Changemaker Kate Bolz, President & CEO of the Community Health Endowment

A healthier city is not built by luck. It's built by neighbors who notice what's breaking, leaders who listen without flinching, and funders who use data to back up compassion. 

In this episode, we sit down with Kate Bolz, President and CEO of Community Health Endowment, to talk about an audacious goal: making Lincoln, Nebraska, the healthiest community in the nation, and what it really takes to move from good intentions to measurable change.

Connect with the Community Health Endowment at:

·       Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/chelincoln/

·       Website – https://www.chelincoln.org/

·       Brave fACEs Website – https://www.bravefaces.org/

Transcript

Welcome And Why Resilience Matters

Kate Bolz 0:01

Look for the ways that your joy meets the world's need.

Announcer 0:07

Welcome to Agency for Change, a podcast from KidGlov that brings you the stories of changemakers who are actively working to improve our communities. In every episode, we'll meet with people who are making a lasting impact in the places we call home.

Lyn Wineman 0:31

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Agency for Change podcast. This is Lyn Wineman, president and chief strategist at KidGlov. You are going to love today's episode. We are going to talk about resiliency. We're going to talk about data. We're gonna talk about community health. We're gonna talk about individual health. We're gonna talk about hope. We're gonna talk about joy. Doesn't that sound like a lot of fun? My guest is Kate Bolz. She is the president and CEO of the Community Health Endowment in Lincoln, Nebraska, and they are doing some really interesting work to make Lincoln, Nebraska the healthiest community in America. Kate, welcome to the podcast.

Kate Bolz 1:17

Thanks so much for having me.

Lyn Wineman 1:18

I am so excited to talk to you. Kate, you have such a reputation in our community for the good work that you're doing. And I love that you are at the helm of the Community Health Endowment.

What Community Health Endowment Does

Lyn Wineman 1:32

Could we just start by having you tell us more about Community Health Endowment and its vision for Lincoln, Nebraska?

Kate Bolz 1:41

Sure. In simple terms, too many people in Lincoln face barriers to good health. So we use community funds wisely and work with local leaders to solve health problems and remove barriers. Our work helps create a Lincoln where people live longer, healthier lives.

Lyn Wineman 1:57

Oh, I love that.

Kate Bolz 1:59

Yeah.

Lyn Wineman 1:59

Yeah.

Kate Bolz 2:00

Our mission is making Lincoln the healthiest community in the nation. And it's one of the things that drew me to this work. I love how ambitious that vision is.

Lyn Wineman 2:09

It is a big, hairy, audacious goal for sure. But what a great goal. And, you know, Kate, we have listeners from all over the country, some international listeners, but I'm very proud to be based in Lincoln, Nebraska. And I think there's a general sense of pride from the citizens of Lincoln, Nebraska, because we know that people like you are looking out to make us a great community. And I think that's fantastic. And honestly, it leads into my next question here.

Stories That Show Health Up Close

Lyn Wineman 2:42

Why is the work that community health endowment does so important? And why is it so important right now?

Kate Bolz 2:51

It's a great question. And I want to answer it two ways. The first way is a little more personal, and the second way is a little more intellectual.

Lyn Wineman 3:02

Okay. I love it. All— we're hitting on all cylinders here.

Kate Bolz 3:06

Yeah. You know, we fund an organization called The Bay, and they do programming for youth kind of of all ages. They use skateboarding as kind of a hook to get kids in the door and then support them with after-school programming, support them with things like food assistance and job training. But at our most recent board meeting, we showed a little clip. It was about you know 30 seconds long of a kid who finally nailed his trick on his skateboard. And the joy and the spirit of camaraderie that came out of this kid nailing his trick, it just can't be described. And building that sense of place, that sense of social connection, that sense of relationship is sometimes an underappreciated aspect of health, but it it is the foundation of a mentally healthy citizenry.

Lyn Wineman 4:13

Yeah.

Kate Bolz 4:13

So, you know, that's maybe the more— the emotional side. And we have so many examples of that. We visited Willard Community Center today where they're helping seniors get health screenings. We fund the Lancaster County Medical Society that helps people get more affordable access to literally life-saving surgeries. So that's the place to start, right? Is what this means to our neighbors.

Place Matters Data And Social Vulnerability

Kate Bolz 4:40

But the more intellectual answer is that we also produce a report that illustrates health outcomes, health access, social determinants of health called Place Matters. And it, you know, it demonstrates a bunch of important themes, but it demonstrates that social vulnerability like poverty, folks who are English as a second language learners, folks who are seniors, that it's concentrated at the center of the city and that we know where to offer more support. We know that some of those challenges have an intersection with health outcomes like chronic disease and mental health. And so CHE doesn't just fund the things that change people's lives. We help to provide the community an analysis for when, where, why, and how to make those investments in a way that I really hope Lincolnites feel good about.

