The spirit of LINC’s Caring Communities Day in Kansas City radiates with a promise.

None of our families and neighbors should have to go without lights.

None should worry about losing water or gas.

Rents are paid. Internet is working. There’s food in the fridge.

Come June 11, the celebration bringing together all of LINC’s Caring Communities for carnival fun means to make good on that promise.

There, tucked alongside the music, the games, the prizes, the mascots, balloon animals and ice cream, teams of LINC staff and partners will be connecting people to funds and services that lend comfort and aid.

Here are some of the agencies that will be working with LINC on site during the fair at Morning Star Church’s Youth and Family Life Center, 2525 E. 27th St.:

Interested in applying for aid?

Read this:

Teams will be on hand at the LINC Morning Star Caring Communities Fair June 11 to help households apply for aid programs. Certain documents are required to complete some applications.

Bring the following documents:

• Driver’s license or other government-issued ID

• Social security card

• Current gas, water and electric bills

• Proof of income for all wage earners in the home, with one or more of the following:

  • Consecutive pay stubs

  • Current Social Security Award letter

  • Current pension statement

  • Unemployment letter

  • Current 1040 Income Tax Return for self-employed individuals

• Proof of home ownership for homeowners

  OR

• Landlord Agreement form for renters

• LINC’s team will be processing applications for pandemic relief funds for rent and utility bills.

• Evergy and Spire will be providing free LED bulbs, signing families up for free energy-saving kits and taking applications for free home-weatherization services.

• KC Digital Drive will be signing up households for discounts on internet service.

• “Justice in the Schools” attorneys with Legal Aid of Western Missouri will have information how families can get free legal services for housing and eviction issues, family law situations like guardianships and custody, and other civil matters.

• The Kansas City Fire Department will be handing out free smoke detectors.

• And children will be able to head home from the fair with free books.

So goes the spirit of a caring community. LINC has long teamed up with neighborhood groups and programs to enrich and strengthen the lives of children, families and neighborhoods.

During the pandemic, LINC expanded its community services by teaming up with Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church to build a social service hub at 27th and Prospect.

The site rallied many state and city agencies together and multiplied the resources available to the surrounding neighborhoods and to the LINC Caring Communities site coordinators and their programs throughout the area.

Since early 2021, the LINC Morning Star site’s services have totaled more than 25,000 Covid vaccinations, more than $1.8 million in processed aid for rent and utility bills and more than 3 million pounds of distributed food.

The wellspring of resources extended into LINC’s Caring Communities programs across six school districts, as LINC continued the many collaborations with schools and neighborhood groups.

LINC teams were there, reaching out to isolated families and children, helping load food boxes into cars, tutoring families on remote learning technology, sharing critical information on resources — partners in the work of the compassionate community.

That’s call for celebration. Come join the fair — and get help if you need it. Because that work goes on.

By Joe Robertson/LINC Writer