Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.

The project to Reconnect the Westside is a city-led initiative focused on restoring connections within the Westside neighborhood addressing historic challenges caused by the construction of I-35 and I-670. The project works in collaboration with the Missouri Department of Transportation and uses a $1 million grant for this Planning and Environmental Linkages Study.

The initiative, Selina and Josh say, prioritizes listening to the community and engaging community members in the planning. The Westside neighborhood was made up of 14,000 residents in the 1940s, when the interstate freeways were initially built; the neighborhood now contains about 3,300 people. The interstate caused the displacement of homes and businesses, while creating a physical barrier with noise and air quality issues.

The project was launched with the bipartisan infrastructure law that acknowledged impacts of interstate development. Josh said the city recognized an opportunity to correct the harm and improve safety and efficiency. With the highways now aging, there will be requirements for state investment – and this project can give the community a voice in those coming investments.

 “This is a very community-driven process, and that’s what it’s intended to be,” said Selina. “This is about the community and making the quality of life better for the West side, connecting the neighborhood.”

In community engagement sessions, the discussions are targeted to explore three broad options: should the interstate highways remain the same, be realigned or removed entirely.

• Remain: What can be done to connect if the highways remain as they are? Consider enhancing and developing viaduct space, ways to connect blocks without street access and open up Penn Valley Park to the West side.
• Realign: Based on idea that I-35 could be realigned to a different location, for example, to the west lots where rail infrastructure is dominant. This option would require federal and state funding and would have significant regional impact.
• Remove or possibly Reroute: Starts with the idea to tear down the interstate, and perhaps provide local access parkways in its place.

Josh and Selina announced the upcoming  community session at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, at the Mattie Rhodes Community Center. They also discussed the separate project examining reconnecting the East side, which will be the subject of a separate discussion on One on One with Swope Health.

Listen to the full conversation here: https://youtu.be/0mxVXwz93F0

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Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.

Johnson first participated in a One-on-One with Swope Health interview in her role as the Mayor’s director of public safety, and again in a conversation marking her first 100 days in office. At the time of this conversation, Johnson is approaching the one-year mark of her term in office.  

“I’m pretty proud of the progress we’ve been able to make,” she said. “If you know anything about crime, you know we didn’t get here overnight and so we’re certainly not going to fix it overnight. Incremental progress is still progress. Baby steps are still steps forward.”

One area of focus and progress is domestic violence. Johnson noted that in her earlier position as director of public safety she had learned that 90 percent of domestic violence cases are charged at the Municipal level. On her second week as Prosecutor, Johnson sent a letter to law enforcement and municipal prosecutors outlining the factors that could elevate a municipal charge to a state or felony domestic violence charge.

That effort resulted in a 13 percent increase in the number of cases referred to the county. She also noted the details of this increase are presented to the public on a new Domestic Violence Dashboard. Her next step is to incorporate property crime, harassment and other categories of cases that may have a connection to domestic violence.

Johnson also discusses SAVE KC, a focused deterrence strategy to identify individuals who are likely to be impacted by violence or subject to group-related violence. Those individuals are invited to a “Call In” meeting where law enforcement provides a warning of enhanced enforcement and consequences. At the same meeting, individuals formerly incarcerated or involved in criminal activity or violence share personal stories, often addressing grief and pain. Finally, social service organizations are present to offer assistance on a new path with job resources, housing, education or other services.

“We know we can’t expect you to put the gun down if we are not prepared to put something else in your hand,” she said. Early evidence is showing reductions in violence associated with these identified individuals.

The conversation also addresses actions addressing property crime, the development of the county jail, and a new program to expand diversion options while providing accountability.

Listen to the full conversation here: https://youtu.be/tiQcB0uGuo8

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Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.

Lewis briefly recaps his education in Kansas City, attending Kansas City Public Schools and schools in Hickman Mills before graduating from Raytown South. He began his career in the Air Force, then worked in teaching at Ruskin Heights, real estate, and then workforce and community development through a Kansas City partnership program.

Lewis describes himself as “always having a customer mindset first,” he works to educate people on city processes – whether that’s gaining MBE/WBE certification or other steps toward compliance and successful urban development processes. He sees progress in streamlining city processes and making sure ideas grow into actual projects and developments through the Central City Economic Development program, a 1/8^th cent tax to raise funds for urban development,

One example of a successful and important project, he noted, is the KD Academy Early Learning Center, a 24-hour child care facility in the urban core.