Lyn Wineman 5:34

Absolutely. Kate, I have been aware of that report. Have you been doing it? Did you just tell me how long have you been doing that report? At least a decade, right?

Kate Bolz 5:43

10 years. This was our tenth year.

Lyn Wineman 5:45

And, whenever I hear that the report has come out, I'm, as somebody who is proud of living in this community and also interested in the physical and mental health of the community, supporting a lot of nonprofits here, I really love to see it. And it's just fascinating to me how informative it is on where support is needed, right? Because it seems like every year, year after year, there's there's so many needs, right? But to be able to use the data to connect things and make important informed decisions, I think that's a great part of that report. And I actually, I'd love to ask you about something that relates to that report.

Lyn Wineman 6:40

I am working with a client on a community health program called Brave fACEs that is all about making Lincoln one of the most trauma-informed and resilient communities in America by helping people understand their adverse childhood experiences. And I know that CHE and you are championing something called ACEs and Places. Can you tell us more about that?

Kate Bolz 7:07

Yeah, thanks for asking. We are also big fans of Brave fACEs. That's one of our funded projects. We think the folks at BraveBe are doing just incredible work. And as you explained, adverse childhood experiences can help to explain or help us to understand kind of the roots of some childhood trauma. The Centers for Disease Control offer two lists, essentially. One list is a list of risk factors for ACEs, a list of risk factors for trauma. For example, growing up in a household where there is a low education level of parents. The other list is something I really love, having a social work background, which is a list of protective factors. There are certain things that can ameliorate some of that trauma or you know help kids grow up healthy and strong, like access to quality childcare. And so we are using that place matters framework, which it essentially maps health ideas, themes, and trends at a census track level. And we're putting it into ACE's language. So we're going to be able to compare risk factors and protective factors as they're mapped in our city. So for example, we want to be able to map housing turnover, how stable we have housing in our city, how how often that turns over, that can be a risk factor, both for the individual experience of having to move and for neighborhood stability. That's a risk factor. We want to compare that to housing affordability and stability. And by no means is housing affordable for everyone in this community, but comparatively we can see that many, many, many census tracks in our community do have affordable housing, which is defined in our report as someone paying less than 35% of their income for housing. So I could probably talk to you about data all day, but the point is it can be really hard to understand what's going on with families because it's not one thing, it's a complexity of things, it's a combination of things. And so mapping it out can help people see patterns and trends and think about what it means for their neighborhood.

Lyn Wineman 9:32

Yeah. Well, thank you for the support of the Brave fACEs campaign and helping people understand how those childhood experiences impact them in adulthood. But also I can't wait to see the ACEs and Places data as it becomes available as well.

Kate’s Path And Stewardship Mindset

Lyn Wineman 9:50

Kate, I'd love to talk about you a little bit because you mentioned you've got a social work background. I think I first became aware of you when you were in the Nebraska state legislature, but I know you've served in nonprofit leadership, federal government, city government. I'm really curious how did that path lead you to where you are today? And how does it inform your work at community health endowment?

Kate Bolz 10:20

Yeah. You know, Mother's Day is coming up, and I have been thinking about my mom. Growing up, my dad was a farmer, my mom is a paraeducator— was a special ed paraeducator.

Lyn Wineman 10:32

Wow.

Kate Bolz 10:33

And one of the things she did for us girls every year is she carefully saved, literally in her sock drawer, saved money for our back -to -school shopping trip. Where I'm going with this is I used to be a master at leveraging that school shopping trip money, right? Like I knew what shoes I was gonna buy, I knew whether or not I needed a winter coat that year, I knew exactly how much the backpack was gonna cost. And I think that's something of a metaphor, right? It's the combination of deep value and appreciation for where resources come from and the stewardship of resources and compassion for what it means to have a family need to figure it out, right? And I was always very well taken care of, but just knowing that resources weren't unlimited in my family, you had to make choices. So that sort of framework, I think, came early. And I think the combination of stewardship and compassion has been a theme in my career. So I served on the appropriations committee in the state legislature. I was working in the mayor's office when the American Rescue Plan Act funds came through and was got the wonderful opportunity to work on some city-county partnerships for how to leverage those funds. I worked for USDA rural development and now I'm here. And I think the, you know, at the end of the day, I just feel really lucky that I get to do work where my values align. Stewardship, collaboration, innovation, and just that inspiration to use the resources we have to do as much good as possible.

Lyn Wineman 12:18

Oh, that's fantastic, Kate. And, you know, I want to just keep building on this since you brought up both stewardship and innovation.

