Brandon Azim
Solutions ReporterI was raised on the East Side of Kansas City and feel a strong affinity to communities there. As KCUR's Solutions reporter, I'll be spending time in underserved communities across the metro, exploring how they are responding to their challenges. I will look for evidence to explain why certain responses succeed while others fail, and what we can learn from those outcomes. This might mean sharing successes here or looking into how problems like those in our communities have been successfully addressed elsewhere. Having spent a majority of my life in Kansas City, I want to provide the people I've called friends and family with possible answers to their questions and speak up for those who are not in a position to speak for themselves.
Contact me at brandonazim@kcur.org.
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The Kansas City Police Department created an independent missing persons unit in 2023. Two years later, the department reports progress in its effort to solve missing persons cases. But many in the Black community say the numbers mask impatience and frustration over a lack of attention to cases that drag on for decades. -
Saturday's rally was held in conjunction with a nationwide day of action, with nearly 1,400 similar events planned around the nation. Kansas City protesters took aim at the mass federal layoffs and funding cuts led by President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's DOGE. -
Re.Use.Full not only provides drop off points where Kansas Citians can donate their gently used goods, but it also sponsors free, pop-up repair shops with volunteers who will fix your appliances and other household goods so they don’t go into a landfill. -
During March and April this year, Kansas City will work with four area shelters to extend the city's Zero KC emergency cold-weather plan to last the entire year. The new policy eases restrictions for people who've been kept out of shelters because of mental health, addiction or other issues — and adds additional beds. -
Black homeownership is a path to generational wealth, but many Black families in Kansas City have been prevented from buying homes due to decades-old racist lending practices. Habitat for Humanity Kansas City is helping more Black families buy homes. -
Celebratory gunfire is illegal under a new Missouri law, but police fielded dozens of calls after the AFC Championship win on Jan. 26. As neighborhoods brace for even bigger celebrations if the Chiefs win the Super Bowl on Feb. 9, police are saying the law is hard to enforce. -
Shelters that are at capacity have been adding beds to accommodate overflow guests as freezing temperatures remain throughout the metro. But for many, restrictions like pets, a lack of transportation or mental illness deny them access to those beds. -
Starting Jan. 1, 2025, Missouri law enforcement officials will begin issuing tickets to distracted drivers caught using electronic devices while driving. -
The Giving Grove, a nonprofit that works with residents of under-resourced communities to grow orchards, will translate their educational gardening materials into 12 different languages. Non-English speaking communities face barriers to accessing the free fruit and nuts because information has been printed only in English. -
Kansas City nonprofits need to feed more hungry people with less funding. Here's what they're tryingKansas City community kitchens are seeing higher demand as food prices remain high and COVID-19 assistance disappears. The food bank Harvesters is focusing on rescuing food waste as one way to shore up its supplies as demand rises, and donations are down.
