KC Mothers in Charge announced on Monday a neighborhood outreach initiative designed to reach the most violent neighborhoods in Kansas City.

The new initiative, called “Why Are We So Angry?” comes on the heels of a near-record year for homicides in the city. To slow the killing, members of the anti-violence group plan to make five visits to eight neighborhoods identified as being at risk, said Rosilyn Temple, executive director of KC Mothers in Charge.

Members of the group — mostly women who have lost children to gun violence — will carry a message of support and non-violent conflict resolution.

Temple and other representatives of KC Mothers in Charge, made the announcement in a news conference at their headquarters at 3200 Wayne Avenue.

They were joined by Mayor Quinton Lucas, Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission President Rick Armstrong, Capt. Dave Jackson of the Kansas City Police Department and U.S. Attorney for the Missouri Western District Timothy Garrison.

“We all thinking the same,” Temple said. “We want the violence to stop.”

The effort is made possible by a $75,000 grant the crime commission received from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods program. That program began in 2001 and was relaunched in 2018 by then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to target the “most violent and persistent offenders.”

In other cities, such as Tampa, Florida, and Camden, New Jersey, similar strategies have helped reduce gun violence and crime.

Kansas City law enforcement leaders switched to the federal Project Safe Neighborhoods program last year after a focused deterrence strategy built around the Kansas City No Violence Alliance, or KC NoVA, program fell out of favor with police and was dismantled.

Since then, murders have gone up.

In 2019, with 151 homicides, Kansas City nearly topped its record of 155 set in 2017.

As of the beginning of this year, more than half of those slayings remained unsolved.

Door-to-door

Temple, who founded the Kansas City chapter of Mothers in Charge seven years ago, said ideas about keeping violence secret and not talking to police start in homes and need to change.

“We need to speak out, try to change that,” Temple said.

On Monday afternoon, KC Mothers in charge started knocking on doors in the Town Fort Creek neighborhood, one of the neighborhoods in the region — bordered by East 85th Street, Troost Avenue, St. John Avenue and Swope Parkway — targeted by the crime commission.

Taking the step of going door-to-door in the community, Lucas said, provides resources to the neighborhoods. He said people have to be met where they are.

“There are only so many things a mayor knocking on your door can do … but these folks are going out there to meet people where they are, to talk to people,” Lucas said. “I think the thing we miss sometimes is how many people don’t have that conversation in their lives.”

In August, the crime commission announced it was responsible for distributing the federal Project Safe Neighborhood grants.

Armstrong, the crime commission president, said Temple’s credibility on community outreach is part of why her organization earned the grant.

“We’re trying to address violent crime and so who better than her group to be that front line interaction piece?” Armstrong said.

Garrison, the federal prosecutor, said his office is not interested solely in high numbers of prosecutions.

“We want to see that violent crime rate go down.”

Temple said they will measure success by holding roundtable discussions in the neighborhoods. She wants people to feel safer and have more tools to use in their neighborhoods to address issues.

But success won’t happen overnight.

That’s where the multiple visits aspect comes in. Temple said that because they are not just going into each neighborhood one time, they’ll be able to build relationships and trust in the community. The project will continue for two years.

“What I want my community to do is be open with their arms and allow me in,” Temple said.

For anyone who wants KC Mothers in Charge to visit their neighborhood, call the organization’s office phone at 816-912-2601 or outreach hot line at 816-508-7397.

This story was originally published February 10, 2020 at 4:16 PM.

Cortlynn Stark

The Kansas City Star

816-234-4784

Cortlynn Stark writes about finance and the economy for The Sum. She is a Certified Financial Education Instructor℠ with the National Financial Educators Council. She previously covered City Hall for The Kansas City Star and joined The Star in January 2020 as a breaking news reporter. Cortlynn studied journalism and Spanish at Missouri State University.