all 105 counties in Kansas. While many of our partners and grantees focus on individual aspects of health challenges like housing, hunger and workforce development, our network mobilization partners are “issue agnostic.” They work at the intersection of a multitude of community needs no matter which major health challenge the foundation is focused on.
The United Ways of Kansas is a great example of this.
“United Way has been serving communities all across our state for over 100 years,” said Lisa Gleason, United Ways of Kansas State Director. “Wherever there is a need in a community, there is a United Way mobilizing people and resources to improve lives.”
To strengthen relationships and collaboration among United Ways across the state, the United Way of the Plains and the Kansas Health Foundation are working together to support a state association to help these organizations unite resources, share best practices and amplify their collective voices.
“When we choose to work together, the good we do grows,” said Gleason. “Truly we believe that together we can create a future where every Kansan thrives.”
United for ALICE
The United Ways of Kansas play a crucial role in our latest major health challenge: Upward Mobility, which we define as our ability to stabilize, thrive and make choices over time, without losing connection to culture, community or self. It is about the opportunity and choice for all Kansans.
Alongside Kansas Health Institute’s landscape analysis and qualitative data from our crowdsourcing efforts, we’re using United for ALICE data to highlight the socioeconomic determinants of health that are challenging every Kansans’ Upward Mobility.
ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed and refers to households that earn more than the federal poverty level, but not enough to afford the basics where they live—known as the Household Survival Budget.
“The Household Survival Budget outlines the bare minimum cost of living in today’s economy,” United Way of the Plains Director of Community Impact Logan Bradshaw shared at a Wichita Independent Business Association (WIBA) luncheon.
Basics include transportation, taxes, housing, healthcare, groceries, childcare and a modest allowance for technology, such as internet connection.
“A family of four [with two children in child care] in Sedgwick County would need to earn about $75,000 a year just to cover those basics,” Bradshaw said.
It’s also important to note what isn’t included in the basics: “school supplies, field trips or afterschool enrichment activities for kids. [It] doesn’t include saving for retirement… Christmas gifts, vacations or even winter coats.”
United for ALICE data provides a clear picture of financial hardship across the country and in Kansas where an estimated 38% of households are below the survival threshold.
“Ultimately, even though they’re employed, they’re constantly one flat tire or one unexpected medical bill away from a crisis,” Bradshaw said.
When we compare what it takes for a family of four to survive in Kansas and where we have the federal poverty level set, we see a nearly $30,000 gap. In that gap are teachers, restaurant staff, personal care workers, nurses and more representing the people our economy relies on to thrive.
We have to help them thrive, too.
Thriving, Not Surviving
As we approach 2026, the Kansas Health Foundation is preparing to convene with advocates and experts around Upward Mobility to collaborate on a blueprint for systems change that improves the health of Kansans, including our ALICE households.
“When we support ALICE families—whether through better childcare options, fair wages or community programs that help bridge the gap, we’re not just helping individuals, we’re helping build a stronger, more stable community for all of us,” Bradshaw said.