Supported by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, Making a Difference is a long-running series that draws upon the personal stories and voices of Ozarks residents to highlight key issues impacting our community.
Past seasons have included stories on poverty relief, public education, mental illness, and other topics important to our community. You can browse our Making a Difference archives below.
2021-2022 Series: The Community Focus Report for Springfield & Greene County
KSMU’s latest Making A Difference series kicks off with a series of discussions on the 2021 Community Focus Report for Springfield & Greene County.
The Community Focus Report assigns red flags to area of concern, or blue ribbons to successes and improvements seen within 11 topics: Transportation, Housing, Arts and Culture, Community Health, Citizen Participation, Early Childhood, Education, Natural Environment, Public Order & Safety, Recreation-Sports and Leisure, and Business and Economic Development.
The first episode features a discussion on Business and Economic Development with guests Pam Babcock of Garbo's Pizzeria ; Miles Hamilton of Queen City Cycles; and Sarah Kerner, Director of Economic Vitality for the City of Springfield.
Subsequent episodes will highlight topics explored by the report's facilitator Jonathan Groves.
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In this segment of Making A Difference, our panel looks at the Public Order and Safety Chapter of the Community Focus Report for Springfield and Greene County. -
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A panel of local experts weigh in on the latest Community Focus Report, looking at red flags and blue ribbons surrounding the environment.
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Our panel today looks at the CFR chapter on Recreation, Sports and Leisure
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Today's Making a Difference panel conversation looks at the Community Focus Report's chapter on Arts & Culture
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Today’s Making A Difference presents an overview of the 2021 Community Focus Report for Springfield and Greene County, with CFR Facilitator, Jonathan Groves, and Steering Committee Chair, Morey Mechlin. The CFR will be released to the public with a Facebook Live event, October 21; Today's program also features a discussion on Housing, with Amanda Stadler, Community Partnership of the Ozarks Homeless Services Policy and Program Coordinator, and Habitat For Humanity Homeowner, Carmen Lawrence.
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For this season's Making A Difference, we're switching gears: through a series of panel discussions that air on KSMU, we'll examine 11 topics of The Community Focus Report for Springfield & Greene County. Listen above to the first episode.
