By Payton Tholstrup

Historic Economic Asset Lifeline (HEAL) grant program. Designed with the idea of helping rural communities, the grant focuses on the downtown areas in rural towns across the state of Kansas. The goal is to not only make downtown areas safer and create new jobs, but also to bring buildings back to life. 21 projects in Kansas will receive more than $1.14 million. There will also be $3.4 million matched in private local funds. During this round, the grant received 51 applications.

Republic County is one of the most recent to receive funds, receiving a total award of $100,000.

A new round is expected to open this summer, so more applications will be accepted then.