The Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting for Live Well Kosciusko’s new location Monday at 1515 Provident Drive, Warsaw.Photo by Jackie Gorski, Times-Union.

By Jackie Gorski
Times-Union

WARSAW — Live Well Kosciusko celebrated its new location at 515 Provident Drive, Warsaw, Monday, April 15, with a ribbon-cutting held by the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce.

Lisa Harmon, president and CEO of Live Well Kosciusko, said, “The health department was able to provide us with an office for several years and we’ve now outgrown that space and we’ve now moved upstairs here in the Health Services Pavillion,” noting the organization made the move in February.

When Live Well Kosciusko first started, there was a half-time person “and we were in, actually it was a storage room for the health department.” Live Well Kosciusko now has five employees, she said.

Harmon explained Live Well Kosciusko is a nonprofit organization that focuses on health and well-being issues. Some of its coalitions include its cancer, breathe well and tobacco-free coalitions.

“We work with substance abuse and recovery. And we have five pillars of well-being, which (are) community, career purpose, social, financial and physical,” she said.

Live Well Kosciusko receives some funding from the Indiana Department of Health and “so a couple of our coalitions actually receive work plans directly from the state Department of Health and we implement them here in Kosciusko County. And then we actually do a process called ‘Strategic Doing’ for five of our committees, our well-being committees, where we actually have individuals in the community who come together, who work together on projects in those five areas of well-being. And so those individuals actually pick their projects and work towards implementing their projects in the community,” she said.

Besides the IDOH, Live Well Kosciusko also receives funding from the K21 Health Foundation, the Kosciusko County Community Foundation, the Zimmer Biomet Foundation and other types of funding streams.

When asked what Harmon thinks the benefits are of the organization, she said, “For example, our tobacco and vaping coalition —- Breathe Well — we actually work with our community to help, for example, kids with education and understand they shouldn’t be starting vaping and how vaping is harmful for them.”

Live Well Kosciusko also works with employers so they’re implementing the best practices for cancer care for people who are struggling with cancer.

Harmon said she hopes the new location will allow Live Well Kosciusko to continue to grow and to be able to continue to provide the services the organization currently provides, as well additional services.