Passion & Purpose: Summer 2024
Focusing on Phelps County
A new way to serve nearly 45,000 residents of mid-Missouri is growing through the Phelps County Community Foundation, which began because of a commitment to collaboration, a desire for conversation, and a call to help recognize local needs and strengths.
“I’ve heard several times, ‘I can’t believe that group of people is working together,’” says Lorrie Hartley, a PCCF board member. “But I think because we’re working together for a common goal, for the common good, (we’re) able to take off our hats and check our own agendas to bring the agenda of the Community Foundation together when we come into the room.”
Since its inception in 2023, the small but mighty group has raised more than $115,000 and produced the Phelps County Community Impact Report, which highlights local strengths, weaknesses and areas to watch.
“I think one of the things we realized at the beginning was that there’s really no common voice,” says Ben Tipton, PCCF board chair elect, of the role a convenor could play. “Everyone is doing their own thing, and maybe are not talking to each other. Who pulls all that together? That’s one of the goals that we have: The foundation is kind of to be that sounding board.”
Amid those large efforts, the foundation also joined the Community Foundation of the Ozarks in April, becoming the CFO’s 55th regional affiliate foundation.
Founding board members of the Phelps County Community Foundation gather outside the historic Phelps County Courthouse in Rolla. From left to right — Front row: Lorrie Hartley; Tracy Jenkins; and Marla Stevenson, chair. Second row: Bonnie Prigge; Natalia Cahill; Kim Day, treasurer; and Richard Cavender, secretary. Back row: Ben Tipton, chair elect; Nate Cohen; and Donald Dodd. Board members not pictured: Mike Woessner, Jon Money, Carolyn Buschjost and Stuart Gipson.
“Before I retired, I worked with rural communities, and ended up working with them all over the country,” says Richard Cavender, secretary of the PCCF, who also serves on the boards of the CFO and the Meramec Regional Community Foundation, another CFO affiliate. “I quickly became aware of community foundations and how important they would be in every one of these communities if they get one started. It’s just another way of bringing the community together to solve some of their problems.”
The foundation’s initial focus is on bigger-picture planning around needs and opportunities, such as child care and early childhood education. Those focuses also extend to candid conversations around local needs — and are founded in passion for place and the people who fill it.
“I’ve lived here almost all my life, other than a short time when my husband was in pharmacy school in Kansas City,” says Kim Day, board treasurer for the PCCF and president of the TKD Foundation. “It’s just about giving back and helping. That’s very important to me.”
“I think we’ve all been blessed with the talents that we have,” Tipton says. “That’s the reason why I get involved. I kind of look at things like a piece of a pie. You might be just a little piece out of that pie, but if you put everybody together, it makes that full pie.”
An early effort of the PCCF is the aforementioned Phelps County Community Impact Report.
Published in January, the 20-page report focuses on six buckets of research and retrospection, reflecting where things stand in the community. It follows a model established in Springfield with the Community Focus Report, a biennial publication which the CFO has helped lead since its inception 20 years ago.
The Phelps County Community Foundation is based in Rolla but also serves donors and nonprofits in surrounding communities.
The Phelps County report shows where there are wins — including the presence of Missouri S&T and Phelps Health, the region’s two largest employers, and public safety. There are also notes on where there’s room for improvement through “caution lights” and “red flags,” which have led to that emphasis on child care.
Housing, too, is a focus; the report notes that, “While the cost of living is generally lower, ensuring that housing and renting remain affordable for lower-income households is crucial for maintaining social equilibrium.”
By identifying community needs, the report has helped guide the PCCF’s first grantmaking efforts, which include funds for a mobile security camera system to supplement local law enforcement.
Even in those moments, the PCCF representatives say it’s about collaboration, communication and collective difference-making.
As Marla Stevenson, board president of the PPCF puts it, “I think all of us feel a huge sense of responsibility because we’ve all been blessed in many ways to be a good citizen, a good human, in giving back in whatever way we can.”
By Kaitlyn McConnell · This story is featured in the summer 2024 edition of Passion & Purpose: The CFO Magazine.
