City leaders and Kansas City’s Public Improvements Advisory Committee (PIAC) are getting the word.

Overgrown shrubs and vines are imperiling the walk to school for many Pitcher Elementary students.

Sidewalks need work and traffic has grown dangerous around Garfield Elementary.

Road surface problems and other hazards around Budd Park in Northeast Kansas City are threatening the safety of Gladstone Elementary children and their families.

These are some of the concerns that have come out of the community Site Councils LINC has established at 44 LINC Caring Communities programs. Parents, neighborhood association leaders, principals, teachers, business owners gather — sometimes joined by city officials — and LINC is helping take concerns into the halls of city government.

“Improving the neighborhood for children and families is so important,” said Sean Akridge, LINC’s Director of Community Engagement. “Families take pride in their neighborhoods and want to get out and walk safely and promote play.”

This work of listening to the community and helping neighbors rally to make change has been an essential part of LINC’s mission since its beginning over 34 years ago, so it wasn’t surprising when Akridge went to a recent District One PIAC Meeting led by Councilman Nathan Willet that Anita Gorman, a longtime civic leader and one of LINC’s original commission members, was there.

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“LINC’s work has always been grounded in the community,” Akridge said. “It’s an approach that is still carried out today through each of the stakeholder-driven Site Councils that meet monthly.”

PIAC meetings, where important infrastructure, zoning, construction and neighborhood amenities issues get raised, provide important opportunities to be heard. Some projects can take time, but quicker action is also possible in many cases. Akridge said Kansas City Mayor Pro-Tem Ryana Parks-Shaw connected Akridge with a department official so the city could address the safety of the road near Pitcher ahead of the start of school on August 24.

The Pitcher Site Council, a year ago, played an important role in expediting needed sidewalk construction around the school.

LINC Site Councils support all of its Caring Communities sites, including programs at schools in the Kansas City, Hickman Mills, Grandview, Center, North Kansas City and Fort Osage school districts, plus Site Councils at Morning Star Youth and Family Life Center and the Palestine Senior Citizens Activity Center along Kansas City’s Prospect Avenue Corridor.

Learn more:

LINC site councils forge the power of relationships to lift up community voice

LINC site council helps spur action for critical sidewalk construction