Programs

Community Leadership Development

Situation Statement
Douglas County has many nonprofit organizations and government agencies, offering residents numerous ways to get involved in their community. Once they join a board, members often serve multiple organizations, broadening their impact and gaining valuable experience. However, starting such service can seem intimidating. Although each organization has its own practices, they share common values and principles for board members. Currently, there is no program in Douglas County dedicated to helping residents confidently serve on these boards.

Objective
Provide formal board training for Douglas County nonprofit organizations, governmental board members, and other community members to better prepare them for board service

Metrics

1. Number of nonprofit organizations and governmental bodies that offer or facilitate formal training for their board members
2. 10% annual increase in the number of organizations/bodies attending formal board trainings.
3. Evaluation data from training participants assessing increases in their knowledge and confidence
4. Funding generated from programmatic activity

Activities

• Staff and members of the Community Development Program Development Committee will work together to host educational opportunities for nonprofits and governmental bodies
• Continue and grow the partnership with the Douglas County Community Foundation
• Initiate a comprehensive communications campaign to create awareness of the program
• Create evaluation mechanisms for short-, medium-, and long-term outcome evaluation
• Engage audiences in advanced learning sessions and target these for revenue generation
• Identify opportunities to deliver a la carte lessons from the curriculum to assist nonprofit and governmental bodies as needs arise
• Curate success stories from nonprofit and governmental bodies that can be lifted for other organizations to learn from
• Annually conduct a Board Development Assessment across the County

Outcomes

• Nonprofit and governmental boards demonstrate effectiveness with an increased understanding of roles, responsibilities, and decorum
• Nonprofit and governmental boards’ demographics more closely reflect the communities they serve
• Establishment of a Center for Board Excellence

Douglas County 4-H Youth Development

Situation Statement
The most common misconception of the 4-H program is that it is primarily agricultural and rural-focused. This misconception, in addition to the traditional 4-H experience, may limit growth to new and underserved audiences. Other barriers to youth participation in 4-H programs may include affordability, program scheduling, lack of awareness, and transportation.

Objective
To develop cross-curricular and cross-project opportunities by working collaboratively with youth-serving organizations in Douglas County to provide a 4-H experience to all youth. Utilize technology to communicate and deliver educational programs and capitalize on the visibility of 4-H at the Douglas County Fair to engage new audiences.

Metrics

1. Number of youth programs offered
2. Number of participants in 4-H programs/experiences
3. Contact Hours
4. Demographic Data
5. Level of youth participating in civic engagement
   1. Volunteer Hours
   2. Member of school/community organizations
   3. Leadership Roles

Activities

1. 4-H School Enrichment Programs
2. 4-H Day Camp Programming
3. 4-H Educational Workshops
4. 4-H After School Programming
5. In School 4-H Club Experience
6. Traditional 4-H Club Experience
7. 4-H Project Club Experience
8. Douglas County Fair

Outcomes

1. Increased 4-H participation from underserved youth audiences
2. Increased 4-H participation from urban youth audiences
3. Increase the level of collaboration with youth-serving organizations in Douglas County to expand 4-H audiences.
4. Douglas County youth develop into successful, productive community members through positive 4-H experiences.

Community Health & Wellness

Situation Statement
The Douglas County community has several agencies and organizations working collaboratively to improve fair health access. Community factors contributing to health include housing, access to healthy foods, employment, child abuse, and environment. While community efforts for improving fair health access exist, food security continues to be a challenge facing limited-resourced individuals and families in Douglas County. According to Feeding America, in 2023, the food insecurity rate in Douglas County was 11.7%. Disruptions to the food supply chain, along with reductions in federal grant funding, the uncertainty of SNAP funding, and rising inflation, have contributed to increased food insecurity rates since 2023.

The elimination of the SNAP-Ed nutrition education program has created funding challenges, but it also opens the door to offering nutrition, health, and safety education to a broader audience.

Objective
To serve limited-income individuals and families in Douglas County by providing health, safety, and nutrition education. To work collaboratively with community partners to improve access to healthy food for Douglas County residents facing food insecurity.

Metrics

1. K-State Extension demographic data.
2. Level of participation in KSE health, safety, and wellness programs.
3. Level of engagement with community partners for collaborative efforts.
4. Level of participation and number of volunteer hours recorded for the extension master food volunteer program.

Activities

As the health, safety, and wellness program evolves, it is likely that activities will adapt to community needs and audience engagement.

1. ServSafe and Food Safety Training
2. Nutrition Education
3. LiveWell- Healthy Kids and Healthy Food for All
4. Douglas County Food Resources Guide
5. Extension Master Food Volunteer Program
6. Youth Summer Enrichment Programs
7. CPR Training

Outcomes

1. For program participants to increase fruit, vegetable, and lean protein consumption. Planning for meals and shopping from a list. Practice safe food prep and storage. Increase physical activity.
2. For the extension master food volunteer program to increase volunteer capacity to provide educational food programming.
3. For extension and the extension master food volunteer program to work collaboratively to organize and host events to expand community reach and program awareness.
4. Establish a sustainably funded health, safety, and wellness educator position to deliver ongoing nutrition, physical activity, safety, and wellness programming across Douglas County.

Land Stewardship

Situation Statement

While Douglas County Extension strives to provide landowners with information on best practices to sustainably care for their land, the resources we provide are scattered among different program areas within Extension and among our partnership organizations. Some existing resources are ill-defined or outdated and there are gaps in the information that landowners need and request.

Populations served include new and existing rural landowners, commercial agricultural producers, non-profit landowners (e.g. universities, school district), and municipal landowners

Objective
Provide contemporary land stewardship services and resources to the residents of Douglas County.

Metrics

1. Updated published and indexed resources (online and/or printed) specifically designed for Dg. Co. landowners
2. Number of landowner contacts, producers and non-producers
3. Collection and sharing of resources available from Extension and partner agencies

Activities

• Conduct a county-wide assessment of available services for rural landowners and agricultural producers as distinct populations
• Analyze whether available services represent best practices
• Hold focus groups of targeted populations to assess their priorities
• Work with Dg. Co. Planning Department to analyze and understand current and potential county land ownership
• Build a network of service providers to increase awareness among these agencies of the services they provide and allow for increased referrals
• Evaluate how target audiences want to receive information which may lead to some innovative approaches to programming and information delivery
• Explore the use of technology to improve access to, and understanding of, resources

Outcomes

• New landowners understand that Dg. Co. Extension is a trusted resource for their questions about “living in the country”.
• Extension staff have best practice information for rural landowners