He notes there remains a demand for housing for seniors, despite the many housing developments in Downtown, the Crossroads, and the 18^th and Vine entertainment areas.

Lewis is a supporter of the Central City Economic Development project, which will soon come up for renewal. He notes that the CCED program is operating much more efficiently and smoothly now, acknowledging a slow start with the many processes and procedures. He says, again, customer service is a key to helping improve the processes since 2022.

“It is not only important that we renew it but that we expand it,” he said. “We are still missing some areas that are in critical need, especially going out to the Fifth District.” He said he looks forward to showing the impacts of the CCED program in the community. For example, the Emmanuel Family and Child Development Center has completed one project and is now launching into phase two, a program for Science-Technology-Engineering-Math education.

Regarding the need for affordable housing, Lewis noted the emphasis is focused on the most vulnerable population – those with income below 60 percent of the average median income. Lewis cited a number of programs supporting housing creation and preservation, transitional housing, affordable home ownership and wrap-around services.

Lewis argues that the city is making a dent in the homeless issue, including with transitional housing and affordable housing.

“We have found ways to provide technical assistance, education, customer service. We’ve grown in those areas.” While there’s still criticism of the city’s bureaucratic processes, Lewis sees continuing focus on new ways to achieve efficiency and speed up the processes, with accountability.  

Lewis noted the intentional cross-over between departments, reducing the need for multiple touchpoints in separate encounters. He also emphasizes the customer focus of providing development assistance and streamlining application processes.

The result, he said, is 90 percent of CCED projects fully contracted and moving forward – up from a low of 20 percent at the start.

Listen to the full conversation here: https://youtu.be/Qk6AAhKuR5I

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Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.

Lewis, a native of Boston, talks about how easy it was to fall in love with Kansas City, which, he says, has the right amount of large city experiences as well as family and career experiences – without some of the negatives like gridlock traffic. He describes Kansas City as the “core Midwest,” addressing a large central region that spans from Minneapolis to Dallas with a culture that is less aggressive than some (like Columbus or Indianapolis) and a bit more resistant to change.

Consider the airport as an example: he recalled the difficulty in convincing people of the need for a new airport, but now that it’s done, he notes how locals love to brag about it.

Lewis also notes pointedly that economic development has been slow in the core of the city, especially in the urban areas of the East Side.

“We have to do more to support the Third and Fifth districts,” he said. “The entire city has to do more to support the East Side.”

The closing of the SunFresh grocery at Linwood Shopping Center, he said, marks the loss of an anchor to that area. He noted there were challenges in operating a large store, with a requirement for volume, in an area that may not have fully valued it and continued to travel west for its grocery shopping. The East Side still suffers from the challenges of flight from years ago, he said.

He also cautioned that development takes a long time, as an example citing former Mayor Kay Barnes’ vision for downtown’s Power and Light District that dated from 1999.

He pointed out that the East Side has experienced decades of disinvestment and now will need to see decades of new investment. This investment should not rest only on the shoulders of the city, Lewis said, it also has to also be supported by the business community.  

Lewis noted that EDS holds the role of developing that holistic community gathering – of city, business, and neighborhood leaders – to focus attention and support on the East Side and the Prospect Corridor. The EDC can help find innovative ways to evolve and develop the community, including through a series of projects like:

• ProspectUS plan – a transit-oriented strategic plan for the Prospect corridor.
• The developments at 18^th and Vine, including the expansion of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and hotel.
• The recently launched AmeriCold facility, a $100 million investment bringing nearly 200 jobs to south Kansas City. Lewis noted this facility will attract other types of industry nearby, stimulating additional development.
• Housing developments, including the strategy to redevelop Columbus Park with tax-increment financing.

Lewis also discusses the positive opportunities of the Central City Economic Development Sales Tax District. Despite nearly eight years of little action, Lewis is optimistic that the Mayor, City Manager, Council and EDC are now pulling in the same direction and new investments will materialize.

Listen to the full conversation here: https://youtu.be/rF8mYHbvupQ

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Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.

