In response to concerns about increased urban blight in the late 1970s, the Civic Council of Kansas City commissioned a study on the redevelopment of urban areas to determine what could be done to revitalize the city. Results indicated the need for an organization to work with residents to revitalize deteriorating neighborhoods. The Kansas City Neighborhood Alliance (KCNA) was founded in 1979 by the council, whose members include the CEOs of 75 major Kansas City corporations. The council funded one-half of KCNA's operating budget for the first 3 years. KCNA then partnered with City Hall and various community development corporations and foundations to fund its operations.

Today, KCNA has a $1.5 million operating budget, with funding from 98 different sources, including community development block grants and 52 corporations and major foundations. KCNA believes that expansion of its corporate and foundation support is critical to long-term financial stability and tries to add new funders each year. The organization has developed a diverse funding base so that it is not vulnerable to what Executive Director Colleen Hernandez calls "corporate winds of fortune." She explains, "We want them to buy into our programs and become invested in the community."

Engaging the community. KCNA encourages community investment by concentrating its services in four major areas: leadership training, homeownership training, targeted community development, and rental housing development. Kansas City has more than 300 well-organized grassroots groups registered with the city that advocate for their neighborhoods. KCNA works with these groups to evaluate their assets and develop solutions to problems. Kansas City's housing stock consists primarily of single-family homes. It ranks among the top 10 most affordable cities in terms of housing costs. Homeownership rates fell sharply during the 1980s as investors bought up the homes of aging owners. By 1990 only 46 percent of Kansas City homes were owner occupied. The rise in absentee ownership contributed to a decline in property maintenance.

KCNA offers leadership training to neighborhood association members to improve their skills. Many of these neighborhood leaders are almost at retirement age from blue-collar jobs and have no management experience or background. "The leadership training program begins with a 2-day retreat at which attendees begin to learn how to communicate, delegate, raise money, run meetings, structure an organization, and deal with people," Hernandez says. Potential leaders attend four half-day sessions to develop a strategic plan and an action plan for their community. A final retreat is held at the end of the training to solidify plans. KCNA invites seven or eight neighborhood groups to send five or six people each for training each year. Approximately 50 people are trained during each 9-month program, which more than 1,000 people have completed.

As KCNA worked with neighborhood groups, it became apparent that a homeownership training program was needed. Home Works was established in July 1990 to help people prepare to become homeowners. The program emphasizes preventing credit problems through early intervention, the importance of maintaining a clean credit record, preparing a prepurchase budget, and saving for a home. "More than 15,000 people have received homeownership training through Home Works," states Hernandez, "and half of them have made it to homeownership. Along the way, we've learned a lot about the challenges facing young couples, single parents, immigrants, women, and people of color as they prepare to buy a home."

One of the outgrowths of Home Works is Kansas City Saves, a second-generation financial literacy program that began almost 2 years ago. "We realized that many of the people coming to Home Works for homeownership training were in their late twenties and early thirties," says Hernandez. "Many of them came with credit problems and no real knowledge about using money wisely."

Building partnerships. In partnership with the Consumer Federation of America, KCNA began to work with new employees at businesses throughout Kansas City. These new employees, usually in their first job, were counseled on the importance of using credit cards wisely, paying student loans and other debts, and accumulating wealth. Approximately 350 people are currently enrolled in Kansas City Saves. Local banks help by providing low-fee accounts to Kansas City Saves members. The first round of workshops is motivational and discusses wealth building and money choices. A KCNA staff person makes financial presentations to members at brown bag lectures around the city. Kansas City Saves members also receive the organization's newsletter. Hernandez notes that KCNA continues to seek additional local partners for the program.

"We learned that people need to do three things—live within their means, use credit wisely, and establish savings. Kansas City Saves is also about social norms," Hernandez explains. "We want to change how people view money and change their behaviors. Money can provide flexibility, freedom, and security, but you have to deal with it rationally."

Another KCNA program, the Neighborhood Self-Help Fund, disperses approximately 3,000 small grants to 70 to 80 community groups each year. These grants have been used for funding a mobile crime watch, neighborhood cleanups, installing deadbolt locks for elderly residents, outdoor lighting, landscaping, and turning vacant lots into neighborhood gardens. Because the loans are small, more projects can be accomplished in more neighborhoods throughout the city.

KCNA also operates a publications program for neighborhood groups. KCNA teaches newsletter coordinators from various neighborhoods how to write and produce a monthly newsletter using computer software. KCNA produces 1,000 copies of each newsletter, and each neighborhood group is responsible for distribution. More than 200,000 neighborhood newsletters are produced annually through this program.

Rose Brooks Center, another KCNA partner, provides continuum of care services for women and children from abusive homes. The center includes administration offices, a shelter for victims of domestic abuse that offers safe haven and counseling for up to 6 months, and a daycare center for area residents. The shelter houses 75 women and children and provides case management and therapy services. Rose Brooks also offers a 24-hour hotline to report domestic abuse as well as outreach programs for those not ready to leave an abuser. The center also offers support groups and prevention education.

KCNA plans to develop 74 low-income housing units at Paige Point, adjacent to the Satchel Paige Elementary School. The 64 three-bedroom units and 10 two-bedroom units will sit on the former Fairyland Park site, which has been abandoned, vacant, and debris-ridden for 2 decades. Twenty units will be set aside as transitional housing for Rose Brooks clients. Paige Pointe represents the sixth tax-credit development sponsored by KCNA. Financing for the project will come from the National Equity Fund, the Missouri Housing Development Commission, and a construction loan.

As KCNA begins its 23rd year, it continues to work with neighborhood associations and develop new partnerships. Hernandez says the key to KCNA's partnerships is "to develop a sense of connectedness with partnerships and to be able to document the changes that you're making in the community."

KCNA received a Sustained Excellence Award from the Fannie Mae Foundation in 2000 for its work in the Blue Hills neighborhood of Kansas City.

For more information, contact: Colleen Hernandez, Executive Director, Kansas City Neighborhood Alliance, 3822 Summit, Kansas City, MO 64111, (816) 753-8600.