South Kansas City Swope Clinic opens, is starting to see patients

The new South Kansas City Clinic operated by Swope Health Services is now open and seeing patients.

Jimmy Brown of Swope Health Services leads a tour of the new clinic.

LINC is taking a leadership role in development of the clinic, which will provide services in a medically underserved area.

A formal grand opening is planned for early in January 2011 but already the new clinic is seeing patients and delivering care.

Swope Health Services officials have been conducting informal clinic tours for LINC site coordinators and officials from the Center and Hickman Mills school districts and the Kansas City Health Department.

The clinic is located in a revitalized strip mall at 8821 Troost Ave.  The location was identified after a detailed study of community needs and health care resources.

The study identified a need for two health clinics in south and southeast Kansas City.

Funding for the clinic comes from a variety of sources including the city of Kansas City, Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City and additional grants and supports obtained by Swope Health Services.

The clinic includes a new medical electronic record system which Swope is rolling out through its entire system.

LINCWorks receives grant from H & R Block Foundation

The H & R Block Foundation is awarding a $30,000 grant to the LINCWorks initiative to help individuals on welfare address legal issues potentially affecting employment.

 LINCWorks is the LINC-led initiative providing case management services to individuals on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families in Jackson, Clay and Platte counties.

Outstanding traffic warrants or other minor legal offenses can prevent individuals from being hired for jobs and work for which they are qualified.

LINCWorks contracts with Legal Aid of Western Missouri to provide warrant relief for clients.  If during their initial LINCWorks assessment a client identifies they have an outstanding warrant, their case manager will help them submit a form to Legal Aid.

A Legal Aid attorney will then communicate with Missouri and Kansas municipal courts to locate the warrant, set a court date, and notify the case manager and client of the hearing.  The outcome of the hearing depends on the judge; typically it will be a small fine or community service.

H & R Block Foundation has been a consistent supporter of LINC initiatives over the years.

Childcare seminars set for providers, grandparents

Free seminars for childcare staff and grandparents caring for children will be held Saturday, Jan. 15, at Ervin Middle School in the Hickman Mills School District.

Workshop topics include: Mandatory Reporting, Buckle Up Safety, What is Accreditation?, Health Insurance for Children, Mad Science, Youth Development Credential, Voluntary Attorney Project and more. Clock hours will be awarded for participation.

The special one-day event is sponsored by The Family Conservancy, Francis Institute, Mid-America Regional Council, The CLAIM Program (Community Leaders Assisting the Insured of Missouri) and LINC.

This is one of seven events to be hosted by Educare in January and February, 2011.

Visit www.kclinc.org/educare for more information.

LINC holds its Winter Chess Tournament despite the cold

LINC Chess held its annual Winter Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 11, despite biting winds and the imminent threat of bad weather.

Seventy-one students participated, representing six school districts and several area charter schools.

The tournament was the first for many students, such as students from West Englewood in the North Kansas City School District.

Several other veteran schools showed up with knights at the ready from KCMSD, Fort Osage, Independence, Center, and Hickman Mills.

The group played four spirited yet nearly silent rounds of chess in the Helzberg Auditorium at the downtown Kansas City Public Library.

LINC Chess would not be possible but for the support of the parents, volunteers, and LINC staff who enabled the tournament to run smoothly and efficiently.

For results and pictures go to www.kclinc.org/chess.

Families volunteer over 8,000 hours in eastern Jackson Co.

Families in the Fort Osage and Independence school districts who need help this winter have donated over 8,000 hours of volunteer time to earn Christmas gifts and food for their families.

In Fort Osage, Blue Hills site coordinator Ken Lingelbach has seen a 40% increase over last year - from 100 to 140 families with over 300 children represented. Nearby Church of the Nazarene will provide students with shoes from a donation drive held there. Turkeys are also donated from Harvesters.

Independence families have had the opportunity to earn Cargo Largo gift cards to purchase presents for nearly 400 students, and to earn Hy-Vee gift cards to go towards food over Winter Break. Families are asked to volunteer 10 hours per child.

Some families have already started earning hours towards next year's  program. There is hope for growth and new families in the future.

LINC Chairman's speech available online

Last week Landon Rowland was the honoree at the Southtown Council American Citizen Award Luncheon. He shared lessons learned from 30 years' experience working with non-profit organizations in the Kansas City area.

His speech is available to download on the LINC website.

FAST families celebrate graduations

In November LINC celebrated 43 families who graduated the Families and Schools Together (FAST) programs at five Caring Communities sites.

FAST gives parents the skills and confidence to improve the way their family operates to empower their children to grow and succeed.  FAST focuses on topics concerning almost every family - from education and communication to drugs and teen pregnancy.

The five programs meet with nationally certified coaches once a week for eight weeks. LINC sponsored programs at ACE Collegium Campus (Kansas City, Mo. School District), Boone Elementary (Center School District), and Bryant, Fairmount, and Mill Creek elementary (Independence).

FAST is offered to families at no charge.  To download an informational brochure, view pictures, watch a video, or for more information visit www.kclinc.org/fast

Nixon asks for renewal of Missouri Rx

Gov. Jay Nixon is asking the Missouri General Assembly to reauthorize Missouri Rx, the state program providing prescription drug assistance to low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities, for five more years.

The program is set to expire in August 2011 without reauthorization.  The program was first approved in 2006.

Missouri Rx works with Medicare Part D plans to lower the cost of prescription drugs for eligible seniors and individuals with disabilities.  The program pays 50% of all out-of-pocket costs for medications covered by Medicare Part D, including cost of deductibles and co-payments.

Nixon discussed the program during a Dec. 14 visit to Swope Health Services in Kansas City.

Missouri Rx provides continuing benefits when seniors are in the Medicare Part D coverage gap, also known as the "donut hole."

There is no enrollment fee, premium or deductible to join Missouri Rx.

Missouri Rx is open to Missouri residents who are enrolled in a Medicare pr Medicare Advantage prescription drug plan and who meet income-eligibility limits.  Individual annual gross income cannot exceed $21,660.  The annual income limit for married couples is $29,140.  Missourians enrolled in MO HealthNet are automatically enrolled in Missouri Rx.

Almost 207,000 Missourians were enrolled in the program as of April 2010.

Visit morx.mo.gov for more information on Missouri Rx.

Crestview sends gifts to troops

LINC site supervisor Pam Ealy and Crestview teacher Ashley Rich prepare a shipment of gifts to overseas troops.

Crestview Elementary students collected 16 boxes of snacks and toiletries to send as holiday gifts for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Ashley Rich, first grade teacher at Crestview, started the project in her classroom. "I know some of our students have families in the military," said Rich, "and I know how exhausting it is for them to have their loved ones overseas."

Deyrle Wallace, Crestview principal, encouraged the whole school to participate.

Many students brought in bags of candy. When Rich was researching the soldier's needs and wants she discovered "a lot of them like Halloween candy."

Crestview has been a LINC Caring Communities site since 1999.  It is one of six LINC sites in the North Kansas City School District.   Kathy Monson is the site coordinator.

Korte event combines reading, geography

Korte Elementary's winter event, Reading Around the World, proved to be wonderfully popular, attracting 481 people on Thursday, Dec. 16.

The evening of fun activities encouraged families to read together about interesting places in the world and the cultures of those people and lands.  Families visited classrooms decorated as Guatemala, Dominican Republic, New Zealand, Ireland, The Netherlands, Egypt, and China.

The event represented a very successful collaboration between the school, PTA, and Korte Caring Communities.

Happy Holidays from LINC!

From all of us at the Local Investment Commission, we wish you a very safe and happy holiday season and a Happy New Year!