Ms. Bartee explains the role of LINC in the community – a non-profit organization that works with state and local government, businesses, community and civic leaders to improve the lives of children and families in the Kansas City region. She describes her career journey with LINC, starting as a part-time afterschool teacher, then a site coordinator, supervisor, manager, and vice president before taking the top positions.

LINC, she said, is best described as a hub of caring, providing for the needs of the people in the community. The organization provides caring communities for students, emergency food distribution, early childhood support, employment and job training, financial counseling, elder care, home repairs, neighborhood development, community organizing and much more. LINC serves more than 7,000 children a day in free programs.

LINC is most known for its before- and after-school programs, serving seven school districts and 54 schools. “We serve the whole child, whatever it takes for a child to be successful in school – clothes, food, utility assistance,” she said.

“LINC is whatever the community needs,” she said. LINC provided COVID-19 vaccinations and emergency food during the pandemic, while also making home visits, providing computers and internet hotspots to help students with the sudden shift to online learning.  “We pride ourselves on being there for whatever the community needs.”

The pandemic, she said, helped LINC focus on its core mission: serving community, with whatever the need is. The agency distributed $4.5 million in rental and utility assistance during the pandemic.

LINC acts with compassion, she said. “For me, it is helping people become successful and remain successful,” she said. “No matter what we do, there has to be a component on building stability.” Relationships with families are key.

Pending budget cuts from federal and state programs, however, might limit LINC’s ability to expand and serve more of the community. For the first time, LINC has hired a developer to build support with foundations, the city, the county, and individual donors to fill the gaps from federal budget cuts.

What’s missing? “We need to invest in people. We don’t do enough to invest enough in people. We’re not just giving handouts, we are investing in people.”

“So many of our children are suffering,” she said, noting that many children with unstable housing move from school to school. LINC staffers, in distinctive blue shirts are one constant presence in their lives. School programs also address gun violence, conflict resolution, building relationships and character, caring for each other. “We teach them how to be their brother’s keeper, to understand we are responsible for each other,” she said.

Another bright spot in the LINC portfolio is the Palestine Senior Center, 3325 Prospect Ave., where membership has grown from 65 during COVID days to more than 400 now. The activity center provides meals, classes, fitness programs, healthcare and additional resources. Seniors spend time playing dominoes and cards, line dancing, really enjoying themselves while building relationships and community.

Listen to the full conversation to learn more about LINC including its newest programming in athletics, mindful movement, boxing, biking, and much more: https://youtu.be/9SHZGyeTw5c

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Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.

In this episode, Wesson and Lyman discuss challenges of developing property in Kansas City’s East Side and urban core neighborhoods, areas that traditionally have not received development investment at the same rate as other parts of the city.

Lyman is a Kansas City native who draws upon his family’s experience of running Papa Lew’s Soul Delicious restaurant for 31 years. The restaurant, originally located in the 18^th and Vine Historic Jazz District, was a popular eatery that also supported the community with holiday meals for those in need. Lyman worked in teaching and the restaurant business and then moved into economic development and real estate redevelopment with CJR Development Partners.

His most recent work is along the Prospect Corridor, the site of an equitable transit-oriented development plan originally pursued by the city of Kansas City and the KC Area Transportation Authority. The study, however, didn’t engage members of the nearby community. Lyman related how he attended a planning meeting and asked a simple question: How will this benefit Black people? The response was silence.

Later, he collaborated with an architect on the project and formulated a strategy to bring the local East Side community into the planning. He launched the Heartland Equitable Development Symposium, with local Black developers, banks, foundations, and regional agencies interested impacting equity in Kansas City. The symposium also provided training to developers and addressed policy to ensure the Black community itself can participate in development.

Lyman said the project is different now, for two key reasons: “The community is now engaged in a level we have never had, and two, we now have political will,” he said. The political will includes a community benefits agreement with the City that calls for appointment of corridor manager, city investment dollars, and implementation under the Economic Development Corp. of Kansas City. The agreement is pending with the city and has the support of EDC, which recognizes that helping the Black community helps the entire city, Lyman said.

Lyman compares the project to other recent projects, such as the workforce development center in the Northland or Somera Road’s West Bottoms development – both of which received strong city backing. The East Side projects deserve the same commitment, he said.

