Historic Kansas City Neighborhood Gets Boost with Money to Help Fix Up Homes

Homeowners in a historic Kansas City neighborhood are already benefiting from a Jackson County-funded program aimed at keeping them in their homes while boosting their property values and stabilizing their neighborhoods.

Gwendolyn Grant, President and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City (Kansas City, MO), said its Operation Rebuild program means funding for more than 40 homes in the Prospect Avenue corridor alongside job training for young adults who may be underemployed or who have been involved with the justice system.

“We want to expand this out for the next three years and get all of these houses uplifted, increase property values and stabilize the communities with owner-occupied residents rather than absentee landlords,” Grant said Friday (August 28th) in front of homes on Lockridge Avenue in the Santa Fe neighborhood.

That will mean tens of thousands of dollars in support for homeowners looking to make costly repairs — whether fixing the roof or upgrading the driveway — and pre-apprenticeship training for 80 people over the past year learning construction and other trades, which could lead to full-fledged careers. “We have Urban League, we have small business, and we have the community working together,” said Rondale Bradford, president of Constructibility. “That type of synergy should translate to other areas around here, and that’s how we can get it done.”

Among the homeowners receiving support through the program are Nina and Timothy Harris, who want to do work on the outside of their house and improve the insulation, which will save money on bills. Nina said she has lived in the neighborhood for decades, and the couple now owns the house her uncle owned dating to the 1980s.

Timothy noted the Santa Fe neighborhood’s history as a prominent place for the Black community and said they wanted to be a part of the revitalization.

“We selected this neighborhood on purpose,” he said. “We didn’t just move here. We chose here.” Work on the home is expected to start within the next few weeks.

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