05 Feb J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation Awards $100,000 Grant to Metro Lutheran Ministries (MLM)

Metro Lutheran Ministries (MLM) was recently awarded a $100,000 grant from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation to support their Northland Community Care Services Program.

In 2015, a new Service Center for MLM will be built to increase MLM’s ability to serve the Northland community. The new Northland Service Center will be a visible and strong anchor in Kansas City North, and a beacon to those in economic crisis who need a lifeline.  The new Service Center will be created through a renovation of the former sanctuary of St. James Lutheran Church.  This Service Center will have locations for food storage, multiple offices for case management, a reception and waiting room for clients, a bathroom, additional storage space, and room to grow.  Case management at the Northland location will be expanded so that MLM will be able to serve the increasing numbers of families and individuals in crisis.  This includes food, permanent supportive housing, rent and utility assistance, and some of the emergency needs of families in crisis that have consumed the program manager on staff at the Northland location.   The basement will be renovated to accommodate the Learning to Earning Program as it expands into the Northland.  Learning to Earning is a client-focused education, financial literacy and employment services program for those without basic job readiness skills or financial stability.  Annually the program provides highly individualized instruction, GED preparation, employment services and case management support for approximately 300 committed individuals looking to improve their lives.

MLM anticipates this project that will result in a new space to provide services would increase the efficiency of services, allow staff to provide more privacy to clients receiving services, and would allow MLM to expand the services it provides to the community in the future.

For over 30 years, the program has been providing emergency assistance to poor and needy families and their children in Clay and Platte counties in Missouri who are facing financial crisis. This assistance includes food and commodities to help feed children and families as well as emergency payments to landlords or service providers for families facing eviction or who are in imminent danger of losing their utility services.  Through these payments, issued directly to landlords and utility service providers, families are able to stay in their homes, keep their utilities on and keep their children safe.  MLM Northland also offers additional comprehensive services to promote self-sufficiency including intensive case management for homeless clients and families facing eviction, emergency medication assistance to North Kansas City School District students, budget and resume assistance, housing placement, and job agency referrals. The emergency medication assistance program is a partnership between the North Kansas City School District, Hy-Vee Pharmacy and St. James Lutheran Church for low-income households to receive emergency payments for up to two months of student prescriptions.  MLM Northland also provides backpacks filled with school supplies to children in poverty.

Metro Lutheran Ministry (MLM) has provided emergency assistance for over 42 years to people in economic crisis.  Programs help people with food, homeless services, job searches as well as rent and utility assistance. Like most nonprofits that serve the poor and homeless of our community, the economic downturn resulted in MLM experiencing a dramatic increase in the demand from people who found themselves in crisis.  Unemployment, loss of housing, utility shut off, and lack of food have all brought people to MLM’s doors hoping we could say “yes.”  MLM’s dedicated staff and faithful volunteers have been outstanding during this time of great need.