Month: October 2022

Housing summit to introduce affordable housing executive

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, has announced the appointment of DeWayne Bright Sr. as a FUSE Corps Executive Fellow to support an economic sustainability through affordable housing initiative.

“Addressing housing is critical to our economic success,” said Interim County Administrator Cheryl Harrison-Lee. “Mr. Bright will be joining our team as we kick-off our UG Forward economic development strategic plan and comprehensive citywide plan. He will be instrumental in helping us establish a much-needed framework to ensure that our growth is complemented with quality housing stock that is accessible and affordable to our community.”

The Unified Government of Kansas City and Wyandotte County is currently working to increase affordable housing options to address the rising housing shortage crisis and increase the city’s workforce and economic development potential as well as the well-being of its citizens, according to a spokesman. The FUSE Executive Fellow Housing Coordinator will help research and design a cohesive housing development strategy that will help increase housing affordability and availability, encourage housing retention in vulnerable neighborhoods, and maximize local economic effects on building owners, residents and businesses.

Bright is joining the Unified Government after spending the last 15 years with the Greater Kansas City Local Investment Commission where he worked to provide independent living skills and resources for youth in foster care, coordinated caring community sites across three school districts, and developed programs and services for youth and young adults.

This is the first time that the Unified Government has partnered with FUSE to hold an executive fellowship. The fellowship kicks off officially on Oct. 31. However, Bright will be participating in the closing plenary panel at the Wyandotte County Housing Summit on Wednesday, Oct. 19. The fourth annual event will be held at the HyVee Arena from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will include discussions on land trusts, tenant’s rights and responsibilities, LGBTQ+ housing, healthy and safe communities, land bank and housing choices for an aging community. There will be a reception following the panel where drinks and appetizers will be served. For more information, visit https://www.wycokck.org/Engage-With-Us/Calendar-of-Events/Wyandotte-County-Housing-Summit.

Blood emergency declared in KC area

The Community Blood Center has declared a blood emergency for the Greater Kansas City.

It is the second blood emergency in 75 days and fourth in 2022, according to a spokesman.

The region’s blood supply is at a one to two day supply, the spokesman said.

“It isn’t that folks are not donating blood,” Patsy Shipley, vice president of Community Blood Center, said, “but that there is a small group of loyal blood donors who are representing the entire community and shouldering the burden for all.”

The gap between what hospital patients need and the available blood supply is growing, she added.

For over 2.5 years, blood centers across the nation have been struggling, according to the spokesman. There was always a surplus of blood in the U.S., so if one region of the country was short, not-for-profit blood centers could help one another. There is no surplus in the U.S. anymore, according to the spokesman.

Perhaps the most significant contributing factor is the lack of first-time donors, the spokesman stated. As older generations age out of the donor pool and become ineligible to donate, they are not being replaced by donors from younger generations, creating a significant challenge in our ability to meet hospital need. In 2019, CBC saw over 20,000 first-time donors. Now, they are expected to end the year with approximately 9,000 fewer first-time donors, further burdening a blood supply that is already stretched thin, the spokesman stated.

They haven’t had the ideal blood supply of 5-7 days in over 30 months, according to the spokesman.

Community Blood Center is asking the community, especially youth and first-time or former blood donors who have not given in the last few years, to step up and take some of the burden off those that have been giving blood. Even if you cannot donate, you can help the blood center by spreading the word about the critical national shortage and need for local blood donors. Tell your friends, post on social or bring a first-time blood donor.

CBC holds blood drives every day, in addition to their seven area donor centers, in order to reach donors and meet local hospital needs. They are taking extra precautions to help prevent the person-to-person spread of COVID-19. As always, people are not eligible to donate if they’re experiencing a cold, sore throat, respiratory infection or flu-like symptoms. Additional information on donor eligibility and COVID-19 precautions is available at https://savealifenow.org/donate-blood/covid-19-and-blood-donation/.

To make an appointment at a blood drive, donors can call 877-468-6844 or visit savealifenow.org.

Some of the upcoming Community Blood Center blood drives in Wyandotte County include:

• Thursday, Oct. 20, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., St. Patrick Catholic Church, parish center, 1086 N. 94th St., Kansas City, Kansas. To make an appointment, call 877-468-6844 or visit savealifenow.org.

• Wednesday, Nov. 2, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., First Christian Church – Bonner Springs, fellowship hall, 148 N. Nettleton, Bonner Springs. To make an appointment, call 877-468-6844 or visit savealifenow.org.

• Friday, Nov. 11, from 7:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Turner High School, auxiliary gym, 2211 S. 55th St., Kansas City, Kansas. To make an appointment, call 877-468-6844 or visit savealifenow.org.

For other mobile blood drives, visit savealifenow.org.

Today’s public meetings

KCK school board to hold special meeting today

The Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools Board of Education will hold a special meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, in the law offices of McAnany, Van Cleave and Phillips, 10 E. Cambridge Circle Drive, Suite 300, Kansas City, Kansas. On the agenda are the human resources report and recommendations, professional development travel, a change to a policy on complaints about discrimination, a policy about complaints about the district, employees and students, and a board development session.