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Greetings!
This is the September 3rd edition of a weekly report to the LINC Commission. Our board is deeply interested in our work and wanted to learn about -- and share with others -- the great things LINC is helping to accomplish.
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All LINC Caring Communities school sites are now open
The opening of the Kansas City, Mo. School District LINC Caring Communities sites this week means that all of LINC's "community schools" are now open as children have returned to school.
This fall LINC is present at 63 Caring Communities school sites in seven different school districts and at three community locations.
There are fewer LINC sites in Kansas City due to significant school closures, and new sites in the North Kansas City and Hickman Mills school districts.
Enrollment in the LINC Caring Communities Before & After School child care program continues. Numbers should be available later this month. Enrollment tends to reach its peak by mid-October.
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Free beneficiary deed workshop
The Southeast Neighborhood Coalition will offer a free beneficiary deed workshop at the Southeast Community Center on Monday, Sept. 13, 4-7 p.m., for Kansas City homeowners.
Legal Aid of Western Missouri staff will be available to explain the advantages of estate planning and answer questions about individual situations.
A beneficiary deed transfers title to the owner's property, effective at the owner's death, to the beneficiary that the owner chooses. The process avoids the cost of probate for transferring title to the house, yet allows the owner to retain full control of the property during the owner's life.
Beneficiary deeds reduce the possibility that a house will be neglected or abandoned after the homeowner's death.
Legal Aid of Western Missouri's Urban Core Estate Planning Project serves Kansas City, Mo. homeowners who are 60 years old or older and may also be available to eligible homeowners who are under the age of 60 (eligibility is based on income).
The Southeast Neighborhood Coalition collaborated with Legal Aid and other partners to offer a beneficiary deed workshop this past summer.
The Southeast Community Center is located at 4201 East 63 Street, Kansas City, MO 64130.
To register for the workshop call (816) 410-8349. For directions and information, and to see a short video about the earlier workshop, visit www.kclinc.org/southeast.
The Southeast Caring Communities Neighborhood Resource Center helped organize the workshop.
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LINC parent engagement programs ramping up
Families and Schools Together (FAST) - a parent engagement program used by LINC - starts at several schools this fall.
FAST is a well-regarded, research-based program that involves parents and children in a structured set of evening activities that involve families eating, learning and playing together.
LINC Caring Communities sites starting the eight-week FAST program include: Boone (Center); Afrikan Centered Education (Kansas City); and Bryant, Fairmount, Mill Creek and Santa Fe Trail (Independence). Additional LINC Caring Communities sites are planning FAST programs for second semester.
Rick Jackson is the new LINC supervisor for FAST.
More information about LINC and FAST is on the website at www.kclinc.org/fast.
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NWCDC celebrates new homes
A ribbon-cutting was held Tuesday, Aug. 31, to celebrate the construction of seven new homes in northwest Independence. NorthWest Communities Development Corporation (NWCDC) hosted the ceremony at 210 N. Hardy, one of the new home sites. Homes are being built on Hardy, Ash, and Brookside Avenues.
The new homes make use of modern technology to reduce maintenance costs and increase energy efficiency. The first home is expected to be completed by April 2011.
The construction project is a collaborative effort of NorthWest CDC, Independence Public Works Department, Independence Power and Light, BP Amoco, HUD, Bank of Grain Valley, The Gamble Company, and James Pollard Construction. The City of Independence is also making public improvements along Ash and Hardy streets as part of the larger neighborhood redevelopment.
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NBC plans week-long education summit in September
NBC is planning a week-long "education summit" on its broadcast news shows and media properties including MSNBC and other media outlets.
LINC will try to work with the local NBC affiliate to gain coverage of education issues in our community including our particular interest in and support for "community schools" - our Caring Communities initiative.
The summit is scheduled for the week of Sept. 26th and will include a two-day meeting in New York City of top national education leaders. The network describes the summit as a "call to action, shining a spotlight on the most pressing national issue of our time: Education in America."
More details are available at www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/learn/summit.
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Hickman Mills opens new early childhood center
The Hickman Mills School District held a formal ribbon cutting for its new Freda Markley Early Childhood Center on Aug. 31st.
The center, located at 9201 E. Bannister Rd. (between James A. Reed Rd. and Raytown Rd.), is the first new school building in the district in nearly 40 years.
The center serves Title I preschool, early childhood special education and Head Start students. Teresa Tanner is the principal.
>> See a video from the ribbon cutting.
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LINC gets IS Director
Greg Bassett is the new LINC Director of Information Services.
Bassett has an extensive technology background working for several Kansas City-area technology companies.
He began work Sept. 1.
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Berkley speech is online
LINC founder Bert Berkley was the keynote speaker at the 25th annual Mid America Assistance Coalition (MAAC) training conference Sept. 1 at the Kauffman Foundation.
>> See a video of the speech.
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September LINC Commission meeting
The regular September LINC Commission meeting will be held Monday, Sept. 20, 4-6 p.m., at the Kauffman Foundation.
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Contact Information
Brent Schondelmeyer, Director of Communications
phone: (816) 410-8350
email: bschonde@kclinc.org
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