Program areas at KC Common Good
The Common Good Fund was founded by KC Common Good to aid those impacted by violence in the Greater Kansas City region. The Fund provides a donation to eligible victims of certain violent crimes in Greater Kansas City and their families. The fund has supported 66 families in 2023.
The Pro X summer youth internship program saw a record high 589 youth completing their internships, a 69 percent increase from the prior year. 288 of the youth are from Kansas City zip codes that experience persistent economic disadvantages. Another record from summer 2023, 134 Kansas City area employers provided internships to youth, ages 14 through 19. An increase of 49 percent from the prior year.
KC 360 is developed from the Empowerment Network's Omaha 360 model, KC Common Good convenes and facilitates a weekly anti-violence crime prevention collective providing real-time solutions to reduce gun violence through a collaborative approach to improve community/police trust. The program, launched in mid-2022, has grown to 200-300 community members a month and 10,000 community engagement hours in 2023. This year KC 360 has been focusing on the top five steps that the community can be doing to improve community/police relations. The village strategy focuses on a specific geography, expands comprehensive programs, and utilizes evidence-based practices. The first village zone in Kansas City, Missouri, is the Santa Fe neighborhood, which in 2022 experienced nine homicides. In 2023, there were two homicides: a 78 percent decrease. KC 360 partners collectively spurred 4,876 actions, invested 9,050 hours, and deployed $3.53 million of organizational resources. Also, 62 percent of 360 participants reported after the first year an increased level of trust with police. The organization advocated expanding public funding for community-based violence prevention and intervention strategies, resulting in an unprecedented $30 million investment.
Other programs include: (1) Lansing Correctional Facility's Career Campus is a public/private partnership formed to reduce recidivism rates. It incentivizes the state government to invest more funds in educational facilities rather than to build more prisons simply. A temporary career campus is currently being utilized within Lansing prison. With the construction of a permanent career campus training will be expanded for in-demand careers and inmates more successfully matched with employers prior to reentry. Partners include the Kansas City and Wichita Chambers of Commerce, businesses, philanthropists, and the Kansas Department of Corrections. KC Common Good works with 20 organizations. (2) Community Connector - Our website is a portal that consolidates information about critical resources, and our Community Events Calendar broadcasts local events, programming and meetings to the public. With all this information in one place, we amplify work being done for all Kansas Citians.