The conversation delves into traditional roadblocks to development, which include challenges with land acquisition, clean-up or remediation costs, and piecemeal infrastructure development that raises costs. Lyman also proposes a strong commitment to hiring Black companies, and so giving jobs to Black workers, while also insisting on true partnerships with contractors and unions.

“Nobody is coming to rescue us,” he said, “it’s only going to be us that’s going to lift us up.”

He also discusses policies on affordable housing and suggests an emphasis on mixed-income housing, rather than the current approach that calls for setting a high percentages of housing at low rental prices. Concentrating all affordable housing on the East Side creates a monolithic economic class that can’t sustain a viable business model, while residents who can afford to pay 80% of Area Median Income on housing move away to locations like Lee’s Summit.

Lyman shares an update on the Southpointe @63rd development, a project in the works for more than a decade, which broke ground in February 2024. He traces the project’s history through the COVID years, which led to a redesign of the business plan after markets for office space and big-box retail softened. Lyman notes the Tax-Increment Financing envisioned for the project doesn’t raise sufficient funding when it’s small businesses and local retail providing the tax base.

Ultimately, the project will include a hotel, apartment, town homes, and an entertainment venue with pickleball courts. It also incorporates an urgent care center, a 24-hour childcare center as well as a Black business incubator.  

Learn more about the projects in the conversation: https://youtu.be/rea0jd_uhuQ

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Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.

In this episode, Wesson and Waller call out poverty and unemployment as the forces creating crime and violence in Kansas City.

Waller runs an expungement clinic, and he also serves on several charitable organizations’ boards in the area. He recently challenged the organizers of a public safety forum, frustrated by yet another symposium asking for public input to identify problems.

“We actually know what the problem is; we’ve been talking about the problem for 17, 20, 30, 40 years,” he said. “So why are we still talking about what the problems are?”

The problems, he said, are poverty, unemployment, and lack of education. Waller noted that 49 percent of the prison population comes from poverty or extreme poverty; there are households on the East side that make less than $16,000; unemployment is worse in Blue Hills than in Overland Park – all factors pointing to a poverty and unemployment problem. The by-product of this problem is crime and violence.

So how better to address the issues? “Let’s be intentional,” he said. “We seem not to do that.”

As an example, he noted that crime prevention organizations work in silos rather than in a collective effort. He suggested more accountability and more reporting on outcomes – and organizations that don’t produce might not see repeated funding.

The city, foundations, and other funding organizations should examine how they are awarding funding and measuring impact, Waller said. The community, he said, should also start asking for that since some of the funding comes from our tax dollars. Organizations who receive funding should take it upon themselves to measure their outcomes and explain what they’ve accomplished.

Another example: Waller noted that the state of Missouri spends more than $947 million annually on corrections, but just a tiny fraction on education for prisoners. “Do we really want to help people reintegrate successfully into society? What are we really trying to do?,” he asked.

He noted that the corrections industry is highly profitable, even though studies have found no correlation between correlation between mass incarceration and crime reduction. “Yet we invest in incarceration. For what? Why not spend on things that work – housing, education, mental health, substance abuse,” he said.  

“Do we really want to solve crime and violence? What are we doing?”

Listen to the conversation for more, including Waller’s proposed priorities for addressing the issues.

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Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.

By Purpose Productions is an organization focused on providing financial literacy and homeownership education to help urban core families and individuals build small businesses and become homeowners.

Brown describes herself as a mom, grandmother, widower, and community leader. Growing up in Kansas City, her family moved a lot, she said, and this fact led her to appreciate homeownership and dedicate herself to helping others with the same goal.

Brown hosts an annual event for potential homebuyers to showcase available homes as well as provide connections between homebuyers and vendors, lenders, credit coaches and other resources.

The 2025 Spring Urban Core Home and Bus tour will be held April 26 at the By Purpose Productions headquarters at 5737 Swope Parkway. The free and family-friendly event kicks off with registration starting at 10:15 a.m., and a homebuyers’ seminar at 11 a.m. The bus tour, visiting nine to 10 homes available for sale, starts at 1 p.m.

The event includes a community mixer with a DJ, food, raffles and a kids’ zone. Banks and lenders will offer on-site pre-approvals for loans to qualified individuals at the event.

