The Unified Government has received approval for a $65,000 REACH grant that will help with the downtown Healthy Campus project.
Melissa Mundt, assistant UG administrator, said Mayor Mark Holland’s office was notified of the grant approval on Monday.
The grant will be used for several items, Mundt said at the UG Administration and Human Services Standing Committee Monday night. They include:
• The consultant – grant writing services that were used to prepare the Choice Neighborhood grant through Housing and Urban Development, $10,000;
• Preliminary site planning on the Healthy Campus by Gould-Evans, $10,000;
• Healthy Campus website marketing material that will be developed by a yet-to-be-selected public relations firm for $15,000;
• A housing and retail study conducted in and around the Healthy Campus, with three firms selected, $18,000;
• A one-year partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Services to provide five full-time VISTA members in the office of the mayor, Healthy Communities Wyandotte and Livable Neighborhoods for $12,000.
No matching funds are required for this grant, Mundt said. The UG Commission is being asked to approve the grant.
So what grants are being sought out for the rest of KCK and Wyandotte county to make it a completely healthy and livable community and not just the downtown area or the immediate space around the county government offices. Let’s not think about ourselves here. Parks and Rec no longer provides adequate programming for youth. Everything has moved out west except the crime and that doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.