Congratulations to our 2023 SKCC Community Impact Award Winners!

CORPORATE CITIZEN IMPACT AWARD

St. Joseph Medical Center

St. Joseph Medical Center was founded in 1874 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and has had a long tradition of providing high-quality, compassionate care. In 2015, Prime Healthcare, a system of 45 community hospitals in 14 states, purchased the licensed 310-bed facility. Since then, they have continued to provide exceptional care and live up to the Sisters’ commitment to taking great care of all who seek them, the poor, the vulnerable, the homeless,” and the mission of the founding Sisters of caring for the community.

St. Joseph Medical Center recognizes the financial impact Covid, and other economical burdens have had on the hospital community, as well as the greater community of Kansas City. Whether it is the loss of income, challenges with daycare, or increasing cost of living expenses, as an organization, they are committed to helping. In the past year, the hospital had a Back-to-School drive where they provided 28 of their own employee’s children backpacks with all the necessary supplies and clothing to start the new school year. And, any extra supplies were donated to University Academy in Kansas City, MO. Mid-year, they hosted a clothing swap and shop which allowed employees to both donate and shop for gently used items. All items remaining were donated to Operation Breakthrough in Kansas City, MO. In the fall, they collected hygiene supplies for the homeless patients that came through the Emergency Department during the winter. And finally, at Christmas, they adopted 17 of their own St. Joseph Medical Center families who needed a little extra support during the holidays. Each hospital department donated a basket of goods that was raffled off. The money collected was then divided between the 17 families. Over $200 was given to each family in the hopes of making their holidays a little less financially stressful. St. Joseph Medical Center is committed to its employees, their families, and the Kansas City community!

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD

Spire

Spire is one of the largest publicly traded natural gas companies in the country, serving 1.7 million homes and businesses every day. They help families and business owners fuel their daily lives through their gas utilities serving Alabama, Mississippi, and Missouri. Their natural gas-related businesses include Spire Marketing, Spire STL Pipeline, and Spire Storage and they are committed to transforming their business by growing organically, investing in infrastructure, and advancing through innovation.

When the NNSA first decided to move its operations at the former Kansas City Plant about a decade ago, a simultaneous decision was made to dispose of the Bannister property, which was jointly owned by DOE and the General Services Administration (GSA). The property transfer culminated in five years of investigation, planning, and design for the environmental cleanup and future redevelopment of the World War II-era facility. The site improvements were mostly obsolete and the property was afflicted with industrial contamination typical of commercial industrial sites from that era. About 6 or 7 years ago, Congressman Cleaver got $200 million in federal funds to help with the environmental remediation and demolition of the existing buildings. Once that was complete, the focus shifted to the redevelopment of the property.

Working in conjunction with all stakeholders, Spire played a big role in not only assessing the physical readiness of the site but also making sure that all the stakeholders at the table were aware of their internal process. Recognizing that their role in the economic development process could not be limited to providing reliable service and that such economic energy offerings have only a limited impact on the recruitment effort of new businesses to the site, Spire considered the provision of creative assistance beyond the boundaries of the historic utility norms. By involving Spire early in the project, they were able to have their engineering and gas supply teams assess the site and remedy any issues around the requirements needed. Utility expertise in the right-of-way, environmental assessments, information technology, asset management, and mapping, were helpful in ensuring that the site or buildings were suitable and ready for development. Conducting engineering reviews, making sure hookups were available and adjacent to the site, determining capacity and redundancy to the site, how long it would take, and how much it would cost to bring service to the new development eliminated three to six months off the timeline, so that Spire was able to better accommodate the overall construction timeline for the redevelopment of the Bannister Complex.

The goals were to secure a future for the site, contribute to the continued resurgence of the economically depressed South Kansas City area, and save the government time and money. This collaboration eventually led to the transfer of approximately 227 of the 300 acres at the Bannister Federal Complex in November 2017 to a private developer for demolition, remediation, and redevelopment at a price of nearly $250 million. The collaboration on this project saved taxpayers about $700 million, generates new tax revenues, provides a logistics and supply-chain career training center on-site, and mitigated several years of potential delays.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD

NorthPoint Development

Founded in 2012, NorthPoint Development is a Kansas City-based privately held real estate operating company specializing in developing, leasing, and managing Class A industrial and multi-family properties. They differentiate themselves with a data-driven approach to site acquisitions and high technical expertise in engineering, architecture, and construction. Through their in-house suite of services, they provide end-to-end expertise, leading to expedited solutions. Today, the company is part of a network of eleven companies with a logistics focus and an emphasis on a factory-to-front-door approach. They continue to operate with an entrepreneurial spirit guided by their Core Values, enabling them to deliver exceptional results for their team members, clients, and communities.

