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Methodist Medical Center Foundation - 1982-1987
Heartland Health Foundation - 1988-1993
Heartland Regional Community Foundation - 1994-1999
Heartland Foundation - 2000-2005
Heartland Foundation - 2006 - Present
1982 - 1987
- Organization founded to support health care and hospital projects.
- Velma Flies Anderson, a 1941 Methodist Medical Center nursing graduate, established the first endowed scholarship fund for student nurses. Today, 11 educational scholarship programs are supported by the Foundation.
- First major fundraiser generated over $750,000 for an endowed fund to support families faced with cancer.
1988 - 1993
- A 19th century home in the Hall Street Historic District was restored as the Heartland House... a place for Heartland patients and families to stay while receiving treatment.
- Heartland Health contributed funds for an operations endowment, which now holds $5 million in assets. This endowment allows donors' gifts to support the cause they choose, not Foundation operations.
- HEALTHY PARTNERSHIPS was created to encourage collaborative groups to find new innovative solutions to improve health. In 2002, North Kansas City Hospital and Heartland Health became new investors.
- An Employee Trust Fund started initially from vendor rebates and recycling income to provide support to Heartland employees in times of crisis and to offer scholarship assistance to employees' children.
The fund is now supported by an annual contribution from Heartland Regional Medical Center and is called Touchstone.
- The Heartland Charitable Trust Fund through a partnership with Heartland Health and funding from the medical center provides charitable support to worthy endeavors of other 501(c)3 organizations.
- Project YOUTH was founded to mentor high school students and encourage them to explore health care careers. Students earn scholarship assistance for each hour they volunteer.
- First HOLIDAY RIBBONS FOR HEALTHIER COMMUNTIES was launched to encourage end-of-year giving and honor people during the holiday season.
- First reunion was held for former graduates of Methodist Medical Center and St. Joseph (Sister's) Hospital Schools of Nursing.
- A new partnership formed with Missouri's Cattlemen Foundation to aid Missouri families with funds to purchase medical adaptive equipment for their children.
- "A Special Kind of Caring" campaign generated over $1.5 million to start up several new projects: Children's Treatment Center, Hope House, and a special health needs fund for children.
- Thirty-five Heartland employees who faced devastating flood damages were granted over $80,000 of cash and in-kind gifts.
- First Healthy Communities Summit was held in St. Joseph, and now attracts over 500 regional participants each year. The event inspires citizen action to make a difference and celebrates the region's successes. Summit speakers over the years have included futurist Leland Kaiser, cultural anthropologist Jennifer James, author Meg Wheatley, Search Institute founder Peter Benson, Senator Elizabeth Dole, Chicken Soup for the Soul author Dan Clark, Mt. Everest Summiteer Alan Hobson, and Harvard Professor Robert Putnam.
1994 - 1999
- Trustees voted to accept new role as catalyst and convenor for the Healthy Communities for the Midwestern Four Corners movement. Northwest Missouri State University agreed to come on board as a facilitating partner. Today, Healthy Communities is supported by several investors: Heartland Health, Benedictine Health, Missouri Western State University , North Missouri Central College, Northwest Missouri State University, and St. Francis Hospital and Health Services.
- A new toy lending library and outdoor therapeutic playground were dedicated.
- The first Community Transformation Forum attracted over 100 people from different walks of life to think about their community's future and how to thoughtfully plan for it. Each year several communities from the region participate in this collaborative planning process.
- Heartland Centre for Rehabilitation and the Foundation received the 1995 National Safety Council's third place award for Improvements in the Quality of Life for People with Disabilities for efforts in children's rehabilitation.
- St. Joseph Preservation, Inc. recognized the Foundation for quality restoration efforts of the Hope House.
- Foundation's mission was broadened to reflect its commitment "to continuously improve the health and quality of life for children and adults within the region."
- Name changed to Heartland Regional Community Foundation to acknowledge our commitment, interdependence, and connectedness to all community sectors from government, non-government, and citizen groups.
