Since 2022, the Rossville Community Foundation has been on a mission to make Rossville, KS, a great place to live and raise a family. Current board members Alex Bird, President, and Dr. Myron Leinwetter sat down with Marsha Pope to talk about the role of philanthropy and work they're doing to improve the quality of life in their beloved hometown.

What you'll learn:
-Specific challenges related to rural community foundations
-How big and small projects are transforming life in Rossville
-What new amenities visitors can enjoy, including a truly historic sports field.

To learn more about the Rossville Community Foundation, visit https://www.facebook.com/rossvillecommunityfoundation/.

In 2019, Topeka Public Schools, the Topeka Community Foundation and the City of Topeka partnered with localorganizations to launch Impact Avenues. The program uses a Collective Impact Model to provide wrap-around services to regional families with the goal of reducing student homelessness. For this episode, Marsha Pope is joined by Carrie Higgins, Housing Services Division Director for the City of Topeka, and Cody Foster, CEO of Advisors Excel, which provided a startup grant to fund the program. They share the origins of Impact Avenues and some of the challenges and success stories from the first 5 years.

Note: This episode was recorded before recent announcements about the program's new location at the Compassion Impact Center

Learn more about services available: https://topeka.gov/how_do_i/programs-services/impact-avenues/ 2026

Update from Compassion Strategies: https://www.wibw.com/2026/03/03/compassion-impact-center-open-inside-former-childrens-palace-trm/

Compassion Impact Center: https://www.compassionstrategies.org/cic

Dr. Tiffany Anderson has been the Superintendent of Topeka Public Schools since 2016. In this episode, she reflects on some of the biggest challenges, hard-earned successes, and the community partnerships helping students thrive today. Learn more: -https://www.topekapublicschools.net/about_us/biography -https://topekacommunityfoundation.org/news/2026/4/8/2026-scholarship-winners-announced