Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City

HCF Recognizes Lori Ross as First Recipient of the Healthy KC Award

KANSAS CITY, MO - The Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City (HCF) is pleased to announce Lori Ross as the first recipient of the Healthy KC Award.

The Healthy KC Award is the third in a series of awards given to leaders in Allen, Cass, Lafayette counties and the Kansas City metropolitan area. Nominations were submitted online for those individuals and agencies who are working toward eliminating barriers to quality health for the uninsured and underserved in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
A ceremony will be held on Tuesday, June 29th at 10:30 a.m. at Midwest Foster Care and Adoption Association (3210 S. Lee’s Summit Road, Independence, MO 64055) for HCF to present Ross with an award and a $5,000 gift to Midwest Foster Care and Adoption Association (MFCAA). 

“The Health Care Foundation recognizes and acknowledges all of those in the metropolitan Kansas City area who are actively helping the uninsured and underserved lead healthier lives.   We received outstanding nominations for the Healthy KC award and want to express our appreciation to all of those who were nominated.  Our first recipient of the Healthy KC award, Lori Ross, has worked tirelessly for the past 25 years to provide quality lives for foster children in our community.  We are so pleased to acknowledge her as the first recipient of the Healthy KC award ,” said Steve Roling, HCF President/CEO.

Lori and her husband, Randy, became foster parents in 1985. Since that time they have taken in more than 400 foster children. In 1999 they were one of four foster families that created MFCAA, which provides foster and adopted children the opportunity of a stable, caring, loving and nurturing family environment by recruiting, training, developing, supporting and motivating foster and adoptive families.

Ross was nominated by Linda McNicholas . In her nomination, McNicholas states, “Lori and her husband have never backed down from a parenting challenge. They have opened their homes and lives to sibling groups, children with severe disabilities and older children. They have created a loving, nurturing home for children that are often hard to place. Because of her years of dedication to the most vulnerable children in our community, her leadership, and her ability to build an organization that affects positive change at all levels, she has made a real difference in the lives of thousands of children.”

“I am extremely honored to have been selected for this award,” said Ross.  “HCF's vision is an inspiration to all of us working to serve children and families in the metro area.”

Each nomination was reviewed by a panel of judges representing the HCF Board of Directors, the HCF Community Advisory Committee and HCF Associates.  The judges developed a point system to measure the nominee’s level of involvement in health improvement activities and the impact of the activities.  Nominations were judged on whether the nominee helped the uninsured and underserved through an initiative, actively influencing public policies, participating or planning events and working or volunteering to help individuals and families to lead healthier lives.

Other nominees included Angie Knight, Marian Hope Center for Children’s Therapy; Leslie Banning, R.N., Swope Health Services; Katherine Kelly, Kansas City Urban Agriculture; Donnie Wilson, restart; Dr. Rex Archer, Kansas City Missouri Health Department; Sherri Moore, Discover Vision Center; Society of St. Andrew; Karen Streeter, Sheffield Place; Robert Zornes, Mother’s Refuge; Coalition of Hispanic Women Against Cancer; Marchea Jennings, Duchesne Clinic; Margaret Pender; Truman Medical Center Hospital Hill Infectious Diseases Clinic; Bill Kyles, Comprehensive Mental Health Services; Terry Edwards; and Peter Zevenbergen, Wyandot Center.

-HCF-