- Missouri Humanities Council selected the Foundation as its first regional coordinator of READ from the START, an initiative that encourages reading to children from infancy.
- Outcomes for Kids was started to offer matching funds and encourage collaborative groups to find new ways to impact the quality of life for our region's children.
- Interfaith Care Teams began as a way to help mobilize volunteers and congregations to offer basic respite care for children and adults with chronic illness or disabilities.
- Healthy Communities for the Midwestern Four Corners was chosen as one of six sites nationwide to participate in the Health Forum's Accelerating Community Transformation Project. The aim of the research project was to discover promising collaborative leadership practices designed to improve a community's health and well-being.
- The Healthy Communities initiative received two state-wide honors for innovative community-building efforts from the Missouri Association of Community Task Forces (MoACT) and the Governor's Award for Community Health.
- Foundation named as the state founding sponsor and a national research coordinator for Project Fit America. Twenty-seven schools are now participating with the Foundation in this health promotion program with three new Project Fit sites slated to open in the fall of 2006.
- Pershing School, the first Foundation-funded Project Fit site in St. Joseph, reported absenteeism rates were reduced by nearly half since the program was implemented.
- Healthy Communities for the Midwestern Four Corners was one of three projects showcased by the City of St. Joseph in the 1997 All-America City Awards competition. St. Joseph won the top honor from the National Civic League.
- Foundation served as a beta test site for the national Accelerating Community Transformation Project's OUTCOMES Toolkit.
- First region-wide, youth survey conducted to find out what youth had to say about their interest in community decision-making and other issues that affect their lives.
- The University of Minnesota's Humphrey Center for Democracy named the Foundation as the managing partner for the first-ever regional rural partnership in Public Achievement. The program encourages elementary students to become good citizens and effective community decision-makers.
- Healthy Communities for the Midwestern Four Corners was selected as one of ten communities across the country to dialogue "what creates healthier communities?"
- The first regional planning forum was held at Conception Abbey in collaboration with the St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce, Northwest Missouri Resource Team, and Northwest Missouri State University. Two new initiatives were an outgrowth of this retreat: Leadership Northwest Missouri and the Great Northwest Missouri Day at the Capitol.
2000-2005
- A national educational consulting firm was hired to help us conduct a feasibility study to determine the region's interest in forming a one-of-a-kind experiential learning center where students ages 12 - 15 learn about their role - now and in the future - in building healthier lives and communities. Project is known today as the emPower Plant.
- Accelerating Community Transformation partners from across the country traveled to northwest Missouri to learn more about the Healthy Communities for the Midwestern Four Corners initiative. This learning collaborative received the highest national ranking ever by participants in the ACT Project.
- Foundation kicked off A Campaign for Community Change and Innovation, a $10,000,000 campaign to fund the emPower Plant, several healthy communities initiatives, and an operating endowment.
- Foundation received the Governor's Platinum Cornerstone Award for Fitness and Health Leadership to recognize our work with schools in sponsoring Project Fit and promoting healthier lifestyles.
- Missouri Cardiovascular Health Department selected the Foundation to survey 20 regional businesses about worksite wellness and assess them on environmental, educational, and policy practices to promote employee and family health.
- Foundation was named lead facilitator for St. Joseph's Community Plan around asset-driven youth issues.
- A warehouse in the federally-designated Brownfields district was selected as the future site of the emPower Plant.
- Heartland Foundation became the new legal name approved by the Board of Trustees. Our vision is healthier, more livable communities and our mission is to empower children and adults to improve their health and quality of life.
- Local and national volunteers have worked with the Foundation's design team to create an unprecedented curriculum that will bring our kids, schools, and communities together in our quest to build healthier, more livable communities.
- The Board of Trustees voted to change the organization's name to Heartland Foundation.
