Month: July 2014

Reception to recognize mental health leader

Wyandot Inc. will hold a special reception from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 23, for Pete Zevenbergen, who recently retired as the organization’s president and CEO.

During the program at 5:30 p.m., speakers will recognize Zevenbergen for his visionary leadership in the mental health field locally, across Kansas and the country. The reception will be held at Savior Pastoral Center, 126th and Parallel, Kansas City, Kan.

Guest speakers will include Mayor Mark Holland, Unified Government of Wyandotte County-Kansas City, Kansas; Mayor Jeff Harrington, Bonner Springs; and Mayor John McTaggart, Edwardsville.

The Rev. Ken Nettling, chairperson of the Wyandot Inc. Board of Directors, will welcome and introduce other guest speakers: Rita Hoag, chair, Western Wyandotte County Citizens’ Advisory Council; Denise Baynham, member, Wyandot Center Board of Directors; and Randy Callstrom, the new president-CEO of Wyandot Inc. Staff will make special presentations to Zevenbergen.

Zevenbergen was named Wyandot Center executive director in 2000. In 2010, he restructured the organization to create separate entities under the umbrella of Wyandot Inc.

Today, these include Wyandot Center, serving adults with mental illness; PACES, addressing emotional and behavioral health concerns of children and adolescents, and their families; Kim Wilson Housing, developing innovative housing solutions; and RSI, providing crisis stabilization services.

“Over the past 14 years, Pete transformed Wyandot Center and created our Wyandot, Inc., a family of organizations to meet needs of persons with mental illness and those who are homeless,” Callstrom said. “Most importantly, Pete put our consumers at the center of all efforts, and fostered compassion and innovative services to respond to the Wyandotte County community’s needs.”

Zevenbergen grew the organization from:

· A staff of 253 (full- and part-time) to 555 employees (full and part-time).

· An annual budget of $6.4 million in 2000 to $31.2 million in 2014.

Today, Wyandot, Inc. provides mental health services at six locations in Wyandotte County and offers housing programs across Kansas and into Missouri.

– Story from Wyandot Inc.

Closed lane on K-7 reopens after fuel spill

The right lane of southbound K-7 at Kansas Avenue is now open to all traffic, after a fuel spill closed a lane.

According to the Kansas Department of Transportation, the fuel spill on K-7 has been removed and the traffic incident was cleared.

The right lane at eastbound I-70 at 7th Street, where there was another fuel spill, was cleaned up and reopened shortly before 5 p.m.

Kansas losing ground on children’s well-being scores

Kansas is losing ground when it comes to children’s well-being, according to information contained in the national Kids Count Data Book.

While Kansas is ranked 15th in the nation, it is worse in all four areas of economic well-being that were studied, according to Christie Appelhanz, vice president of Kansas Action for Children.

“That’s alarming,” Appelhanz said. “We know that the odds are stacked against poor children, families are still struggling from the recession, and we’re not keeping pace with the rest of the nation when it comes to those economic indicators.”

Kansas ranked 20th in the nation on childhood poverty, and it lost ground during a seven-year period. The Kids Count Data Book was released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

“One of the alarming trends we’re seeing is that childhood poverty is growing,” she said. “The percentage of Kansas kids in poverty has risen from 15 percent in 2005 to 19 percent in 2012.”

County data, which was released last fall for 2012, showed Wyandotte County was among the poorest areas in Kansas, with 40 percent of the population considered in poverty, as compared to 19 percent of the population in Kansas.

Wyandotte County also had a reading proficiency rate of 69 percent compared to Kansas’ 87 percent; a prenatal care rate of 67 percent compared with the state’s 82 percent; 8.3 percent low birthweight babies compared with the state’s 7.1 percent; an 8.66 percent infant mortality rate compared with the state’s 6.07 percent; and 46.2 violent teen deaths per 100,000 teens compared to the state’s 29.8.

Wyandotte County has a number of programs aimed at reducing these high rates, such as Healthy Communities Wyandotte.

While Kansas is losing ground on these ratings, it was still ranked above Missouri, which was 29th on the list.

“We know that public investments matter, if we want to lift children out of poverty,” Appelhanz said. “If we want to change what poor children are experiencing, we need to make sure they have access to food, shelter, and early learning opportunities.”

She said Kansas Action for Children was concerned because this is a time of diminishing state revenues, and that hits poor children especially hard. “They’re especially vulnerable in times like this,” she said.

“There’s a lot of talk about childhood poverty in Kansas, but we really need to make investments in the long-term economic success of our kids,” Appelhanz said. “In order for kids to be successful, they need strong families, good schools, and supportive communities, but right now the odds are stacked against them in Kansas. The trends are really alarming.”

They’re not just looking at trends from one year to the next, but for a five-year period or longer.

“From 15 percent in 2005 to 19 percent in 2012, we know in Kansas we’re moving in the wrong direction,” she said.

For more information on the Kids Count Data Book, visit http://www.aecf.org/resources/the-2014-kids-count-data-book/.