Kansas City’s unhoused communities at City Hall and Camp 6ixx in Westport feared a camp sweep. Now, unhoused people are steps closer to short-term shelter and even long-term housing.
The KC Homeless Union met with Mayor Q for four days straight. Here’s what they agreed on.
Posted inHealth
Chaplains find new ways to connect during the pandemic
The Beacon spoke to three Kansas City chaplains representing different faiths to find out how spiritual care provided to patients changed with COVID-19.
Posted inEconomics
KC court’s pandemic program dismisses 5,000 warrants
Facing a backlog of cases from the coronavirus pandemic, the Kansas City Municipal Court was looking for a solution that could help manage that backlog while preparing the courthouse to start hearing cases in person as more people receive vaccines.
Posted inHealth
COVID-19 vaccine distribution for Kansas City’s Black population ‘an afterthought’
Efforts to vaccinate more residents of Kansas City, Missouri, still aren’t serving the needs of the city’s Black community, who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Local organizations are stepping in with ideas of how messaging and vaccination efforts can be tailored to better serve the Black community.
Posted inEconomics
‘Where can we go?’: For Kansas City’s unhoused community, camp sweeps not the answer
For unhoused people in Kansas City, removal from an encampment means possibly losing their belongings and risking further displacement with no promise of permanent shelter.
Posted inEconomics
How the pandemic pushed Kansas, Missouri moms to redefine their relationship with work
The pandemic has pushed working women to redefine their personal relationship to work. As unemployed mothers look to re-enter the workforce, they’re not just looking for a job that will pay the bills, but a job that will support their mental well-being and accommodate working mothers.
Posted inCivic Engagement
How Kansas City residents are supporting Asian-owned businesses and ‘Stop Asian Hate’
The vigil outside Vietnamese coffee shop Cafe Cà Phê was in response to the recent shooting in Atlanta, where a gunman targeted Asian-owned businesses and killed eight people, including six Asian women.
Posted inHealth
How Kansas City organizations are encouraging immigrant communities to get the COVID-19 vaccine
Kansas City’s immigrant populations face challenges with obtaining information about the COVID-19 vaccine in their languages and signing up to get the vaccine.
But Kansas City organizations are starting initiatives to help, like creating messaging around the COVID-19 vaccine for immigrants in their own languages, placing medical interpreters at community vaccine events and having one-on-one conversations with immigrants about their feelings on the COVID-19 vaccine.
Posted inEconomics
A year into the pandemic, Kansas City employers grapple with the future of remote work
As schools and businesses consider reopening — at the same time local and state officials slowly lift restrictions on businesses — employers are figuring out how to best support a workforce that has quickly embraced the ability to work outside the standard office cubicle.
Posted inHealth
Our Pandemic Year: Kansas City reflects on COVID-19
From stories of loss to stories of hope, Kansas City residents open up about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their lives.