Community Health Ideas Challenge Breakthroughs

Lyn Wineman 12:28

I know one thing that's been in the news recently is CHE's Community Health Ideas Challenge, right? And I think that's such a fun endeavor that highlights both creativity and insight, bringing together collaboration with community partners. But could you talk a little bit more about what that is and what the process has shown you about the importance of investing in community-led ideas?

Kate Bolz 13:01

Yeah, thanks for asking. We loved it too. It it was competition for an idea that could be really change-making in the city of Lincoln. And I think my top line takeaway from that thought experiment was if you ask a good question, you're gonna get good answers.

Lyn Wineman 13:22

Ooo, I like that.

Kate Bolz 13:26

In our community, we had so many people who had a depth of knowledge of their population or their neighborhood, what the needs were, and what some creative outside of the box solutions might be. And I think particularly as a funder and as organizations approaching funders, there's a lot of trying to pick the right horse or make the right bet or choose a thing. And that doesn't necessarily lead to the innovation that can change communities and change people's lives. And so, you know, I think our winner, Matt Talbot Kitchen and Outreach, they were particularly persuasive because they were able to bring together a big issue, a big problem, a big challenge, and solve it in a way that was really concrete and specific and brought dignity to families. So the big challenge, the big issue is hunger, is you know, lack of access to healthy foods in our community or lack of affordability of those foods. And so their their idea was to develop a food locker system in partnership with Hope House, which is in the center of our city and a neighborhood where we know there's need. And folks, by signing up through their system, can go grab their grocery bag in a way that makes sense for their family. And as a working mom myself, that just made so much sense to me. You know.

Lyn Wineman 14:59

Yeah, absolutely.

Kate Bolz 15:00

And you got the 15 minutes when you have it, and, you know, offering something like that that is not just driven by choice and healthy food access, but also convenience and dignity for a family. Just— it's inspiring. So we're really proud to support them.

Lyn Wineman 15:16

Oh, I love that. That is great, and they are a great organization that we've had on the podcast as well, doing great, great things in in the city of Lincoln.

Convening Partners Using PACER Fitness Data

Lyn Wineman 15:27

So, Kate, I know that for Community Health Endowment, you do provide funding, and the funding is extremely important, but you also really have this energy where you help convene the community around those really important health issues. And I'd really love to hear your perspective on why that also is so essential to bring community together.

Kate Bolz 15:54

Yeah. You know, I think for me, the inspiration for some of that collaboration is the idea that two plus two can equal six.

Lyn Wineman 16:03

I love it. Yeah, yeah.

Kate Bolz 16:04

In other words, bringing together the right resources can amplify each other and make a bigger impact. And I think our youth fitness work is a good example of that. We work with Lincoln Public Schools to track progress in terms of passage of a test called PACER, which is a cardiovascular fitness test for kids.

Lyn Wineman 16:23

Yeah.

Kate Bolz 16:24

And we really found that after COVID, those passage rates declined. And when that was sort of lifted up as a community conversation, people came out to talk about it and they came out to problem solve around it. And kudos to Lincoln Public Schools who really leaned in, to partners like the YMCA and actually another award winner, we gave out something called the Place Matters Pioneer Award last year to the community learning centers who used their platform to offer youth sports camps and inspired by that, the PACER data. And what we saw in this last place matters report was that we not only improved those outcomes as a community, not CHE as a community, but we particularly improved some of those outcomes in very low-income neighborhoods, which tells us that we're focusing our energies and kind of in the right places with the greatest need.

Lyn Wineman 17:25

That's amazing.

Kate Bolz 17:26

So, you know, you again, Lyn, it's you know what it all comes down to is the people. And I'll share with you briefly, I went to one of those community learning center basketball games, I think it was fourth grade girls.

Lyn Wineman 17:41

Oh my.

Kate Bolz 17:42

You know, they were kind of all elbows and knees, but one of the girls, you know, scored the winning basket and just the joy on her face. It you know, it's not just that she probably improved her cardiovascular fitness, it's also self-esteem, community building, and you know, building something that she felt good about using her body for, which I think can make a world of difference.

Lyn Wineman 18:09

That's amazing. I love the the way that you intertwine stories and data, right? Because they're both really important, but the stories really, you know, pull at our heartstrings and the data feeds our brain and helps us make good decisions. And I think

Technical Assistance Grants And What’s Next

Lyn Wineman 18:30

that's great. Kate, you have so many positive things going on at Community Health Endowment. I'm really curious what's next? What's on the horizon for you?

Kate Bolz 18:41

Yeah, yep. Well, one of the things that I'm excited about this year is that we're going to pilot a technical assistance grant program. You know, if I sat down, you know, at my family reunion and said, hey, let me tell you about a technical assistance grant, I think I might lose some folks.