Blue River Commerce Center, located at Bannister and Troost, successfully remediated and reused the land of the former Bannister Federal Complex. The comprehensive environmental remediation that was conducted was made possible through NorthPoint’s partnership with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The site sits on 225 acres and, at completion, will consist of 7 buildings totaling 2.5 million square feet of mixed-use industrial space. Several businesses now operate out of this park, including AJ Manufacturing, Nautical Fulfillment and Logistics, Beyond Warehousing, Alpla, Inc., the South Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, and Genesys.

NorthPoint’s $135 million dollar investment into Blue River Commerce Center is expected to support at least 1,500 jobs in south Kansas City, creating transformational economic opportunities for the surrounding neighborhoods and local community. In addition, Blue River Commerce Center is home to the South KC Workforce Development Center, where residents and students can participate in training programs to prepare them for a wide variety of careers and help to fill the needs for more employees at area companies.

EDUCATION COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD

Center High School Skilled Trades Program

After many years with no skilled trades program, Center High School restarted a woodshop program during the 2021-22 school year under the leadership of Alec Chambers, a Center graduate, and long-time teacher. The objective of the program was to provide opportunities for students to develop hands-on skills that would provide an introduction to the trades industry. In the first year, a little of 26% of the entire student body signed up to take the course, showing an incredible level of interest. In the second year, the program added two sections of advanced woodshop class while continuing the introductory program, and a Woodshop Capstone course is scheduled to open for the first time during the 2023-34 school year.
The advanced classes are providing Real World Learning skills through Client-Connected Projects for internal clients such as creating personalized awards for sports and other activities and building a sound recording booth for the Broadcast Journalism program, and external clients such as Crows Coffee at Red Bridge Shopping Center who they are designing and building tables and chairs for the coffee shop’s outdoor space. In all courses, students work interactively with the teacher to learn and practice skills related to woodworking and the skilled trades.

In the future, Center High School expects to expand the program to include other trades that will give students new career options and support the industries in South Kansas City.

FIRST RESPONDER COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD

KCMO Police Officers Mary McCall and Aaron Whitehead

Mary McCall has worked for the Kansas City Police Department for 19 years of which eighteen of those years were in South Kansas City. She has been a Community Interaction Office for the past five years.

Aaron Whitehead has worked for KCPD for twenty years. He spent fifteen years in the patrol division before becoming a Community Interaction Officer at South Patrol five years ago.

Mary and Aaron are being recognized as a team for their exemplary work as Kansas City Police Department South Patrol Division’s Community Interaction Officers. They work hard to connect with the community at neighborhood, homeowner associations, and advocacy group meetings. They also plan a wide variety of events in an effort to build community relations such as movie nights, safety fairs, health fairs, trunk or treats, toy drives, blanket drives, food drives, back-to-school nights, senior safety day, and block watch training. Mary and Aaron give a lot of extra time and commitment to making sure the community has many ways to feel connected to our police department.

HEALTHCARE COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD

MC Crossfit

MC CrossFit was established in May of 2017 with 4 coaches and 50 total members. Since then, they have grown to a full staff of 7 coaches with numerous certifications and 150+ members. They were voted “Best CrossFit Gym” in Kansas City, Missouri by Kansas City Magazine both in 2021 and 2022 and they have seen their athletes go on to compete at many high levels of CrossFit including the Crossfit games.

MC Crossfit focuses on functional fitness and healthy lifestyles for people of all ages, fitness levels, and backgrounds by coaching and training members in a positive and encouraging manner for exercise, nutrition, and wellness. Most gym members are those that are entirely new to Crossfit and the coaching staff strives to remove any intimidation barriers to starting Crossfit to make it an inclusive place for anyone to meet their fitness goals. MC Crossfit recently introduced a Crossfit Kids program that was very well received in the community with a waiting list for future classes that will be expanded in 2023. This Crossfit Kids program has a mission to help improve the lives of young athletes through community, safety, and proper training on movement and nutrition.

