Foundation Journal

The story of homelessness in the United States was told through a collection of voices during a 14-hour nation-wide radio broadcast on February 23, 2011. The voices reflected the landscape of conditions that cause someone to become homeless -- mental health, crime, alcohol/substance abuse, domestic violence, job loss, foreclosure, and "bad choices." The 14th annual Homelessness Marathon took place at Hope Faith Ministries on a cold winter night in Kansas City. During the broadcast many questions were asked, including "How can homelessness exist in the wealthiest nation?"  Several people offered an answer: poverty and the failure of society to collectively address homelessness and poverty. On an individual level some cases don't seem to warrant sympathy from the public -- a person who served time for a violent crime or the person who did not live within their financial means -- but the vast numbers of homeless point to a significant societal neglect. W...

Most emergency assistance organizations treat hunger or homelessness as a natural disaster by providing much needed relief to people in need. "It is a tragedy that poverty continues to increase in the United States, now one of the wealthiest nations in the world," stated Rev. Larry Snyder, President, Catholic Charities USA. Yet each organization clearly underscores the need to permanently solve the problem, showing we need to address the problem as if it were a crime, not a natural disaster. Leading service organizations in Kansas City articulate the central need to eliminate hunger, homelessness, or poverty, not just to relieve the condition. The Homeless Services Coalition works to "eradicate homelessness in our community." reStart, a homeless shelter, focuses on "ending homelessness in our community." Harvesters food bank "feed[s] hungry people today and work[s] to end hunger tomorrow." United Services Community Action Agency's goal is...

Murder Factory, a 2010 film by Avila University student Mike Rollen, loosely follows a Kansas City Star newspaper series documenting crime and violence in the 64130 zip code . While the Star series largely focused on the perpertators of crime, the gave voice to the people as victims affected by the homicides. The film shares stories by dozens of community activists, poets, artists, youth, local government officials, and social service agency representatives. Gentlemen of the Roundtable, the group highlighted the most in the film, works to engage former prisoners in job skills training and counseling. Filmmaker Mike Rollen answered questions after the film, stating the standing-room-only screening at the Glenwood Arts Theatre in Overland Park was the premiere showing. There were around 20 people in the theatre who appeared in the film. Rollen appeared on Donna Wolfe's "Urban Connections" show on October 2, 2010 on KKFI-FM 90.1. Rollen gave props to...

As a new board member and long-time financial supporter of KKFI 90.1 FM community radio, I am asking you to call into the station to make a donation in support of Democracy Now! on Wednesday, February 9 between 8:00 and 9:00 am Central Time. People make choices every day on where to get their news and information. And the task of understanding current events is more difficult with the increase in the number of sources. In fact, some people get overwhelmed with tracking stories throught TV, radio, newspaper, websites, email, and new social media sources like Facebook and Twitter. Let's face it: the media landscape has changed irrevocably. If there's one single source for your news on national and international affairs, then let it be the "Democracy Now" program. What separates this show from other news sources is not only the kinds of stories, but the seriousness of voices that you hear. You'll hear no fluff or trivial stories, though those stories sometimes p...