Lyn Wineman 19:02

You might, you might, yes.

Kate Bolz 19:04

But the reason I'm excited about it is this idea of investing in the changemakers, as well as change, believing in the folks who do the work and believing that if we invest in them, that will have ripple effects.

Lyn Wineman 19:18

Yeah.

Kate Bolz 19:19

I think there's a great place for an organization like the Community Health Endowment to invest. You know, we have the privilege of being here for the long term. And so we're kind of better positioned to say if we invest now in the smart strategic thing, what will those long-term outcomes be? So I'm envisioning things like training for frontline workers in resilience and how to protect their own mental health.

Lyn Wineman 19:45

Yes.

Kate Bolz 19:46

Training in evaluation so that we can best understand which interventions really move the dial in terms of healthy food access or youth fitness. So you know, I'm excited about that as an intellectual exercise, but also as an opportunity to say, hey, you folks who live your mission every day, you deserve to be lifted up too.

Lyn Wineman 20:14

Absolutely. Well, if you think about, you know, the people— people who are, this is gonna sound like a Whitney Houston song, but the people who are helping people, right?

Kate Bolz 20:24

Uh huh.

Lyn Wineman 20:25

I mean, by improving their skills, they are going to impact so many others. And that makes so much sense to me. So kudos to you for making that happen.

How To Apply Stay Connected Final Takeaways

Lyn Wineman 20:40

So, Kate, for our listeners who have been listening, who want to tap into some of the data, keep tabs on what you've got going, how do they find out information on the Community Health Endowment?

Kate Bolz 20:55

All the usual ways.

Lyn Wineman 20:57

Okay.

Kate Bolz 20:58

Start with our website, which is chelincoln.org. You can check out our latest news feed, look for our grant applications. You can also subscribe to our email list on that website. And then, you know, of course, Facebook. Facebook is where we get to post, you know, the pictures of kids playing sports or riding that skateboard or what have you. So that's a great, great place to follow us as well.

Lyn Wineman 21:25

I love that. We'll get both of those links into the show notes for everybody so you can click into that if you didn't have a chance to write that down. So, one more question for you, Kate. Actually, I've got two more questions, but one is for other leaders who are working to make a difference in their communities, what wisdom or encouragement would you offer?

Kate Bolz 21:51

I think my best— well, I think my best encouragement is really submit a grant application.

Lyn Wineman 21:59

Oh, yeah. Right.

Kate Bolz 22:00

No, we want to fund you. We want to fund great people doing great things. We have a spring and a fall grant cycle as well as our ideas challenge. And so give us an opportunity to say yes.

Lyn Wineman 22:13

I love that so much. Give us an opportunity to say yes. That's fantastic. All right. I'm going to ask you my favorite question. And it's kind of going down a different path, but I get to talk with so many inspiring leaders. And on every episode of this podcast, we've asked each one for an original quote. So I would love a Kate Bolz original quote.

Kate Bolz 22:42

Sure. Mine is look for the ways that your joy meets the world's need.

Lyn Wineman 22:48

Oh.

Kate Bolz 22:49

So whether it's yeah, whether it's coaching soccer or making a meal, if you're giving in the ways that make you happy, that's how you're gonna sustain it for the long term. And that's how you're gonna give more than you know, just a meal or a bike ride. It's how you're gonna give a part of yourself too.

Lyn Wineman 23:06

That is really beautiful. I think I would I have a couple quotes on the wall behind me. I think that's one that might have to make the quote well. That's really beautiful. Thank you for that, Kate.

Kate Bolz 23:17

Yeah.

Lyn Wineman 23:18

You know, as we wrap up this great conversation, I'd like to just end on this thought. What is the most important thing you would like our listeners to remember about the work that you're doing?

Kate Bolz 23:32

You know, as a funder who gets to say yes, who gets to review grant applications and go on site visits and review quarterly reports, the thing that I'm reminded of every day is just how much good is happening in the world. If you only read the headlines, if you, you know, kind of only focus on the divisions, it can be really discouraging. But from where I sit, there's good on every corner, especially here in Lincoln. So I think that's my reminder for the listeners.

Lyn Wineman 24:08

Kate, you have uplifted me. I know you are are uplifting our listeners. I want you to know I fully believe the world needs more people like you, more organizations like Community Health Endowment. And I appreciate you taking time out to talk with us today.

Kate Bolz 24:26

It's been fun. Thanks for having me.

Announcer 24:29

We hope you enjoyed today's Agency for Change podcast. To hear all our interviews with those who are making a positive change in our communities, or to nominate a changemaker you'd love to hear from, visit kidglov.com at K-I-D-G-L-O-V.com to get in touch. As always, if you like what you've heard today, be sure to rate, review, subscribe, and share. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time.