III. QUALITY OF LIFE FOUNDATION

VISION:
Before 2024 the Wichita MSA will:
Be a healthy, safe community that has a vibrant recreation, entertainment and arts focus that embraces diversity and builds pride.

STRATEGIES:
A. Health Care

1. Increase the accessibility and quality of healthcare while lowering the cost by:

a) Encouraging healthy lifestyles, wellness, fitness and education programs. Address tobacco,
obesity, drug, alcohol and violence issues.

b) Improving dental health for all ages.

c) Promoting and strengthening free and/or reduced cost clinics as a substitute for emergency
room use for indigent health care and promote awareness of these resources.

d) Encouraging physicians and nurses to provide services to the Wichita MSA indigent patients.

e) Dramatically increasing the use of technology in administrative functions.
f) Advocating for tort reform.
h) Having comprehensive coordinated medical care (including mental, dental and health) for all people regardless of ability to pay and provide easy access to services. Establish a community- wide expert committee that advises us on health care costs and quality.

i) Promoting disease prevention.

j) Ensuring the availability of qualified nurses.

2. Expand clinical trials.

B. Recreation
1. Develop and implement a comprehensive master plan for recreation that determines a required level of service for each recreational element. Determine the gap between existing facilities and this level of service and eliminate the gap within 10 years while at the same time providing for annual growth as it occurs. Ensure that all facilities are staffed and maintained for high quality service. Levels of service for each element should ensure that proper consideration is given to age, income level and lifestyle with regional equity. Consideration will also be given to use of these facilities by visitors and tourists to the Wichita MSA and becoming a regional attraction for certain types of activities such as youth baseball, softball, hockey, biking, bowling, football, golf, walking, recreational centers, sporting clays, skating, etc. Implementation of the master plan will be based on meeting the VISIONEERING WICHITA Key Benchmarks.

2. Develop a large high quality lake for recreation, destination resort and water supply within an hour of the Wichita MSA. This project needs to be fully defined and the feasibility determined as first action steps and the best location selected.

3. Improve regional recreational use of the Arkansas River. Use the river to connect museums and other cultural attractions. Clean up the Arkansas River.

4. Create one or more large amusement/theme/water parks.

5. Provide community spaces, green areas and recreational opportunities that celebrate our natural environment, our cultural diversity and our youth.

6. Establish a regional park board that is responsible for acquisition, preservation, and management of parks and green space.

C. Arts
1. Implement a comprehensive master plan for the arts.

2. Continually develop downtown art amenities, districts, facilities and infrastructure.

D. Public Safety
Create a safe place for Wichita MSA residents by:

a) Using resources in the most efficient and effective organization structure/process.

b) Creating higher level of trust between police and community.

c) Identifying the issues that create higher crime and providing specific resources/programs to
lower the crime rate.

d) Providing high quality emergency response systems and homeland security.

E. Family and Youth

1. Embrace our youth and recognize their potential value to the community they decide to live in. Inject an element of fun in all youth programs that results from a youth entrepreneurial outlook. Ensure that our youth, including the best educated, have an opportunity and desire to stay in the Wichita MSA. Have an active community volunteer service program for youth participation that provides opportunities for young people to explore needs in the Wichita MSA and meets their interests and talents. Allow youth to have greater ownership in the future of the Wichita MSA by encouraging them to regularly meet with community leaders. Encourage older children to serve as mentors to younger children.

2. Act proactively to strengthen families. Improve organizations that strengthen children and families and provide leadership to coordinate these efforts including faith-based organizations.

3. Encourage employers to adopt family friendly policies and procedures.

4. Provide a comprehensive plan and assessment for high quality affordable childcare.

5. Provide after school activities and youth centers for students.

F. Sense of Community

1. Develop community pride and unity within all segments of the Wichita MSA.

2. Develop a sense of community among young adults through groups and networks. Social settings are needed where young people can mingle.

3. Support regionalism and the economic growth and prosperity of surrounding counties.

4. Promote and strengthen neighborhood associations and heighten neighborhood’s commitment to the community at large.

5. Find ways to get young people more involved in the community.

G. Racial Diversity, Opportunity and Harmony
1. Understand, celebrate and embrace all cultures and racial diversity and make it evident in everything we do. Encourage interaction among all people and break down barriers.
a) Create thriving neighborhoods that are both ethnically and racially diverse.
b) Reduce the earnings gap between minorities and non-minorities.
c) Increase graduation rates.
d) Close achievement gap.

2. Encourage employers to be committed to a racially diverse workforce. Vision Partners will ensure inclusion and racial diversity as they adopt and implement strategies in the six Foundations. Recognize that the Wichita MSA will not succeed in meeting its Key Benchmarks without achieving racial diversity, opportunity and harmony.

3. Promote the integration and inclusion of immigrants into the community and workforce.

4. Treat each other with a sense of fairness, respect and creativity while accepting our differences.

5. Establish an environment that welcomes, attracts and retains minorities in our community and workforce.

6. Provide equal opportunities for minorities in the workplace, civic events and volunteer organizations. Provide more diverse Board members in order to better represent all community members.

7. Promote the Wichita MSA as a diverse community.

H. Human Services

1. Provide social services that address local and emerging issues.

2. Take care of the homeless and families in crisis including temporary short-term housing, transitional housing and long-term housing.

3. Create an organization to coordinate and reduce service redundancies thereby increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of not-for-profits.

4. Create community volunteer opportunities to collaboratively provide services for those in need.

5. Ensure that the foster parent system protects and enhances those children in its care.

6. Provide a comprehensive referral center to direct citizenry with family/youth needs to appropriate agencies.

7. Ensure accessibility and inclusion for the disabled and address their needs.

8. Create regional access for the provision of social services.

I. Older Adults

1. Embrace our older adult citizens as a community resource for history, education, employment, and other aspects of community life.

2. Provide and maintain safe and affordable housing for older adults.

3. Provide better healthcare resources or optional healthcare resources for senior citizens.

4. Increase services for the older adults and market them effectively.

5. Continue support for senior employment programs.

6. Provide ways to get our mature adults more involved in the community.