Metropolitan Energy Center

Metropolitan Energy Center is a nonprofit catalyst for energy efficiency, economic development, and environmental vitality in America's heartland. Their mission is to create resource efficiency, environmental health, and economic vitality in the Kansas City region and beyond by providing resources, outreach and training to make alternative fuels and energy efficiency commonplace.

Objectives:

• To develop a data analysis and provide equity mapping for all Participating Missouri and Kansas partners.

• To provide training for contractors and building trades.

• To educate communities regarding the placement of building codes and building performance training into vocational training programs for youth and adult students.

• To design and guide a community engagement and participatory education processes in communities that meet Justice 40 and IIJA criteria.

Missouri Department of Conservation

The Missouri Department of Conservation is federal entity whose mission is to protect and manage the fish, forest, and wildlife of the State of MO. They facilitate and provide opportunity for all citizens to use, enjoy, and learn about these resources.

Objectives:

• To develop a quantitative analysis regarding the climate, health, and

  socioeconomic inequities impacting the communities of Jackson County, Missouri.

• To strategize and implement of community engagement methodologies, including interviews, story collection, and community liaison development with the groups most negatively impacted by climate change.

• To develop a tailored, community engagement framework for MDC for continued engagement with communities most negatively impacted by climate change.

• To develop a qualitative analysis report and presentation of the findings, including a presentation to the communities worked with.

Vibrant Health

Vibrant Health is a federally qualified health center (FQHC) whose mission is to provide access to respectful, empowering, culturally sensitive and appropriate high-quality health care for the community, regardless of socio-economic obstacles through the delivery of equitable, “whole” person care for children and adults.

Objectives:

• To lead the community organizing and engagement strategies to understand the health, environmental, and socioeconomic inequities impacting the residents in Kansas City, Kansas (KCK).

• To conduct a quantitative and qualitative study of the social determinants of health and distributional inequities impacting Black, Latine, Indigenous, displaced, and other historically oppressed communities in KCK.

• To work with and train community liaisons to lead place-based, community-driven solutions by listening to the residents' lived experiences.

• To provide equity considerations and suggestions regarding program and policy design that improve the built environment of the communities Vibrant Health serves.

Climate + Energy Project

The Climate + Energy Project (CEP) builds resilience in Kansas through equitable clean energy solutions and climate action.

Objectives:

• To create a regional, bilingual resources around localized climate and health impacts of the Latine(s) community.

• To collect stories of lived experiences regarding the climate and health impacts within Latine(s) communities.

• To create Spanish-language resources for use by and within Latine(s) communities.

• To coordinate of efforts to uncover and drive community-led solutions by and for Latine(s) communities in Northeast Kansas.

Brendle Group

Brendle Group is a community planning firm that’s dedicated to solving complex sustainability challenges through practical planning, robust engineering and analysis, and actionable implementation.

Objectives:

• To assist the creation of a new Climate Protection & Resiliency Plan for the City of Kansas City from a bottom-up, equity-centered approach.

• To conduct community-based research and facilitate community engagement via interviews and storytelling to help shape the process in which community expertise is reflected in this plan via community-based climate strategies and solutions.

MO Hives KC

MO Hives KC educates and engages urban residents in the creation, preservation, and expansion of pollinator habits and revitalizes blighted areas in their neighborhoods.

• Successfully established 8 new urban apiaries in Kansas City’s urban core by incorporating neighborhood-centered programs, developing educational material, and organizing community-led workdays.

• Designed, launched, and managed MO Hive’s first Urban Beekeeping Internship program that increased the accessibility and awareness of green jobs, specifically in urban agriculture, for Black youth.

• Strategically managed, and built capacity on, the organization’s funding opportunities and grant deliverables.

Westside Housing Organization

Westside Housing creates affordable housing, resilient communities and restores neighborhoods with equity so homes are healthy, safe, and energy efficient.

• Increased the number of immigrant and Black home-owners served in the organization’s Minor Home Repair program using community organizing strategies.

• Identified and closed resource gaps for senior independent living residents by using participatory action research and developing strategic partnerships to incorporate a service coordination program at the facility.

• Developed and conducted a community assessment with strategic partners to better serve the Westside community with long-term, wrap-around services since the Latinx community was disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Heartland Conservation Alliance

HCA proactively conserves, protects and restores natural lands and open spaces within the Kansas City region, benefiting the community and future generations.

• Expanded the organization’s vacant lot restoration initiative by identifying locations in poor, blighted neighborhoods and engaging historically marginalized communities in the process by conducting and using the insights from the results of participatory action research.

• Increased awareness, engagement, and leadership of historically marginalized youth and intergenerational families in the organization’s Green Guard and Urban Forestry program.

• Increased the stewardship of Kansas City residents around conserving the City’s Blue River, and other water quality efforts, by developing strategic partnerships to plan and lead community workdays.