What is Heartland Visioning?

Heartland Visioning began in 2008 with the purpose to create a vision for the future of Topeka and Shawnee County. The vision and the ideas to make it happen come from the citizens of Topeka and Shawnee County. The community's vision is in the Heartland Visioning Strategic Plan, and the staff uses the strategic plan as its map for their daily tasks.

Where does Heartland Visioning get its funding?

The funding for Heartland Visioning comes from private and public contributions.

What is the difference between a “Funding Partner” and a “Vision Partner”?

A Funding Partner is an individual or organization that has contributed money to support the operation of Heartland Visioning, like the staff, office space and meeting coordination.

A Vision Partner is a individual or organization that has officially endorsed the vision and the Heartland Visioning Strategic Plan and chooses a strategy from the strategic plan to implement.

How are contributions to Heartland Visioning used?

Contributions to Heartland Visioning allow the vision project staff and volunteers to communicate and market what is happening in the community; facilitate coordinated leadership among groups working on like interests; provide organizational direction and focus to stay consistent with the set upon vision; provide volunteer coordination and assistance with meetings and communications; provide for the celebration of our successes and create the annual report card measuring our progress against goals.

How often does the vision plan change?

The Heartland Visioning Strategic Plan, November 19, 2008 is good for five to twenty years. It will depend on how successful we are as a community in accomplishing the strategies set out in the strategic plan that will decide when it is time to start the vision process again.

What is the Topeka and Shawnee County’s vision?

“The Greater Topeka Region will be a growing, dynamic and trusting community with a superior quality of life.”

What does the staff of Heartland Visioning do while Vision Partners (volunteers) are working on the strategies?

The ultimate success of implementing the strategies form the strategic plan and achieving the vision will be because volunteers from the community make it happen. The staff of Heartland Visioning is made up of the Executive Director and the Executive Assistant. Their jobs are to support the vision partners that are working on implementing parts of the plan, communicate to the community what the vision partners have accomplished and when a success has been reached. The staff is also the clearing house for information, connecting vision partners with like interests and keep a constant eye open for the next big idea or success we can brag about.

Do our City and County governments support the vision plan?

Yes. Both the City of Topeka and Shawnee County are vision partners endorsing the Heartland Visioning Strategic Plan and both have been funding partners from the beginning.

What has Heartland Visioning done?

Heartland Visioning does not take credit for most of the projects and actions taking place around the community, that credit goes to the determined and dedicated volunteer vision partners doing whatever they can to make a difference. One of the best assets we have in our community are those projects and programs that preexist the Heartland Visioning project. One important thing we discovered is there are many programs and project in Shawnee County that are working on those attributes that we say we want, we just have not known about them to be able to brag about them.

Here are two projects that have come directly from the vision plan:

1. The Candidate School: a program design to help inform community members interested in running for office about what it takes to do it from raising funds to filing the correct paperwork. A partnership of the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, Community Resources Council, Bartlett and West, League of Women Voters and Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library.

2. Music at the Farmers Market: Started by the Art and Culture Alliance in 2009 it is a program to enhance Topeka’s long standing Saturday Farmer’s Market.