Shakea Roper didn’t imagine she would become a leader in her neighborhood.
“I really am more of, like, an introvert,” the 41-year-old social worker says. “I wave to my neighbors if they wave, I might have a little chit-chat, but that's the extent.”
Even so, Roper has created a weekly walking group in one of Kansas City’s historically disadvantaged neighborhoods that encourages a healthy lifestyle and builds community.
“You have to start at home,” she says. “Now that I've done it and got a taste of it, I think it's awesome!”
The unanticipated role resulted from years of trial, error and neglect.
“I got diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2019, and I still wasn't taking it as seriously as I should,” admits Roper, who offers mental health services at her practice, Cleared Headspace.
But repeat hospital visits, a family history of heart problems, and worried health care professionals put her choices in stark terms.
“Around 2022, my doctor told me if I don't start exercising and eating right, things like that, that I might not have more than five years to live,” she says. “I remember one summer, I think it was three times I had to get admitted to the hospital.”
All this played out in front of Roper’s children, too — Phoenyx is now 11 years old, and Keayani is 24.
Roper turned to walking “because I can’t run yet, for one,” she says. “You have to walk before you run.”
But it wasn’t as simple as stepping out her front door and doing laps around the block.
“I live in the Marlborough neighborhood, and that leads to some concerns about safety,” Roper says.
“There are times when you see sirens going, there are times you hear arguments. … There's been times where there's, like, standoffs between the police,” she says. “I did not feel safe.”
Making a connection in Marlborough
The seeds of an organized walking group were planted last fall, after Roper signed her business up for a booth at the Marlborough Health and Wellness Fair.
Just before the fair, Roper met the executive director of the Marlborough Community Coalition, Diane Herschberger, and took the opportunity to mention wanting to find someone to walk with.
“I made sure to follow up with Diane,” Roper says, “and then she introduced me to Sarah, who’s been wonderful.”
Sarah Sommerkamp, Marlborough Community Coalition’s contracted program manager, was already a prolific walker in the neighborhood thanks to a previous door-knocking campaign aimed at reducing crime.
“Diane was like, ‘There's this person who's interested in starting a walking group,’” Sommerkamp remembers learning after the fair. “And I was like, ‘Oh, that's cool!’”
Since then, the group has grown slowly but steadily. A grant through the Marlborough Community Coalition provided a small budget for gifts and prizes, and T-shirts with the group’s name on them: “Marlborough Unstoppables.”
The group started with 30-minute walks around the track at Center Elementary School, at 85th Street and Brooklyn Avenue, on Wednesdays and Fridays at 5:30 p.m., and Saturdays at 9 a.m. They have recently added Monday and Tuesday walks at 10:30 a.m. on the Harry Wiggins Trolley Track Trail, starting at the access lot off 85th Street. Roper estimates five to eight people show up consistently, and they have 12 to 15 members.
“The group is growing because of what is being offered, like friendship, community, we're doing something that's good for your health,” Sommerkamp says. “The raffles and the T-shirts, those are just fun. But it's really about the people.”
Roper’s 11-year-old daughter often spends sessions zooming around the concrete track on a scooter. Last month, the 24-year-old stuck to a table and bench with a book.
“The fact that my daughter enjoys going on these walks and also joining in and being social and encouraging and being able to help keep people accountable — it's good for her health, but I also think it's good for her character development,” Roper says.
Doctors agree small changes can make a difference in people’s health. According to the Mayo Clinic, a daily brisk walk can help maintain a healthy weight, prevent and manage heart disease and type 2 diabetes, improve cardiovascular fitness, and strengthen bones and muscles.
‘I’m not at the highest level!’
To keep the group inclusive, Roper takes care to make sure any other routes are appropriate for all skill levels. And during summer’s dog days, the group walked in Ward Parkway Shopping Center to avoid the heat.
“There are places that you can sit down, so if you go around and you need a break, no one's going to bite your head off,” Roper says. “No one's going to judge you if you're not at the highest level — I’m not at the highest level!”
In June, members of the group walked in a 2.5-mile neighborhood fun run/walk organized by Sommerkamp, and some are taking part in a fall scavenger hunt that explores green spaces in Marlborough and beyond until Nov. 5.
“At some point we want to start walking the actual neighborhood,” Roper says. “I think that it’s going to help with the safety.”
A 2021 study from the city-focused online journal npj Urban Sustainability found a 5% increase in street activity in Chicago was associated with 9% less violent crime, and a 5% increase in street activity in New York City was associated with 2.7% less violent crime.
“People are less likely to do crime in front of other people — they don't want to get caught,” Roper says. Plus, “the more presence that we have, the more people will be able to see it outside their window, even if they haven't seen a flier.”
Given the walking group’s momentum, it’s easy to forget where the initial push came from. Roper says things have improved there, too.
“The level of my heart function increased throughout this time,” Roper says.
At her 11-year-old’s most recent laser-tag birthday celebration, “I noticed that my recovery time was much, much better,” she says. “Instead of me having to be on a break for an hour, I only needed like 10 minutes. I have asthma; I didn't have to take my inhaler.”
Roper says she’s proud of her work so far, “but I also have bigger goals.”
Those include starting a carpool to make it easier for people to get to sessions, and she envisions expanding into neighborhood services like lawn care and minor home repair.
Roper also applied for and was accepted into UMKC - Center for Neighborhoods’ fall 2025 Cohort Neighborhood Leadership Training program, which includes 12 weeks of community development instruction. She wants to be a bigger influence for change in Marlborough, she says.
“It did change my mindset, and being a part of the community,” she says. “The walking group that we have created is very nonjudgemental … and I think that’s very beautiful.”
The Marlborough Unstoppables walking group meets at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday, and 9 a.m. on Saturday at the Center Elementary School track, 8401 Euclid Ave., Kansas City, Missouri 64130. For more information, email Shakea Roper at sroper@clearedheadspace.com.
