2018-2019 Signature Mission
Thelma’s Kitchen
The Village Church Mission Committee has selected the Reconciliation Services (RS) Donate-What-You-Can Café formally known as Thelma’s Kitchen for the 2018-2019 Signature Mission. With $15,000 from Village Church Mission Operating Funds, $13,824 from Village Endowment’s Least of These Fund and $50,000 from a Village donor along with donations from Kansas City foundations, companies and individual donors, Thelma’s Kitchen has become a reality during the summer of 2018.
For more than 30 years, RS has made the urban core of Kansas City, Missouri, along the Troost Avenue corridor, a focal point for Healthy Community Initiatives, Social and Mental Health Services, and Economic Community Building. RS works to cultivate a community seeking reconciliation, to transform Troost from a dividing line into a gathering place, revealing the strength of all.
RS offers housing and utilities assistance and ID and document assistance and partners with the KC Medicine Cabinet to provide access to needed dental and medical care and supplies. Also, RS Mental Health Services provide evidence-based, clinical support under the direction of a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW); offering individual and group therapy and intensive case management for clients struggling with depression and trauma. In addition, RS Economic Community Building Services provide volunteer and employment opportunities. RS’s two programs in this area include the Foster Grandparents Program (a federally-funded partnership with the Senior Corps), which recruits, trains and mobilizes low-income senior adults to volunteer with at risk area youth and RS Social Ventures, a company founded by RS that aims to provide living wage employment opportunities to our clients.
After several years of listening to RS’ neighbors and surveying community needs, Reconciliation Services launched Kansas City’s first Donate-What-You-Can cafe, based on the proven One World Everybody Eats (OWEE) model, which encourages community-driven solutions through engagement and mobilization. The cafe is a community gathering hub that provides access to affordable, healthy and wholesome food. An embedded case manager provides access to RS’ holistic continuum of care, which includes a suite of social and mental health services and access to economic opportunities. Additionally, clients can “earn” meal tokens for the kitchen as incentives for arriving on time for appointments and completing milestones for recovery. Ultimately, this program brings neighbors together for food and community in an area that is racially and economically segregated.
With Thelma’s Kitchen, Reconciliation Services serves 500 lunches per week during 2018. Village Church funding provided needed food and supplies and furniture for the pivotal first start-up year as well as funds to cover some remodeling costs. RS’ goal is to bring operations of the kitchen to 60/40 (paid/free guest) ratio, which achieves monthly sustainability of core operations by the end of 24 months. Additionally, RS will measure diversity and level of community adoption through sales data, demographic tracking and customer user surveys.
Reconciliation Services offers a number of volunteer opportunities. If you are interested in finding out more about how you can get involved, call RS at 816-931-4751.
For more than 30 years, RS has made the urban core of Kansas City, Missouri, along the Troost Avenue corridor, a focal point for Healthy Community Initiatives, Social and Mental Health Services, and Economic Community Building. RS works to cultivate a community seeking reconciliation, to transform Troost from a dividing line into a gathering place, revealing the strength of all.
RS offers housing and utilities assistance and ID and document assistance and partners with the KC Medicine Cabinet to provide access to needed dental and medical care and supplies. Also, RS Mental Health Services provide evidence-based, clinical support under the direction of a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW); offering individual and group therapy and intensive case management for clients struggling with depression and trauma. In addition, RS Economic Community Building Services provide volunteer and employment opportunities. RS’s two programs in this area include the Foster Grandparents Program (a federally-funded partnership with the Senior Corps), which recruits, trains and mobilizes low-income senior adults to volunteer with at risk area youth and RS Social Ventures, a company founded by RS that aims to provide living wage employment opportunities to our clients.
After several years of listening to RS’ neighbors and surveying community needs, Reconciliation Services launched Kansas City’s first Donate-What-You-Can cafe, based on the proven One World Everybody Eats (OWEE) model, which encourages community-driven solutions through engagement and mobilization. The cafe is a community gathering hub that provides access to affordable, healthy and wholesome food. An embedded case manager provides access to RS’ holistic continuum of care, which includes a suite of social and mental health services and access to economic opportunities. Additionally, clients can “earn” meal tokens for the kitchen as incentives for arriving on time for appointments and completing milestones for recovery. Ultimately, this program brings neighbors together for food and community in an area that is racially and economically segregated.
With Thelma’s Kitchen, Reconciliation Services serves 500 lunches per week during 2018. Village Church funding provided needed food and supplies and furniture for the pivotal first start-up year as well as funds to cover some remodeling costs. RS’ goal is to bring operations of the kitchen to 60/40 (paid/free guest) ratio, which achieves monthly sustainability of core operations by the end of 24 months. Additionally, RS will measure diversity and level of community adoption through sales data, demographic tracking and customer user surveys.
Reconciliation Services offers a number of volunteer opportunities. If you are interested in finding out more about how you can get involved, call RS at 816-931-4751.
