Dear Chamber Supporters:
Everything was right in the world with Sherri back in town this past week. Her husband Dan and her were able to go on a weeklong adventure in Turkey (not the bird). Before leaving, they had some hesitations towards traveling internationally with the unrest that is taking place in Ukraine and Israel, with that being said, she mentioned they felt incredibly safe the entire journey and never felt those issues were really in anyone’s minds when there. As a result, they were able to see some stellar sights and have a splendid time. Some highlights of their trip included the Turkish architecture that is on display, with beautiful mosques in abundance (pictures here). Having the opportunity for a river cruise, they were able to view many riverfront mansions on their boat ride (pictures here). Here is a photo of Sherri and Dan outside a palace that housed 285 rooms and 60 bathrooms! Glad they were able to experience this culture to its fullest for a week, but glad they’re back home safe.
Rotary Ringing in the Season
Tuesday local civic club Rotary forgone their regular meeting to offer a volunteer opportunity to its members. With different time slots throughout the late morning and early afternoon, Rotary members took turns ringing the bells outside Walmart, raising money for the Salvation Army (pictures here). Though we do not have a Salvation Army store in our community, these monies do stay in our community as ECKAN is the conduit for and recipient of benefits from the area’s Salvation Army’s fundraisers. I was able to participate in the fun, staying out of the wind as much as possible while ringing the bell. As far as volunteer opportunities go, this is actually quite a fun one to take part in. Time goes by quickly, but it’s neat to greet all the people coming in and out. If you are interested in ringing the bell at some point this season, you can access the sign-up page for future dates here.
Civic clubs are often associated with volunteerism because most have an arm of their club that focuses on opportunities to give back through community service. Other benefits of these organizations include networking and social interactions with other members, and being able to meet new individuals that maybe you’d otherwise not have the opportunity to cross paths with. Most clubs have specific missions towards a global challenge, the club often creates local awareness towards that issue. Leadership development can be associated with certain civic clubs, having continued education within the clubs’ structure. As well as philanthropic activities that give back to the community. Our community has several active civic clubs, click here to see the civic and social groups category in our website’s directory. If you’re looking for a New Year’s resolution, getting connected with one of these organizations might be a great new step for you.
Calling All Entrepreneurs
If you haven’t heard, the Ottawa Main Street Association has been awarded the opportunity to be one of the 30 participants nationwide to participate in the Equitable Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (E3) in Rural Communities Pilot Program. Through their association with Kansas Main Street, this opportunity allows OMSA to engage, activate, and empower entrepreneurial talent in Ottawa so that everyone sees themselves reflected on Main Street. Participants are being asked to identify barriers preventing entrepreneurs from starting or growing local businesses and develop action items to address them. This process has begun its first phase, which involves getting as much feedback from local businesses (or future businesses) as possible. Whether you’re a brick-and-mortar business owner, have an in-home business, or are thinking about starting a business, this survey is for you (click here for the survey). The idea is to put small business owners and entrepreneurs at the forefront of the organization’s mind, with the hope of gaining perspective on what the journey looks like to open a business in our community, all the good and the bad. OMSA’s goal is to take the results and feedback from the survey to help make Ottawa a better place to start and own a small business and find ways to better support our current and future small business owners.
An added benefit of being an E3 community, means that OMSA will receive a $5,000 seed grant and $1,500 toward professional development certification with the International Economic Development Council. There is also an opportunity to receive additional funding as the program expands. As a pilot program, there seems to be loads of possibilities that exist within this framework. I’m hopeful this can be a successful venture for the organization.
At Home with Health
This morning we were able to gather at Angels Care Home Health at 318 S Main Street (pictures here). Angelina was able to share the work that Angels has been able to administer in our community as a “Medicare-Certified Home Health agency” for the past eight years. Their mission is really to provide quality and cost-effective home health care services tailored to the needs of the patient. Under the guidance of the patient's physician, they can deliver skilled nursing, restorative therapy, and medical social services. One of their newest programs includes behavioral health, treating illnesses like depression and anxiety for example. There are currently four nurses who work out of the Ottawa office that deal with behavioral health patients. Angelina mentioned that Angels takes Medicare patients and can even help get individuals on the right track if they are not currently enrolled in the federal insurance. The Ottawa office is among ten locations in Kansas, WaKeeney being their community furthest west and Pittsburg furthest south.
Being a home health agency, they see several benefits to being able to treat patients at home. From a monetary standpoint, allowing a patient to have the ability to be treated at home vs living at a nursing home can save the family funds. This care can also reduce ER visits, resulting in saving funds for unneeded trips. They can also allow these patients to better know when the time is right to move into another health care provider in town, whether that be nursing care or hospice care. Angelina mentioned that their office partners closely with these other health organizations as they lean on each other for the needs of the patients. She also mentioned that she teaches regular classes at different facilities in the community like Cedar Square Apartments and Washburn Towers. These “classroom” programs allow Angels to meet individuals where they are at, but also give them really helpful knowledge in different fields about health. We’re thankful Angels Care Home Health is treating our community and continuing to grow and offer new services as they move forward. Often times this kind of work can be confusing, or at least people can be reticent to talk about these kinds of needs. But when they’re needed, I’m so glad we have providers within our community to care for us wherever we may be physically.
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Looking ahead to next week, don’t forget to join Sherri and I Wednesday (12/13) for our Chamber Open House. We’ll have snacks, drinks, and goof fellowship taking place from 4-5:30pm. We’d love to see you stop in and celebrate what an amazing year 2023 has been. Talk to you soon!
Ryland Miller
President/CEO
Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce
ryland@ottawakansas.org
785-242-1000
