COMMENTARY
Young Urban Rangers’ mission is renewing urban core
By STEVE PENN
The Kansas City Star
Parents are always telling their kids that a little hard work will do them good.
Well, the Urban Ranger Corps, a program in Kansas City’s urban core, is testing that theory.
In fact, this summer you might see Urban Rangers in uniform up on ladders or even on the ground doing pushups, a means of atoning for goofing off. Or you might see them kneeling and praying.
Needless to say, the Urban Ranger Corps isn’t your average summer work program. Not many summer programs demand that the participants march to and from their work sites. And as Urban Rangers founder Father John Wandless puts it, the program tries to be a bit different.
The program is for males 14 to 18 years old and operates out of a headquarters at 5908 Swope Parkway. The corps was started four years ago by Wandless, a retired Catholic priest who wanted to do something to help urban youth.
Wandless recruits teens from the south Town Fork Creek area of Kansas City, which runs from 59th to 63rd streets and from Swope Parkway to Bruce R. Watkins Drive. Dividing them into groups, he sends the teens out to paint houses for the elderly and single mothers who can’t afford the cost or do the work themselves.
The program involved 30 teens last summer and should have about the same number this year. Their workweek during the summer runs Monday through Thursday, and they’re paid $6.65 an hour.
“We require good discipline,” Wandless said. “The crew leaders keep them in line. They’re really good kids.”
Henry Tanner, 17, is one of them. He’s a senior at Manual Career and Technical Center and has been involved with the Urban Ranger program three years.
“The program has taught me how to be a leader,” Tanner said. “It’s taught me how to be a man and work in a team. It’s taught me the importance of being on time and getting things done in a timely fashion.”
Anthony Atkinson, 18, another three-year member and a senior at Archbishop O’Hara High School, aspires to be a lawyer.
“I like it a lot because you’re giving back to your community,” Atkinson said. “You can walk around and say, ‘I helped build that,’ or, ‘I helped paint that.’ I’ve learned how to pay attention to detail. As a lawyer, that will help.”
Most of the time, the painting is done for residents for free.
“We’ll do a house for nothing if it is the worst house in the area,” Wandless said.
The Urban Rangers like to show off the 3300 block of East 60th Street near Indiana and College avenues. The teens have painted three houses, and plans are under way to landscape them soon.
“The neighborhood could rise, or it could slide,” Wandless said. “The idea is to say, here’s what can happen in a model block. And who wants to join us in helping do the next model block?”
Sadly, the program lost one ranger, Richard L. Byers, a 17-year-old who died in February after being shot in the head.
“That hurt us deeply,” Wandless said. “He was a kid that was on the right track.”
As a result of the tragedy, Wandless plans to expand the program year-round so he can follow up on each participant.
Alvin Brooks, who serves on the Urban Ranger Corps board, thinks that with more cooperation, the program could be even more effective.
“Wandless is a great visionary,” Brooks said. “These are young people that are sometimes on the edge. And we can only do so much. That’s why the program needs the support and commitment from the city.”
Young people interested in serving this summer in the Urban Ranger Corps should call Wandless at 816-333-6455.
To reach Steve Penn, call 816-234-4417 or send e-mail to spenn@kcstar.com.
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