Home of The rURAL vITALTY cENTER

The FSL seeks to acquire 350 acres to provide a transformative facility and resources through innovative facilities, collaboration and funding to support rural Kansas communities and provide equal opportunity for all.

 The RVC campus offers rural communities, families and schools  a facility where experiential and responsive services shape lives.  The  development of the Rural Vitality Center will provide essential community facilities in rural areas, better access to digital technology, supportive educational programs, rural-urban interdependence, cultural amenities, uses of outdoor spaces and quality of life. The Rural Vitality Center redifines rural america as we provide an infrastucture that creates economic opportunities as we recognize the importance of rural america's communities, innovation, cross-sector collaborations and educational opportunities in rural communities. 

The RVC will enhance equitable access to quality and affordable services in rural Kansas communities to enable students, families and schools the ability to seek opportunities that reduce barriers, promote evidence-based practices and provide services  that meet their own self-identified needs.  

The RVC agricultural programs represent a major component of our model. The farming and related activities make up the basic fabric of rural life, contributing significantly to the overall state of rural regions in terms of employment and business opportunities, infrastructure and quality of the environment.  The Rural Vitality Center provides an opportunity for communiites, families and schools throughout the US the understanding of how agriculture plays a key role in our development and our lives.

Establish partnerships 

Our cross-sector collaboration efforts will offer experienced-based education opportunities and a social-emotional, and mental health framework that helps youth and adults develop important life skills and healthy mindsets around help-seeking behavior, emotional regulation, and stress coping mechanisms.  

Hub Partnerships

The Rural Vitality Center partnerships are key in our development.  Our Rural regions will include multiple stakeholders, such as governments, nonprofits, and educational institutions. In addition The RVC will provide multiple communities a broader region of shared economic needs. Our hub partnerships in rural areas will allow communities to direct limited resources and expertise to shared initiatives as well as strengthen the way we support each other. We will strive to provide a rural hub that creates economies of scale and band together to strengten communities, familes and schools. 

Our Stratagy: 

We have worked hard to create an economic development strategy for our rural areas  that fits the needs of our local communities, families and schools. Our stratagy is a multistep process that has required  assessing the current state of the region, identifying the value proposition, evaluating existing programs, and establishing partnerships for The Rural Vitality Center. Our stratigy puts us in the position to priortize specfic iniatives, continue to prioritze specific needs for our communities, families and schools. Our board will work closley with each community to continue to meet the needs of our communities, families and schools.

Develop tourism infrastructure

Bringing in visitors is important to our growth—it draws in spending from outside the region to generate economic growth.  Whether its  to explore our uniqe educational experiences that bring in Key leaders to our rural communites, partnerships that bridge gaps in health, data and education equity or to leverage existing assets that provide agricultural experiences such life on a farm; the Rural Vitality Center provides it all. Our facilities can be beneficial for adults and children and will be  done safely. In general, our rural educational experiences, nature exploration, hands on agricultural education and exploration work for will provide exercise, fresh air, opportunities for problem solving, health and wellness, appreciation for land and animals, and satisfaction in one's work and self.

The RVC will provide a data delivery model that policy makers can use to understand their region’s strengths and challenges relative to other regions and begin to focus on assets, or competitive advantage, and potential barriers to development.  

• Identify strengths and weaknesses in academic achievement, 

• Provide year-round academic; community; and family support, 

• Support the health and well-being of employees; educators; students; and community  

  members, 

• Measure social-emotional learning for schools; communities; and families, 

• Address missing links that will help educators; families; and communities thrive, 

• Offer immediate individual and group results, and 

• Capability to see results immediately as you use our scenario-based tools 

The 350 acre $56M (phase one) rural vitality center campus will create a much needed rural-urban linkage that is important for social and economic development. Our partnerships with business leaders, schools, communities and organizations, provide a resourceful and progressive environment as well as fresh ways to capture and value the direct and rippling economic, social, and health benefits of rural communities. 

Rural Leaders and community members: The 350 acre property and facilities will be acquired through the FSL Foundation. No community members will be taxed for any reason for this project. 

How Do We Give Back To The Community

The Future Service Leaders Foundation will provide yearly grant opportunities to rural communities, families and schools.  A cost share also allows us to provide yearly funding that will flow back into our local communites and schools.

The construction schedule is set to take place late in 2023.  At this time, we are meeting with schools, communities and families to share our vision, feasibility study and other information to create awareness regarding the ECenter.  This process will allow us to answer questions, handle concerns and gather important feedback that will help determine the support needed to reach our sustainable development goals.

For more than a year The FSL Foundation has prepared for this innovative project. A feasibility study indicated a phased approach, along with a clear vision would make The Reimagine Rural campaign most successful. Following feasibility, the highly experienced architectural firm of Anderson Knight Architects was selected to accomplish our vision. They will incorporate KSU architectural design studio within the project to provide student collaboration. The talented team of BHS Construction was selection for construction as we move forward. They will also work along side KSU construction management team to offer workforce opportunities for our youth. 

All phases of the ECenter project will be located at one centralized location with easy access. 

• The FSL- (phase one) is looking to acquire 350 acres of land for the construction of The Rural Vitality Center. The site location has not been determined at this time but we are looking into two specific areas of focus for the future home of our facilities.
• Location One: North Lyon County
• Location Two: Wabaunsee County