KidsTLC, Inc. was recently awarded a $30,000 grant from the REACH Healthcare Foundation to support their Gender Affirming Care/LGBTQ+ Training Project. Funding from the REACH Healthcare Foundation will support trainings that will enhance and strengthen the capacity of KidsTLC and other youth-serving agencies to provide high-quality, culturally competent, and equitable care to LGBTQ+ consumers. This capacity grant will be integral in bringing a two-and-a-half-day conference to the Kansas City area put on by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). Ten to twelve KidsTLC clinicians as well as professionals from the community at large will attend the conference. Funds will also allow KidsTLC to put on a one-day training on our campus (for internal staff only) hosted by the KC-Anti Violence Project (KCAVP). KidsTLC staff and others in the community will gain significant knowledge and tools to better meet the health/behavioral health needs of the LGBTQ+ population. This will ultimately strengthen the safety net’s capacity to equitably serve target populations that have not only faced barriers in accessing care due to lack of adequate health insurance, but who are often marginalized or discriminated against based upon their identity.

Developing Potential, Inc. recently received a grant for $15,000 from the CPS Foundation to improve Developing Potential's transportation services and improve its health and nutrition curriculum. DPI will purchase a sedan to complement its other transportation offerings. We are currently renovating one of our kitchens, and we will need to purchase new appliances to better support the health and nutrition of the individuals we serve. These improvements will raise the quality of our services and help the people we serve live happier and more fulfilling lives.  The goals of this project are to help individuals be more connected to their communities and to help individuals live healthier lives.

Raytown Quality Schools (RQS) recently received a grant for $250,000 from the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, STOP Technology and Threat Assessment Grant (DOJ BJA) to install and implement Anyvision facial recognition software (FRS), which will enable anonymous identification and reporting of potentially dangerous individuals attempting to enter school buildings or attend events, such as games, performances, or large meetings.

Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired (CCVI) recently received a grant for $10,000 from the Jacob L. and Ella C. Loose Foundation to assist families with basic needs. Funding will provide gas cards, diapers, car seats, meals, and other basic needs identified by CCVI’s social worker, teachers, or therapists as they work with families.

Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired (CCVI) was recently awarded a $25,000 grant from Irven E. and NeVada P. Linscomb Foundation to support the Early Intervention Program for children with blindness or visual impairment and their families. CCVI’s Early Intervention Program provides regularly scheduled home-based instruction and therapies and center-based evaluations of the infant and toddler’s developmental progress, beginning as soon as the child is diagnosed through the age of three.  Working with the parents in regularly scheduled home visits, early intervention teachers and therapists provide the strategies and activities that can be practiced daily and generalized to the world beyond.

YMCA of Greater Kansas City recently received a grant for $10,000 from the General Mills Foundation Hometown Giving to support the Y’s Food Program. The Y’s Food Program consists of open meal distribution sites, five-component meals for youth enrolled in Y-Club afterschool care, and Saturday breakfasts. The Y intends to serve 90,000 meals to 7,500 children in the next 12 months. The program helps ensure that healthy food is available, adequate, accessible, affordable, and appropriate for children experiencing food insecurity. It is the Y’s goal to offer five-component meals and serve fresh produce with meals as often as possible.