Helping Hands In A Time Of Need

Mixed emotions again this week. How can you be so thoroughly impressed with the work that an organization does, yet still want to put it out of business at the same time?

Let me explain...

Last Tuesday I had the pleasure of visiting Cross-Lines Community Outreach, Inc. This truly spectacular organization currently operates from the former St. Thomas Catholic Church at the corner of South Pyle St. and Shawnee Ave. in the Armourdale neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas.

Cross-Lines has a base of operations in the church, rectory and school
that were formerly St. Thomas Catholic Church

Here's the Cross-Lines story as told on the "History" page of their web site.

"Cross-Lines was built on a simple idea — that poverty borne problems could be answered best by looking to the community for solutions and working together to tackle them.

"In 1963 a group of ministers and concerned citizens joined together to improve the plight of the poor. Under their leadership they created a legacy of programs that have positively impacted the lives of thousands of needy people.

"For more than 45 years Cross-Lines Community Outreach, supported by a network of businesses, churches and individuals, has provided a daily source of assistance for at-risk families, the elderly and single individuals."

Last year alone, Cross-Lines provided:

• Emergency utility assistance for 117 households
• Hot showers for 4,544 people
• Free clothing for 586 households
• Emergency groceries for 1,003 households
• Commodities for 15,009 seniors
• Nearly 18,000 hot breakfasts
• Over 56,000 lunches
• Christmas Store shopping for 500 families
• Backpacks and school supplies for more than 1,700 children

One of the things that was particularly impressive was the enormous effort that Cross-Lines' staff puts into providing the people they serve with the information, education, resources and support they need to put themselves and their families in a place where they no longer need services from Cross-Lines. Something to think about isn't it...an organization that works hard every day to reduce the need for its services.

No words can describe my awe and amazement at the way the staff and volunteers of this organization truly touch and lift up people all across Wyandotte County who are confronted by poverty.

But here's the rub...Cross-Lines will celebrate 50 years of service to Wyandotte County in 2013 and the need for their services is every bit as great today as it was the year it was formed. At the same time, they are facing reductions in the funding and resources they leverage to lift up those who are in need. Visit their web site to learn how you can help.

Last week, after the fun picking up illegally discarded tires, I told you that I felt both satisfied and frustrated at the same time.

After visiting Cross-Lines, I felt both lifted up and beaten down at the same time.

Lifted up because I am truly inspired by the tremendous work that the staff of Cross-Lines does on a daily basis. They take limited resources and multiply them several fold to benefit people who are in need all across our community.

Beaten down because I was once again reminded of the enormity of the challenge facing Cross-Lines and all of us. If the old saying is true that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, then it makes me wonder if a community is only as strong as its weakest citizen.

If that is true, then I think that each one of us becomes a part of the ultimate solution. What is the solution? I'm not sure. I'd appreciate your thoughts, ideas and suggestions.

In closing, one of the organization's truly neat accomplishments is the quarter acre garden that sits across the street from the main Cross-Lines building. This tiny plot of land is tended by community families and yielded over 5,000 pounds of healthy produce during the last growing season. Cool!!

Some crops are planted directly in the rich earth
that was in the flood plane of the Kaw River for years.

Other crops are planted in raised beds
which makes them easier to tend and harvest.

Community families tend the plots.
They both consume and share the harvest.

Look...this garden is growing children! Just kidding.
The child of one of the community gardeners pointed with pride
to a pepper plant that has been in her family for 100 years.

~ Brian

bmckiernan@wycokck.org
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Neighborhood Cleanup (C'Mon, Man!)

Wow! Am I ever tired...

I had the privilege of joining about 10 great folks this morning, including residents of the Riverview neighborhood, to start cleaning a deep gully that, frankly, was a pathetic and unsightly mess after years and years of people illegally dumping tires, construction debris and other assorted junk down a hill.

The illegal dump was located near the intersection of Reynolds Avenue and North Early Street (roughly halfway between 7th and 10th Streets and just a bit north of Central Avenue).

Some of the tires were sitting out in the open...

...and (unfortunately) some were partially or completely buried.

One of the neighbors who lives near this unsightly mess had emailed myself and Community Policing Officer Ryan Parker about how the water-filled tires breed thousands of mosquitos in the hot and humid summer months. She told us that the mosquitos make it difficult for any of the nearby residents to spend time outside in the summer.

Officer Parker and I had both looked at the site during the summer and, frankly, we didn't think it looked that bad. Then the leaves fell off all of the trees that shielded the bottom of the gully from the street, and our jaws dropped. There were stupid tires everywhere!!!

You'll have to click this thumbnail to really see it,
but my red arrow is pointing to the base of a tree
that has grown up *through* one of the discarded tires.
These have been here a while!!

This morning, Officer Parker organized four young men who were completing community service hours through the Metropolitan Community Service Program. They joined Officer Parker and myself along with neighbors Margaret, Bill and Callie and members of the Riverview Neighborhood group.

After three hours of the hardest work I've done so far this week (OK, this month), we had carried 202 discarded (and heavy!) tires plus a big pile of other junk up a steep hill to the street for pickup.

Wait a minute...this doesn't look like 202. But it is!

There is a second row of tires stacked behind what you can see.

Right before we called it a day, we stacked 60+ more tires at the bottom of the gully for removal at a later date. Want to help? It'll be fun!  :-)

Still a lot of tires a long way down...

Now, let's get down to the real reason I'm writing this up for the blog.

I have never been so satisfied, yet so frustrated at the same time.

I was satisfied because we made a serious dent in the complete mess down in that gully.

However, I was frustrated beyond belief that we had to spend our Saturday morning cleaning up after people who are so irresponsible as to dump their trash by the side of a city street and who drag our city down through their complete disregard for the rest of us. You can't just throw your trash wherever you darn well please.

I'm reminded of the tag line for a segment that ESPN airs before Monday Night Football..."C'Mon, Man!"

There's always a price to pay when people choose to act like pigs.

Sure, we got a bunch of volunteers to bring the tires up to the street. But someone's going to have to pay to get them hauled away.

And do you know who pays the bill almost all the time in cases like this? That's right, you and I do through the taxes that we pay to the Unified Government. Trash dumping morons force the Unified Government to use valuable (and scarce) resources to insure that our city doesn't become one giant landfill.

Besides the direct monetary cost, there's also the blight that illegal trash dumping inflicts on our neighborhoods. Current residents have to look at a mess on a daily basis, and people who might be thinking about moving in to our area get completely turned off when they see junk thrown everywhere.

If you have any ideas about how we can solve this problem, I'd love to hear them. Feel free to send an email or drop a note in my suggestion box with any comments, ideas, suggestions or solutions.

Many thanks to the people who helped with the cleanup this morning and to everyone who works hard on a daily basis to make District 2 and Kansas City, Kansas a better place to live, work and play.

Now, where's that Alleve?


~ Brian

bmckiernan@wycokck.org
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