- Heartland Foundation entered into a new partnership with Heartland Regional Medical Center and Hands of Hope Hospice for the Hope House. The House now serves as an educational and bereavement center for patients and families faced with end-of-life care decisions.
- Interfaith Care Teams now headquarters at the Hope House.
- Leadership Northwest Missouri and Great Northwest Day at the Capitol are now managed by Healthy Communities and the Foundation.
- America's Promise named Heartland Foundation and the emPower Plant as the Innovation of Promise Partner, a one-of-a-kind national partnership.
- The third Regional Planning Forum was held in September 2004 to focus on five key strategies: Education of the Workforce, Engagement of Youth, Entrepreneurial Support System, Rural Healthcare, and Technology Infrastructure.
- Heartland Foundation and the Healthy Communities Summit were recognized in 2005 as a "promising practice" by the Southern Growth Policies Board in North Carolina.
- The emPower me program launched as a new prototype in working with juvenile offenders. The Buchanan County Juvenile Office and Northwest Missouri State are partners in this new endeavor.
- A test lab site for the emPower Plant opened to pilot the on-site simulation and classroom curriculum for 7th graders. Over 1,000 students have now participated in this trial experience.
- The Foundation's youth initiatives were highlighted in the City of St. Joseph's application to be recognized as one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People. America's Promise named St. Joseph as one of the best in this first-ever national competition.
- The Campaign for Community Change & Innovation has reached nearly $9.9 million with more than $9.4 million in charitable gifts and a $450,000 USDA loan. A new fundraising goal was set at $11,000,000.
- Environmental cleanup activities have started at the warehouse space that will house the emPower Plant and Foundation offices. Plans are to begin full construction of the building in early 2006
2006 - Present
- Renovation has begun on the warehouse facility, now known as the emPowerU campus, a unique and “technology-rich” facility that will house a myriad of Foundation-sponsored programs and community meeting spaces.
- Heartland Foundation and Project Fit America now sponsor over 6,000 children from 33 model schools in 18 counties that are a part of this cardiovascular health and fitness program.
- More than 2,000 middle school students from 30 pioneering schools have now experienced emPower Plant.
- Heartland Foundation was selected as one of 12 community-based organizations nationwide to receive a Learn & Serve America grant that will support a new program, Jump Starters, to encourage emPower Plant and Public Achievement students to take on community service projects.
- READ from the START reached out to more than 300 families.
- Leadership Northwest Missouri graduated its sixth class with a total of 121 alumni from 17 counties since its inception.
- At the November 2006 National EPA Brownfields Conference Heartland Foundation was presented with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region VII Star Performer award for cleanup efforts at the emPowerU campus in the Brownfields district.
- The new “think ahead” emPowerU logo and newly constructed website were launched with the end-of-year mailing. Real-time updates of programs will be available at www.heartlandfoundation.org.
- Now in its 25th year, Heartland Foundation, along with hundreds of supporters, celebrated the long-awaited opening of emPowerU on August 29, 2007.
- More than 5,000 middle school students from 60 schools have now experienced the emPower Plant since the inception of the test lab with 2,000 of those getting on board since the emPowerU opening.
- Early results provide hopeful signs that the Foundation’s efforts to empower youth show students are more resilient, have greater self-confidence, and see their role as community problem solvers.
- Education, business and community leaders are working together on the Preschool-20 Education Council to rethink strategies and advocate for higher levels of education attainment to promote workforce readiness.
- The Healthy Communities Summit, with over 2,400 attendees, sponsored Dr. Ruby Payne, author of “A Framework for Understanding Poverty” as the 2007 keynote speaker. A regional planning forum in 2008 will bring regional citizens together to further explore this issue.
- Governor Matt Blunt recognized Heartland Foundation for our youth empowerment work as a Show me Solutions initiative.
- We now sponsor 38 Project Fit sites with over 7,000 school children participating throughout the year.
- Another successful Leadership Northwest Missouri class of 28 participants brought the total number of graduates to more than 150.
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