Success Stories

Metro Lutheran Ministry (MLM) recently received a grant for $100,000 from the Sunderland Foundation to the renovation of MLM’s Midtown Community Assistance Center. Phase I of the project includes relocating the food pantry from its current location (the southwest corner of the facility) to the north side of the building adjacent to the warehouse.  A new intake office will be built connecting the waiting room to the new pantry location; providing confidentiality for the pantry clients. A new ADA compliant ramp will be built allowing for safe access to the office.  Phase II includes enlarging three offices allowing case managers enough room to meet with clients while providing room for the children who accompany their parents. The offices will also be adjacent to the computer lab making it more convenient for parents to perform job searches and submit applications while visiting with the case manager.  Phase III includes enlarging the front desk area to create a more welcoming and useful environment for clients. Clients will be able to see out the window to wait for transportation, and an ADA compliant ramp will be installed to improve access. Picture 3 (left) shows the only window by which clients can wait for their ride, cab, or ShareFare. Many are too short to see out of the door’s window. Seating will be added to aid elderly and disabled clients who currently must stand.

YMCA of Greater Kansas City was recently awarded a $100,000 grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to support the Y’s Summer Learning Loss Prevention program. The primary goal of the SLLP program is to prevent summer learning loss through a combination of literacy instruction, quality enrichment activities aligned to literacy classroom instruction, and positive youth development opportunities for struggling readers and their families at a site within their local community. The program targets incoming first-fifth graders identified by the schools as “strategic readers” (reading just below grade level). The Y is working to fully embed this summer intervention at all of our 21st CCLC afterschool program sites.

KidsTLC, Inc. recently received a grant for $75,000 from the Sarli Family Foundation to provide general operating support for Outpatient Behavioral Health services. KidsTLC’s Outpatient Behavioral Health clinic (OBH) serves children, adolescents, young adults, and families from various racial, ethnic, religious, economic, and geographic backgrounds, with a wide range of behavioral health issues ranging from mild to severe, including victims of traumatic abuse, neglect, or other difficult family disruptions. Services include assessment evaluations; individual, group, and family therapy; medication management; parental education; psychological assessments; substance abuse treatment; and telemedicine. Support for this program will allow services to be maintained for all in the face of low reimbursement rates, decreased government funding, and increased private funding competition.

Comprehensive Mental Health Services, Inc. was recently awarded a $70,000 grant from the Missouri Department of TransportationMissouri Elderly and Handicapped Transportation Assistance Program (MODOT MEHTAP) to support the driver salaries, benefits, mileage, vehicle maintenance, fuel, and insurance to support transportation operating expenses.

YMCA of Greater Kansas City recently received a grant for $69,465 from the Greater Kansas City Community FoundationJackson County Community Children’s Services Fund to add a critical staff position to directly support the children and families enrolled in Y Club with mental health services during the afterschool program, and equip Y Club staff with critical knowledge and skills for managing behaviors to improve overall program impact.

Blue Springs School District (BSSD) was recently awarded a $64,960 grant from the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City (now the Health Forward Foundation) to support one full-time therapist and one half-time therapist for Valley View’s Hall McCarter Education Center (HMEC) and the Freshman Center to provide school-based mental health services. This funding increases the amount of time a therapist is available to students.  This gives the school a chance to work together to create a more consistent and efficient referral and reentry process for the students. It also provides the counselor with more time to provide services to students.

Comprehensive Mental Health Services, Inc. was recently awarded a $61,600 grant from the Greater Kansas City Community FoundationJackson County Community Children’s Service Fund to provide school-based intervention services. CMHS Prevention Specialists bring psychosocial groups into the school setting covering various topics: anger management, coping with anger/anxiety, drug prevention, risk taking, decision making, dealing with grief caused by death/divorce, social skills, and communication.

Comprehensive Mental Health Services, Inc. (CMHS) recently received a grant for $166,751 from the Jackson County Community Children’s Services Fund to place prevention specialists and therapists in numerous Jackson County schools, which significantly decreases risk factors and gives CMHS direct access to youth in crisis.