Register in advance for the free event, which is co-sponsored by the City of Kansas City’s Neighborhood Development Fund.

Brown started the event in 2018 to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act. Her goal is to create a thousand Black and Brown homeowners in Kansas City – she currently has assisted 880 new homeowners.

The biggest hurdles to home ownership are fear, lack of knowledge, and lack of credit scores, she said. This event can help people overcome fears with education and assistance to navigate the pathway to homeownership. With coaching, potential buyers can learn how to budget, manage debt, and build a plan of action.

“Bad credit is expensive,” Brown says. She notes that your paycheck and debt determine what house you can afford.  “You may not be able to afford the house you want,” she said, “but you can get started.”

She also discusses renting, the housing shortage, home renovations, and more. She stresses that while making good decisions depends on each individual’s situation, there are resources to assist everyone.

Listen to the full conversation: https://youtu.be/E-w-iq-zVqM

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Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.

KC Health Collaborative is a non-profit that brings together healthcare-related businesses and organizations to work together to drive healthcare innovation, improve population health, and promote health equity in the Kansas City region. One of its key initiatives is the Health Equity Learning Action Network. (Swope Health is a member of the network.)

In this conversation, Cranshaw described how he came to the organization from a 20-year career in law, including several years of Diversity-Equity-Inclusion work and several years of service on local boards focusing on economic development, affordable housing and health equity. (Cranshaw is a former member of the Swope Health Board of Directors.)

The organization was founded in 2015 by Blue KC with a goal of providing health access and lowering costs. The collaborative focuses on addressing the social drivers of health and advancing health equity. The organization recently compiled a report card of regional health data.

“I think we are getting better, but it depends – it depends on where you live,” Cranshaw said. He noted that in the KC metro area, ZIP code 64113 (Brookside) has the highest life expectancy in the state, while just a few blocks away, zip code 64128 has the lowest. “We’ve got to do better,” he said.  “It’s not just a black and brown issue. It impacts the entire region.”

The goal, he said, is inclusive prosperity. Economic development should use relevant data to drive sound policy, he said. Health inequity is a pandemic, but it can be fixed.

Cranshaw notes the city leaders are engaged in significant discussions about the Royals, Chiefs and the FIFA World Cup. But, he noted, there isn’t much discussion about Kansas City’s Eastside.

“We’re not talking about affordable housing, economic development on the east side,” he said. One example is transportation policy.  For FIFA, the city will provide free transportation to the stadium locations, the Crossroads, Downtown and the airport among other venues. Cranshaw challenges: Why can’t we make this the the backbone of a regional transportation system that supports our workers?  

He argues that addressing the social drivers of health can improve lives and the KC Health Collaborative intends to deliver the data that can inform better decision making for investments and business development.

Listen to the conversation: https://youtu.be/Pg6TpKrW_Lk

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Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.

In this conversation, Johnson reflects on approaching her first 100 days in office. She talks about her priority to improve the relationship with the Police Department, some of the early challenges in the job, and the changes she is implementing.

“I feel like things are going well,” she said, “and I’m going to keep putting my best foot forward.” She said her relationship with KCPD Chief Stacey Graves is “rooted in honesty and truth,” and off to a good start. She also noted already strong relationships with Deputies on the police force stemming from her prior role as Director of Public Safety for the City of Kansas City and her involvement in SAVE KC, the focused deterrence initiative.

One of her earliest decisions to meet with controversy was her determination not to prosecute the Independence police officer involved in the November 2024 shooting that resulted in the deaths of a mother and her infant child. Johnson said she relied upon the law to guide her decision, and noted she explained the process in a 16-page letter and met with the civil rights community, media, and others to discuss the decision.

“Transparency is important to me,” she said, adding that her office is ramping up how it communicates with the public. She said she wanted to talk about every guilty plea, charge, action and initiative taken by her office.

The conversation also touched on restorative justice, providing resources to those facing challenges of addiction or mental health as crime prevention tactic, and the county’s COMBAT program. In addition, the conversation touches domestic violence cases, her office’s new crime strategies unit focusing on property crimes, and challenges at the city-owned Linwood Shopping Center at 31^st and Prospect, an area that has been a focus for crime, drug-dealing, panhandling, and prostitution.

Watch the conversation: https://youtu.be/Z_0LVjQgi7s

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