Celebrating 5 years of business in Martin City (South KC), MC Crossfit has helped hundreds of South KC residents to improve their fitness, feel better about themselves, and improve their sense of well-being – all within an exceptional, diverse community.

The staff at MC Crossfit also takes the time to support the causes that represent the values of the community and gym. MC Crossfit is a patron sponsor for the Warhorse for Veterans and the patron sponsor for their annual fundraiser event (Warhorse Games), an annual top fundraiser for Chalk Up for Burpees – the fundraiser to help transitioning veterans, and various other local school and sports team sponsorships.

NON-PROFIT COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD

KC Shepherd’s Center

KC Shepherd’s Center is the original Shepherd’s Center, founded in 1972 by Dr. Elbert Cole, serving as the model for now 56 Shepherd’s Centers across the country.

Kansas City Shepherd’s Center, not only provides much-needed services but engages the community to support a sometimes-underserved population, senior adults.

For 50 years, their mission has been to support, celebrate and empower older adults, fostering independence and connection. KCSC offers a unique peer-led platform of services aimed at helping senior Kansas Citians stay active and involved, get the care they need, remain independent as long as possible in their own homes, and age well in place. Their model is “of seniors, by seniors, for seniors,” reflected in our senior volunteers, our governance structures, and our programs. Two examples of the organization’s most impactful programs are Meals on Wheels and KC Rakes.

Prior to the COVID pandemic, KCSC delivered some 50 meals per week to eligible clients. Due to the quarantine, especially among vulnerable senior adults, that number ballooned to 1000. At the request of MARC, KCSC’s service area was also increased to include four counties. The quarantine also affected the number of volunteers available to deliver the meals, as many were seniors themselves. KCSC met this dramatic challenge by recruiting new volunteers and finding donors to provide new staff and delivery vehicles, and they have been serving this expanded client base for more than two years.

KC Rakes is a partnership of businesses, organizations, schools, and other volunteers. In 2022, 325 volunteers raked the yards of 40 clients. This boosts the spirits of the home-bound clients by cleaning up their lawns and by showing them people care about them, which reduces their feeling of isolation. Sponsorships by businesses, including Suburban Lawn & Garden, offset the cost of 100 rakes and 1500 leaf bags. Organizations such as South KC Rotary, Rockhurst High School, Girl Scouts, and more provided volunteer rakers. As an aside, with their introduction to KCSC through KC Rakes, a team of South Kansas City Rotary members has volunteered to deliver Meals on Wheels.

Finally, KCSC recognizes senior adults who continue to serve as role models for seniors through their work, community service, and volunteerism. Every year they honor “Seventy over 70” seniors for their continuing work; past honorees include familiar South Kansas City residents Joe Fahey, Bill and Bo Stueck, Alvin Brooks, Ann Ohare, Chuck Loomis, Rep. Joe Runyons, John Sharp, and many others.

SUSTAINABILITY COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD

MY REGION WINS!

MY REGION WINS! was established by its founder and visionary Carl A Stafford in 2014 with the mission to transcend everyday challenges. Their vision is for the arts and nature to have a larger influence in society. Their projects and programs are created to address environmental and social injustices and issues.

MRW! engages in projects to foster neighborhood development through the arts and nature by utilizing sustainable environmental practices. One current project involves turning an abandoned/blighted property, in an under-resourced Kansas City neighborhood, into an eco-friendly community art garden. Other projects facilitate individual and community growth through diverse approaches to the arts and community engagement. MRW also played an integral role in the development of the city’s Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan, which will guide our efforts to become carbon neutral by 2040.

MY REGION WINS! shows outstanding achievement and leadership in addressing climate change issues and sustainability within its organization as well as the community by making it a priority within their organization first and foremost. This is done in the community by identifying the assets in neighborhoods, bringing those assets to the table to help collectively address issues on a neighborhood level first, second, and third. Everything starts at the neighborhood level.