Solutions

Kansas 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.

Extracurricular activities are limited for blind and visually impaired young students. That’s why Beep Kickball, a team sport using balls and bases that make sounds, has grown dramatically in popularity since the game came to Kansas City just over five years ago.

As part of its sweeping green infrastructure plan, Kansas City is transitioning to LED streetlights. The new bulbs are more efficient, last longer and reduce carbon emissions. But environmentalists say that the real solution to reducing carbon pollution is to shut down the coal-fired power plant that provides energy to Kansas City.

El jefe de policía Karl Oakman, que ha estado en este trabajo durante dos años, dice que redujo los homicidios y los crímenes violentos mediante el uso de cuatro estrategias, incluyendo el mantener a los oficiales presentes en los barrios y responder a cada sobredosis de fentanilo.

Police Chief Karl Oakman, on the job for two years, says he reduced homicides and violent crime by using four strategies, including keeping officers present in neighborhoods and responding to every single fentanyl overdose.

LaTasha Jacobs and Carl Smart come from different backgrounds and have different ideas about why Kansas City's homicide rate is so high. But they plan to work together in Jefferson City to try to persuade pro-gun lawmakers to actually consider solutions such as better childcare, nutrition and education.

So far, 53% of all homeowners on the Westside have signed up for the program, which cuts property taxes to a percentage of their income and, for some, freezes it at that level for 25 years.

A little more than a year in, KC 360 says its method of bringing government agencies, police and community groups together to target violent crime has decreased homicides and non-fatal shootings in the Santa Fe area, its first target neighborhood. But leaders say more work has to be done.

At community listening sessions and in stories about the city's violence problem, we gained some new perspectives on a polarizing and seemingly intractable problem.

Jackson County’s Community Backed Anti-Crime Tax, or COMBAT, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The first-of-its-kind program has been lauded for its contributions to crime reduction. But, with gun deaths climbing each year, it's challenging to measure whether the money makes a difference.

Rural America is not known for its public transportation. But as its residents get older faster than their urban counterparts, the need is increasing. Some communities are finding ways to provide rides.

Impact KCK in the Kansas City, Kansas school district is a national model for how communities can address student homelessness by bringing different organizations and resources together to connect families to stable housing, jobs and other services.