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What We Heard, What’s Next: Turning Community Input into Action in Reno County
Reno County Commission Chair Ron Hirst
Hutchinson Community Foundation CEO and President Aubrey Abbott Patterson
Reno County Commissioner Don Bogner
Hutchinson Community Foundation Senior Program Officer Jan Steen
Benchmark data, resident feedback and community leaders are shaping efforts to grow the economy, expand housing, and improve quality of life.
On a spring evening at the Hutchinson Art Center, community leaders, residents, and elected officials from cities across Reno County gathered around tables - pie included - for conversation about the future of their communities.during the Hutchinson Community Foundation’s “Love Where You Live” study session.
Before the data and discussion began, Reno County Commission Chairman Ron Hirst paused to recognize the effort behind the evening.
“We appreciate what the Hutchinson Community Foundation is doing to bring people together.”
It was a simple acknowledgment, but it reflected the tone of the night - one rooted in collaboration, shared challenges, and a willingness to work together.
From there, the tone shifted not to charts or statistics - but to a story.
Aubrey Abbott Patterson, President and CEO of Hutchinson Community Foundation, began with Sylvia.
A small community. A simple question: “What can we do to bring pride and connection back to our city?”
What followed was a picture of what happens when residents take ownership. Volunteers organized workdays and potlucks. A garden appeared behind city hall. A neglected park became a gathering place again. At one celebration, 112 people showed up, something that hadn’t happened in years.
“It’s not top-down,” she said. “It’s contagious.”
That story, local, tangible, and human, captured the essence of the Hutchinson Community Foundation’s Love Where You Live initiative: small actions, rooted in community voice, creating ripple effects across Reno County.
Benchmark Reports from Hutchinson, Buhler, Haven / Yoder, South Hutchinson, Pretty Prairie, Nickerson and Fairfield Area.
Hutchinson Community Foundation CEO and President Aubrey Patterson welcomes everyone who joined the study session.
What “Love Where You Live” Really Is
The program itself is a three-year community empowerment effort designed to amplify resident voices, guide local investment, and spark collaborative action across Reno County.
It started with a simple tool: a countywide survey asking residents how they feel about their communities - what’s working, what’s not, and what matters most. From there, the data becomes a roadmap for action, funding, and partnerships.
As Kari Mailloux, Director of Strategy, has emphasized in past outreach:
“Every voice we hear is one more perspective shaping our shared future.”
Hutchinson Community Foundation Senior Program Officer Jan Steen
Hutchinson Community Foundation Senior Program Officer Jan Steen goes through the Benchmark Report.
The 2025 Benchmark Report: What Residents Are Saying
At the study session, Jan Steed, senior program officer with the Hutchinson Community Foundation, walked attendees through the recently released Love Where You Live 2025 Reno County Benchmarking Report data, combining survey responses with broader metrics.
The takeaway wasn’t discouraging - it showed a mix of strengths and areas for improvement.
Residents care deeply about where they live. That emotional attachment is Reno County’s strongest asset.
But alongside that pride is uncertainty.
- People believe in their communities, but aren’t always confident in the long-term vision
- Smaller cities often report stronger trust and connection than larger ones
- Across the county, “vision” is the weakest category, pointing to a need for clearer direction and communication
In other words: people aren’t lacking pride - they’re looking for clarity.
Lauren Storm, Business Retention & Expansion / Workforce Program Manager for Greater Hutchinson.
The Big Three: Jobs, Blight, and Housing
Despite differences between communities, a clear pattern has emerged over multiple years of the initiative:
Top priorities remain consistent across Reno County:
- Attracting new businesses and improving wages
- Addressing blight and visible decline
- Expanding and improving housing options
As Steed summarized through the data, residents are essentially saying:
“Grow the economy, fix up the place, and make it easier to live here.”
But perhaps more important than what they want is how they want it.
Residents aren’t waiting for massive, long-term projects.
They want visible, tangible progress - something they can point to and say: “That’s new.”
A Willingness to Get Involved
One of the most striking findings shared that night wasn’t about problems - it was about people.
More than 600 residents across two years of surveys have raised their hands to volunteer.
That’s not apathy. That’s capacity.
The challenge, as presenters noted, is creating clear pathways for involvement:
- Simple, time-bound volunteer opportunities
- Better communication about how to get involved
- Clear connections between input and outcomes
“People do want to help,” Steed emphasized. “Communities just need to meet them halfway.”
Hutchinson Community Foundation Program Officer Kari Mailloux talks about the grants given to support community projects across Reno County.
Hutchinson Community Foundation Program Officer Kari Mailloux shares the survey themes from 2024 and 2025.
Turning Input into Action
The Love Where You Live initiative is not only about gathering feedback - it is also driving action.
Kari Mailloux highlighted how the foundation has aligned its funding with community priorities, investing more than $670,000 in grants to support local projects.
Those investments are already visible across the county:
- Community gardens and senior center improvements in Sylvia
- Public art and placemaking in Buhler
- Entrepreneurship workshops and downtown efforts
- Zoo enhancements, community meals, and more
These efforts highlight the impact of smaller, visible projects that build momentum and strengthen community pride.
Greg Fast, City of Hutchinson Council member
Lauren Meadors, Coordinator Buhler Community Foundation
Katie Marcum, South Hutchinson City Clerk
Lacey Stone, Mayor of The Highlands
Jennifer Albright, Pretty Prairie City Clerk
Jackie Ashcraft, The Highlands Council member
Megan Unruh, Grant Administrator with SCKEDD.
Hutchinson Community Foundation Senior Program Officer Jan Steen goes over the 2026 timeline.
A Room Full of Shared Challenges
After the presentation, the conversation shifted - from presentation to participation.
Local leaders, city officials, and residents spoke candidly about the realities they face:
- The struggle to secure grants without regional partnerships
- Barriers created by population thresholds and rural classifications
- The difficulty of balancing growth with preserving community identity
- The ongoing challenge of addressing aging infrastructure and vacant properties
Yet through those challenges, a common thread emerged: no community is alone in its struggles.
As one participant put it, the evening revealed both “very different challenges… and very similar issues.”
The Bigger Picture: Why It Matters
Underlying the entire discussion is a key insight from place-based research:
Communities where people feel connected - where they “love where they live” - tend to experience stronger economic growth, even in difficult times.
That’s why this work matters.
It’s not just about surveys or grants.
It’s about perception, pride, and participation.
It’s about turning small, local actions into countywide momentum.
Looking Ahead
The evening’s discussion reinforced a central idea: meaningful change does not always require a single large project. Instead, steady progress - driven by community input and collaboration - can create lasting impact.