Kansas City stories of perseverance and community strength

These stories share themes of perseverance and community strength in Kansas City. Local leaders and residents face challenges and respond with action.

One salon owner works to rebuild after a car destroys her business. She continues to seek ways to support her clients and rebuild her space, even as she deals with lack of insurance.

A nonprofit that helps foster kids adapts to major funding cuts. The organization cuts jobs and services but continues to find ways to support families in need.

A new club forms to provide an outlet for residents to release stress by screaming together. This group started after organizers saw a trend online and decided to build a supportive community for processing frustration.

Each example shows people finding solutions, working together, and acting with determination to meet challenges.

Bianca Russell opened Prestige Beauty Salon at 7515 Troost Avenue just before the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and has been open for five years. One car accident closed her business indefinitely.

NO. 1: WALDO SALON OWNER REBUILDS BUSINESS AFTER CAR SMASHES KC SALON: ‘TRYING TO LIVE’

Bianca Russell opened her /Kansas City/ beauty salon just before the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, enduring and went through one of the roughest times in recent history for businesses unscathed, she said. | Published August 5, 2025 | Read Full Story by PJ Green

Financial cuts in Kansas and Missouri have one local child welfare agency, which helps kids in foster care and those who have been adopted, trying to shoulder the impact. By Neil Nakahodo

NO. 2: KC-AREA FOSTER CARE NONPROFIT REELING AFTER $1.3M IN CUTS: ‘MOST DEVASTATING YEAR’

Financial cuts in Kansas and Missouri have one local child welfare agency, which helps kids in foster care and those who have been adopted, struggling to shoulder the impact. | Published August 6, 2025 | Read Full Story by Kacen Bayless

No image found

Alice Crist of Shawnee, screams her lungs out at “Scream Club,” a social media group inspired by a viral internet trend, on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025 in Kansas City. Around 30 people showed up for the first gathering of the club. By Dominick Williams

NO. 3: KC’S NEW SCREAM CLUB IS ALL ABOUT GETTING TOGETHER TO LET IT ALL GO

On an unseasonably cool August evening with scattered rain clouds in the area, the screams of several dozen people would soon fill the air near the banks of the Missouri River. | Published August 6, 2025 | Read Full Story by Dominick Williams

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.