KC council passes tenants bill of rights; trims tax incentives proposed for Waddell & Reed

UPDATE: Dec. 19, the council passes a trimmed-down incentives package for Waddell & Reed.

A tenants bill of rights sailed to overwhelming approval by the Kansas City City Council Dec. 12 as a full house of supporters — many of them renters with their own histories of housing struggles — cheered the fruits of their work. In a separate action, the City Council wants to take another look at tax incentives in a proposed move by Waddell & Reed that would impact the Kansas City Public Schools and charters.

Turn the Page KC, LINC awarded $73,000 for new, inclusive books by nonprofit First Book

Turn the Page KC and LINC were chosen from among over 100 applicants to receive the award for books that will expand Turn the Page KC’s mission to mobilize the community to achieve reading proficiency at grade level or above for all third graders in Kansas City, Missouri.

LINC's data system innovations highlighted by Social Solutions

LINC’s partnership with the Steve Ballmer-backed Social Solutions data revolution is turning heads.

Social Solutions, an Austin-based software company serving nonprofit organizations, recently highlighted LINC’s “innovative ways” in leveraging data in a blog post. This was the kind of partnership that Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, imagined when the Ballmer Group with his wife, Connie, invested $59 million to support Social Solutions’ work.

Interested in a health care degree? Grants through FEC can ease training costs in KC

HPOG grants, through the Missouri Healthcare Industry Training and Education program, provide eligible low-income individuals a chance to receive training for a career in the health care industry.

Happening now: KC wants your insight to set health priorities, spending

The Kansas City Health Commission wants to know about your quality of life. The commission is using an online survey to gather citywide opinions on what you need to live a healthy, productive life. The survey will inform the mayor and city council about how well our communities take care of us, and what needs to be improved.

KC community rallies with volunteer caregivers to seek improvements in health care system

“Without these people our healthcare system would collapse,” said Jim Nunnelly, organizer of the “community thank-you” event for volunteer caregivers Nov. 2 in Kansas City. The caregivers were greeted by city leaders and then went to work helping an effort to improve our healthcare system.

Commission selects two KCPS schools to tell 'a new history' of the African American experience

John T. Hartman Elementary and African-Centered College Preparatory Academy students and staff were chosen to help gather and share a new history in understanding the complex, 400-year history of African Americans in North America. The schools will be Institutional Ambassadors to the National Park Service’s 400 Years of African American History Commission.

American Public Square tackles affordable housing: Making the numbers work

American Public Square waded into the social dynamics and economics around Kansas City’s pressing needs for affordable housing in an October forum at William Jewell College.

LINC commissioner, partners named among the 50 most powerful people in KC area

Faces deeply familiar to LINC appeared in the pantheon of influential leaders when 435 Magazine recently profiled its choices of the 50 most powerful people in the Kansas City right now.

LINC's Yolanda Robinson to be honored for community service

The National Congress of Black Women is honoring LINC’s Yolanda Robinson as one of five African-American women who will be honored at its Kansas City Black Tie gala under the theme “Reaching Milestones: Empowering One Woman at A Time.”

Mayor Lucas to join KC Public Library panel on affordable housing

Nearly two years after the Kansas City Public Library and KCPT-Kansas City PBS launched an examination of affordable housing in the city, what has changed? For the better? For worse? Mayor Quinton Lucas, who campaigned on the issue, joins a panel discussion and assessment of where the city now stands—as well as where it might be headed.

VOTE411.ORG aims to make voting easy, informed

Got election questions? VOTE411.ORG should have you covered. The interactive web site, launched 12 years ago by the League of Women Voters Education Fund, remains a "one-stop-shop" for election related information.

Call for help: Ending student homelessness in Center School District

The mission of the Impact Center program is to end student homelessness in the Center School District within four years. Impact Center’s most pressing need is to raise funds to hire a full-time case manager to work directly and intensively with families to help them overcome their individual barriers to housing success.

Crossing over: LINC advocates help aging foster children, former juvenile offenders bloom as adults

He’d crossed so many rivers of pain, but foster teen Dillon Spradley found an ally when LINC youth advocate Devon Robinson first appeared in the doorway of his guardian’s apartment.

LINC’s youth advocates have helped hundreds of youths in their transition from state care to living on their own, striving to help older foster children and teenagers in the juvenile justice system overcome perilous odds and become independent, thriving adults.

Report: One in four urban Missouri children still live in concentrated poverty

Overall, the percent of Missouri children living in concentrated poverty has declined since the depths of the 2008 recession, but the experience of Missouri’s children varies significantly by race and age, and geographic location, according a new KIDS COUNT data snapshot released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

'They're on my side'; Star School puts court-involved teens on paths to success

If not for Star School, many Missouri teenagers like Adam would have no good educational options as they leave the juvenile justice system. The online program by LINC and the state Department of Youth Services has helped more than 630 youths since 2013.

Seven lessons for curing the digital divide: Federal Reserve Bank of KC drops some knowledge

A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City — Disconnected: Seven Lessons on Fixing the Digital Divide — focuses on broadband access, economic impact and solutions for communities to narrow the digital divide.

'Families and Schools Together' in Fort Osage aims to make parenting easier for everybody

The first gathering of Families and Schools Together, Inc. refreshed Fort Osage parents and their children with a deep breath of community. Dinner, cooperative games, crafts, and peer support groups helped everyone appreciate the challenges and joys of parenthood. It’s not too late to join.

Web source reveals Missouri's health challenges with powerful detail

Now in its second year, the exploreMOhealth website is proving to be a powerful tool in examining Missouri’s strengths and weakness, and the wide disparities in health indicators county-to-county and ZIP code-to-ZIP code.

Lawyers in your corner: Stressed KC communities fight back with 'Adopt-A-Neighborhood' legal teams

The Adopt-A-Neighborhood Project in Kansas City is helping communities turn around vacant properties with the help of volunteer law firms that join with Legal Aid of Western Missouri to help neighborhoods navigate a knotted legal system. LINC is looking to connect its Caring Communities sites with the project.