This is the weekly report to the LINC Commission for the week of March 2, 2012. 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.

Kansas City Neighborhood Selected for Big Five Urban Initiative

A long-term, multi-faceted plan to improve several Kansas City neighborhoods was jointly announced recently by the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of Greater Kansas City.

A corridor along Troost Ave. will be the focal point for what some call "an unprecedented alliance of civic, nonprofit and business leadership."

The project, known as the Urban Neighborhood Initiative (UNI), is one of the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce's "Big 5" ideas developed and announced in 2011. The area selected is located between Troost Ave. and Highway 71, from 23rd St. to 51st St.

This corridor approach will include parts of several neighborhoods with strong partnership capabilities. In addition, the multi-neighborhood approach expands leadership and capacity-building potential.

LINC will work closely with the initiative encouraging neighbors, families and businesses in the area to be involved. Several LINC Caring Communities sites are in or near the selected area including Lee A. Tolbert, Foreign Language Academy, Longfellow, Phillips, Attucks, Wheatley schools and the city-supported LINC site Palestine Caring Communities.

This corridor is intended to be the first of many areas to be impacted by the UNI. As improvements are made in the Troost Corridor, successful strategies may be replicated in other areas of Greater Kansas City.

For more information visit www.uwgkc.org   

Rosemary Smith Lowe recognized in documentary film on Freedom Inc.  

Rosemary Smith Lowe - one of LINC's founders - was prominently featured in a new documentary film about Freedom Inc.

Freedom Inc. is an African-American political organization that formed in the 1960s to support blacks seeking political office and pursue and suppor Civil Rights. Lowe was an important leader in that effort.

Lowe was also interviewed on KCUR's Central Standard. Segments from the radio interview and documentary are available on the LINC website, www.kclinc.org 

The documentary is the work of Emiel Cleaver and was recently shown at the Plaza Library. 

Buckner recognizes LINC with Community Involvement Award  

The Buckner Chamber of Commerce will honor LINC with its annual Community Involvement Award.

Buckner LINC Caring Communities at Buckner Elementary serves the students, staff, community and local businesses of Buckner, Mo. which is a rural community.

In 2011, LINC helped organize the Helping Hands program which identifies safe households as safe havens if the child is going to or from school or playing.

Community partnerships with the Chamber of Commerce, Buckner Park Board, and area churches have also created safe family activities such as Trunk-or-Treat on Hudson Street, Buckner's Festival in the Valley, and a Winter Craft Extravaganza.

Buckner LINC Site Coordinator Connie Fields will accept the award on behalf of LINC. The principal at Buckner Elementary is Patrick Farnan. 

Hispanic families find a voice in Independence schools        

Hispanic families have found their voice within the Independence School District thanks to a collaboration of parents, school administrators, and LINC staff.

This week members of the Hispanic Advisory Council (HAC) presented their work from past months to school administrators and staff. They suggested cooperation in three key areas:

•  Establish parent education classes such as English and how to best partner with the schools
•  Send school materials home in Spanish so that parents can understand
•  Communicate how parents can "lighten the load" for teachers by volunteering, translating or filling other gaps.

The 15 families of the HAC serve as advocates for Spanish-speaking families in the district. Since being established this past fall, these members have met regularly to share their excitement, concerns and ideas and begin working on solutions.

In the past ten years the Hispanic population in the district has more than tripled, from 471 students in 2002 to 1,686 students in 2011.  

Food initiatives extend reach, quantity     

Local and national food initiatives are increasing their assistance by quantity and geographic reach.

In an Associated Press article, Garfield Elementary in Kansas City, Mo. is featured among other schools in the nation for taking advantage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act signed into law by President Barack Obama in December 2010. The law provides federal funds for the after-school dinner program in areas where at least half of the students qualify for free or reduced price lunches.

In the Fort Osage School District, the first mobile food pantry distribution night served 136 families for a total of 568 people. Families received grapefruit, baked goods, potatoes, yogurt and carrots. The program is a partnership between Fort Osage Caring Communities sites, Fort Osage Church of the Nazarene, and Harvesters.

Infographics illustrate community, health, parent and food initiatives 

LINC recently produced a booklet containing several large graphics highlighting its work with welfare-to-work, summer food, foster youth, parental engagement, a south Kansas City community health clinic and broader community health initiatives.

The booklet "Visualizing Our Work With Infographics" is available on the LINC website.