Chase is the kind of person who lights up when he talks about electronics, curious, motivated, and eager to learn. While a student in the Lee’s Summit School District’s G.R.E.A.T. Program (Gaining Real-life Experience And Training)……

For 15 years, Ana Soto has been a steady, generous presence in the Northwest Independence community — volunteering at CSL events, cooking for neighbors, and showing up with her children by her side….

A series of traumatic events took her safety, her home, and her support system all at once. With nowhere to turn, she began living in her car, battling cold nights, exhaustion, serious health challenges, and the lasting trauma of domestic violence.

Generations of people, like the Ross family, have reached out to help neighbors, and have allowed CSL to be a lifeline for local families. To ensure we end this year on a high note, and go into 2026 in a strong position, the Rosses are matching all year-end gifts up to $50,000! Collectively, that will yield $100,000 or more to care for local families.

It is my pleasure to share a major programmatic expansion with you, along with corresponding staff announcements. Since 2010, CSL has been operating the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH). In 2010-2011, which was my first year with CSL, we received an award of $144,000 from HUD to operate PSH in the Kansas City area. That funded a year’s worth of rent payments, along with supportive services, for about 12 households. After steady growth from 2010-2023, CSL had about $1,000,000 in HUD contracts to permanently house about 75 individuals or families.

In June 2023, CSL’s Board of Directors approved a comprehensive Strategic Plan to guide our work from 2023-2027. A new plan was critical to guide our path towards improved impact post-pandemic. CSL staff provided an update to the Board of Directors in June, and here are some of the first year highlights, separated by aspiration area: Financial Wellbeing, Workforce Development, Housing and Basic Needs, and Community Development.

Congratulations to CSL’s Hawthorne Place Apartments team on achieving a major milestone! At Hawthorne Place Apartments, in coordination with POAH (Preservation of Affordable Housing), the owner-operator, CSL facilitates the HUD-sponsored Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program. As of last week, the FSS Program at Hawthorne has eclipsed $1,000,000 in lifetime escrow savings!

On March 27, 2023, CSL and the City of Independence, launched Independence TOGETHER. This was the culmination of an idea that started in 2019, and was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea was relatively simple – provide a supported employment program for adults experiencing homelessness. What does that mean? It means we don’t simply tell folks, “go get a job and stop being unstably housed.” Instead, we create a supported environment that helps adults transition towards a life anchored by permanent housing and permanent employment.

In recent years, community conversations, locally and across America, are dominated by the number of homeless individuals on the streets. There are many root causes, but substance abuse, mental health challenges, and skyrocketing rental rates are three reasons that many people are unhoused in our community. Communities can often turn a blind eye to the problem and hope it goes it away, but that rarely works. Most meaningful change processes involve a coach and/or mentor to help guide someone, and that’s the same with a person exiting homelessness.

CSL has the honor of serving 20,000 neighbors every year. Times are very tough right now. We don’t have to look far to see people hurting, struggling, and needing our support. Now, we look to you to help give back!

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” I couldn’t attribute this quote to a particular author, but its intent is relevant for where CSL is at (and where we’re going). Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations and entities across the world have been seeking their collective paths forward.

CSL has many goals, but without plans, we can only wish them into existence. In 2022, the CSL Board of Directors began a strategic planning initiative, under the leadership of Board Secretary Beth Silverstein. The process included: