Martin City Telegraph: LINC Caring Communities are vital hubs for healthy schools

“LINC is wonderful, it’s a lifesaving program,” said Neeco Sims, a LINC parent and grandparent. “It gives me time to focus while my kids are productive. They can do their homework, have all kinds of activities, and learn things like coping skills, which help them when they get home.”

Back-to-school highlights LINC's many services for families, neighborhoods

It was back-to-school week for the LINC Caring Communities sites, highlighting once more the wide array of services standing ready in LINC’s work of making stronger families together.

Better than ever: LINC and KCPS school leaders meet to kick-start new year

The set-up could hardly be better. LINC and KCPS, as both are enjoying renewed strength, organized a meeting of their school leaders ahead of the school year to better understand the many things they can do together inside and outside of the classroom to help children and families thrive.

'Aspire to be great': NBA star leads Hickman Mills mental health and basketball camp

We dropped in at Hickman Mills Middle School where Jason Terry, NBA star and coach, led the four day Hickman Mills & Jason Terry Relentless Mental Health and Basketball Camp. LINC helped support the camp organized by Cyrus Rodgers’ Faces of the Future Foundation. Take a look at the camp’s hard work and the important mission.

A great day in the neighborhood

Caring Communities shined as beautiful as ever. More than 2,000 people joined a community celebration at the third annual citywide fair at 27th and Prospect. It was a beautiful day of “caring, loving and respectful people, all coming together.” See the stories and reactions to the day that tell why we are filled with such joy and gratitude.

Tombstones and hearts: Ossco Bolton cuts a path through the hard work of caring communities

They know what Bolton is getting at. This is what it means to be a caring community here in Kansas City, where 183 people died of homicide in 2023, many of them 18 and younger; here, where in 2024, by early August, 90 more have died. “You all feel it,” Bolton says. “This is what the people coming to you are going through.”

Here we come! Caring Communities Day Aug. 10 to unite city in pride, joy

LINC’s Caring Communities Day — Version 3.0 — just gets bigger and better. All the free food, entertainment, music, dancing, games, prizes and family resources return Saturday, Aug. 10, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Morning Star Youth and Family Life Center on the corner of 27th Street and Prospect Avenue in Kansas City, Mo. See why it's a big party with a big mission.

Remembering LINC founder and people's champion Bert Berkley

Bert Berkley was LINC’s founder and our champion. He was the people’s champion. Berkley created LINC 32 years ago in a firm belief in the wisdom and power of communities. He believed in the right of families and neighborhood leaders to shape their own destinies from their homes, schools and meeting halls.

TeenTix KC opens top theater and arts experiences to youth for only $5

Start the music. Raise the curtain. Teenagers, this is for you. Kansas City is piloting a TeenTix program that is giving teenagers opportunities to attend top Kansas City shows for only $5 a ticket.

'Why are you doing that? You're a kid'; Teen Peace Summit encourages youth to stand against violence

LINC students joined groups of youths from across the city who gathered together to share their experiences, learn from each other and to collaborate with youth and adult advocates who are working to end violence in Kansas City.

LINC Commission Meeting — July 15, 2024

The LINC Commission will meet on Monday, July 15, 2024, 4 p.m., at the Kauffman Conference Center, 4801 Rockhill Rd., Kansas City, Mo.

Friends on the journey: LINCWorks helps families rise, thrive

Everyone who comes to LINCWorks “is on a journey,” said Program Director Sonny Williams. “It’s what shapes the person. And we walk with them.”

BoysGrow brings youthful joy to LINC's farm-to-family mission

Somewhere on the other end of their walk, a job waits. It might be cleaning some tools, weeding a tomato plot, mending a fence. But no rush. The walk along a gravel path in these 10 acres under a south Kansas City summer sky is just as much a part of the BoysGrow experience.

Catch the beat: LINC's Summer of 2024

Check out some of the sights — and sounds — of LINC’s Summer 2024. The rapping with Healthy Hip Hop, honing basketball skills at NBA star Christian Braun’s Champ Camp, water play at Phillips Elementary and drumming with the Urban Bucket Brigade Bootcamp were some of the highlights of an adventurous season of recreation, adventure and learning.

Children with 'good hearts' design inclusive playground with Front Porch Alliance, LINC

“We have a good heart,” said Faxon student Zykhale, 12. When his classmates began imagining making Faxon’s playground accessible for their classmate, Elvis, and other students with disabilities, “we all liked the idea and we went with it.”

KSHB-41: All-nighter event for KC-area boys aims to educate them on gun violence, build character

LINC’s overnight adventure combines passion for sports with a serious mission to help young boys and men make strong decisions in life.

LINC kicks off Juneteenth celebration with Mighty Wild Eagles show in Independence

LINC’s Mighty Wild Eagles Drill Team and Drum Line got Independence’s Juneteenth celebration off to a raucous start at the Independence Uptown Market June 29, 2024.

LINC Commission Meeting — June 18, 2024

The LINC Commission will meet on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, 4 p.m., at the Kauffman Conference Center, 4801 Rockhill Rd., Kansas City, Mo.

Lessons in empathy: LINC trains on SuEllen Fried's anti-bullying wisdom

Bullying, says SuEllen Fried, never was and never should have been “just part of growing up. We now know children who bullied are more likely to commit crimes as adults. Mental health crises among youth are driving a tragic suicide rate. What the world needs now — and what LINC’s team of after-school programming supervisors and staff are learning — are lessons in empathy.

'Enough': Kansas City rallies with restorative message against gun violence

“It’s real,” said Monica Henderson, of the violence that killed her 12-year-old son. She, Mayor Quinton Lucas and others joined the End Gun Violence rally with a message to everyone at risk of violence: “Your life is truly valuable.”