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Professor Offers Technical Assistance to Urban Core Community
K-State Engagement E-News, March 2009 (PDF)
by Jenny Barnes
The masthead of the community newsletter created with the help of Sheri Smith and a CECD grant.
The neighborhood Washington Wheatley, Kansas City, Mo., needed assistance. The neighborhood had problems with housing possession, crime and availability of jobs.
Smith used the funds from a CECD grant to reach out to the Wheatley community, located between 18th and 27th Street, and Prospect Avenue and Interstate 70.
Smith reached out to this community because she saw its need for momentum, and she wanted to provide technical assistance to the neighborhood association in the process of community development.
The community had issues with housing possession when the owner would pass. Therefore, the focus was to educate the citizens so they didn’t lose the homes that had been in their families. Smith worked with the president of the neighborhood, Marlon Hammons, to keep the people of Washington Wheatley in those homes.
Another goal was to create more jobs so the residents had money to pay for property taxes. The neighborhood needs its citizens to be incorporated in all aspects. For example, Smith said if a new store or housing unit is going in, citizens could be hired to help with those projects. She also said it could be something as small as starting a micro business for mowing lawns. Smith and her colleagues sought little ways to get the community members involved and improve the neighborhood.
Smith said, "While the Wheatley community has a long road ahead of them, they have made significant strides."
They created a newsletter to help inform citizens of issues like property taxes, and to highlight companies committed to the neighborhood. The community also enlisted the help of some outside organizations. The city council, the Kansas City Police Department and University of Missouri Kansas City, all helped with the project.
Smith also said the focus of redeveloping the community was not the physical aspect. It was keeping the residents in their homes, and preserving the history the neighborhood represents.