Kari Mailloux with the Hutchinson Community Foundation let Hutch Post know that a three-year project called Love Where You Live is for all of those in Reno County, not just those in the Salt City.
“We’re asking people all across Reno County to tell us how they feel about their communities,” Mailloux said. “What do they love about their communities? What are they paying attention to? How will they know if the community is making progress? It starts with a survey right now that is open at renosurvey.com through the end of July.”
If you’re not comfortable with an online survey, they still want to have your input.
“We are distributing paper copies across the county to like city halls and libraries,” Mailloux said. “People can stop in and pick up a paper copy and either leave it there or mail it back or bring it back to the Hutchinson Community Foundation.”
They are hoping to get a good response to the survey from all of the county’s communities.
“Our goal is to get 1,150 responses,” Mailloux said. “That breaks down to about 400 in Hutchinson and 125 in each of those smaller communities, at least. We are asking them what makes their community special. We’re asking them what do they feel makes their community strong? We’re asking them how do they feel about the future of their community? What makes their place unique? We’re also asking them what are their priorities? What are they paying attention to in the community? Is it the aesthetics? Is it the jobs? Is it the accessibility of childcare? We want to know so that then we can help residents kind of come together and put collaborative action behind those priorities.”
In addition to the survey, there will be community meetings this fall to narrow down priorities so that the foundation can hopefully put some funding behind the most important ones in the coming years.
