Foundation Journal

An article this week in the Kansas City Star reminded readers that government funding for public broadcasting outlets is not a sure thing. The loss of public funding can impact locally-produced shows and programming quality. For community radio stations like KKFI 90.1 FM in Kansas City that receive no government funding for their daily operating budget this is a small consolation. The good news is that KKFI is sustaining its 70 local programs through donations from listeners, but it's not easy.  Map of state funding cuts to public media (2008-2012).  Source: On the Chopping Block: State Budget Battles and the Future of Public Media, freepress.net, November 2011 Most Kansas City area public and community media outlets like KKFI, KCUR-FM 89.3 and KCPT-TV get the overwhelming majority of the funding from non-government sources, but still "small government" advocates like Kansas Governor Sam Brownback argue for killing all government funding of public media. ...

Susan Crawford, author of  Captive Audience , o utlines a situation where large telecommunications companies have divided up the digital landscape, making it extremely expensive, especially for low-income families. She discusses the digital divide expanding because large rural areas are without Internet access and low-income families are unable to afford the access. She makes an argument for a public-private initiative with some regulation to develop high-speed, affordable Internet access similar to the rural electrification act during the Roosevelt administration of the 1930’s.  Instead of ensuring that everyone in America can compete in a global economy, instead of narrowing the divide between rich and poor, instead of supporting competitive free markets for American inventions that use information--instead, that is, of ensuring that America will lead the world in the information age--U.S. politicians have chosen to keep Comcast and its fellow giants happy. She disc...

During the weekend of national service on January 20, 2013 some family and friends joined together to volunteer for work at Operation Breakthrough in Kansas City. The facility provides subsidized child-care services for 500 children in KC, many near the facility at 31st and Troost Avenue. Here are a couple videos from the tour that concluded the volunteer work.

The news about Fresh Start , a new non-profit grocery store in St. Joseph, bodes well for people without access to affordable and healthy food -- convenience stores don't count. This lack of close access to a food or grocery store in low-income areas is described as a "food desert." Fresh Start, bordering two US census tracts designated as food deserts, is not waiting for grocery store chains to address this problem. View Grocery Stores near Fresh Start in St. Joseph Mo in a larger map How is a food desert defined? The US Department of Agriculture defines a food desert as a low-income census tract where a substantial number or share of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store. To qualify as a "low-income community," a census tract must have either: 1) a poverty rate of 20 percent or higher, OR 2) a median family income at or below 80 percent of the area's median family income; To qualify as a "low-access communi...

There are lots of models and examples of organizations addressing the digital divide , some of which seem to set a light commentary on social justice, then proceed headlong into bringing solutions to low-income residents and communities. Here's a UK group , a PBS story on the digital divide in rural areas and Connecting for Good 's efforts in KCK. See this report on CFG's work to build a free wifi network and provide computers and training, where Michael Liimatta with Connecting for Good mentions "nothing lifts people from poverty like education." "I think a lot of times we have this idea that people that live in low income housing aren't motivated, that they're complacent and want to stay there,” Liimatta said, “but in my estimation, they have a lot of very resourceful people that want to better their lives. By providing free wif-fi, cheap computers and training, in a few years they won't be living in low income housing anymore. I'm...

Produce is available from a mobile market with affordable prices as shown in this news report from July 2012. The route of the mobile market has expanded a bit since first starting up in July. Tuesdays The Jackson County Courthouse (415 East 12th Street, Kansas City, Mo) –  9 am – 12 pm Lucile Bluford Public Library (3050 Prospect Ave, Kansas City, Mo) – 12:30 pm -1:30 pm Tony Aguirre Community Center (2050 W. Pennway, Kansas City, Mo) – 2 pm – 3 pm Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City, Thornberry Unit (43rd and Cleveland, Kansas City, Mo) – 3:30 pm – 5 pm Thursdays The Jackson County Courthouse Annex (308 W. Kansas, Independence, Mo) –9 am – 10 am Fairmount Community Center – NW CDC (217 Cedar, Independence, Mo) – 10:30 am – 11:30 am Hillcrest Community Center (10401 Hillcrest Road)– 12 pm – 2 pm Samuel U. Rodgers (825 Euclid, Kansas City, Mo) – 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm Southeast Community Center (4201 E. 63rd St.) – 4 pm – 5...

The nation's first non-profit grocery store opened two days ago in St. Joseph , Missouri, narrowly beating Philabundance, the Philadelphia food bank, at selling food at discounted costs to low-income families. Actually, the claim of being the first non-grocery store could be debated, given the success of a mobile grocery store in Minnesota with 27 outlets that offers up to a 40% discount. Let's not quibble as Fresh Start, St. Joe's non-profit grocery store, starts this grand experiment because it's really about placing stores in or near " food deserts ." Putting aside food co-ops and similar ventures, it seems a bit of stretch to think that we had to wait until 2013 before someone came up with the notion of a non-profit grocery store. Shouldn't access to nutritious and affordable food be a basic right to everyone in one of the wealthiest nations of the world? You can bet there's going to be strong opposition to these efforts, especially i...