A local steering committee came together in 2008 to discuss how county entities could work together to advocate and advance good health in the community. Live Well Douglas County, a non profit advocacy group. was the product of those early efforts. Ginny Barnard is Executive Director and has been on the job one year. Barnard is a former Douglas County Extension Agent and took degrees in Public Health from Kansas State University. Live Well consists of over twenty groups that work together to create policy and system changes to improve life and good health in Douglas County. In 2020 Live Well benefitted from a four year Pathways to a Healthy Kansas Initiative grant.
There are six Live Well work groups, including Healthy Built Environment, Health Food for All, Healthy Kids, Sexual Violence Prevention, Tobacco-Free Living and Work Place Wellness. Some examples of the group’s accomplishments are Farmers Market Grants for people of color, assisting the revamping of policies and building improvements for Positive Bright Start, prescription assistance programs, school bike programs, and updating rules for tobacco sales. The Douglas County Community Foundation and Lawrence/Douglas County Public Health are significant partners and Douglas County Extension plays an important administrative role. The organization will conduct an Annual Spring Summit on April 11.
