Over the last three weeks, Community Services League (CSL)’s Vice President of Community Development Jennifer Manuleleua has helped cultivate a uniquely different approach to the agency’s practice of storytelling by sharing her own. In great courage, she has ventured into a space of vulnerability and at times, the fear of the unknown. She realized her voice had the power to evoke a variety of emotional connections across both men and women – disbelief, uncertainty, compassionate waves of care or the ability to simply relate.

In Part 2, Merideth again invited Jennifer to venture into a space of brave conversation to describe the initial moments in which she believed a life outside of darkness could potentially exist. As she would divulge through periods that still proved painful yet purposeful, Jennifer shared how the hope of safety, life purpose and a resilient future gave way to the possibility of a healing and hopeful breakthrough.

In 2020, CSL committed out loud and in courageous action, it was time to lead and lean in a different direction. It was time to not only tell to the countless stories of how its neighbors had been lifted up and out of poverty, but CSL as an organization was ready to lean into culture: seeing, valuing, celebrating and most importantly embracing the experiences of a wide variety of people; many of which for years had gone unseen, and truly unheard.

On March 17, 2017, CSL’s proposed action plan for administering the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program at Hawthorne Place Apartments (HPA) was approved. In the following five years, HPA residents have escrowed more than $512,000 through the program.

At CSL’s annual Gala on November 6, 2021, the City of Kansas City mask mandate had been lifted, and a sense of normalcy seemed to descend upon us. In many ways, brighter days seemed to be ahead. Clearly, COVID has reared its ugly head with another surge of infections that cripples many parts of our society.

Larry first came to CSL in October 2020 to seek help from Employment Services. He was previously diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury from an assault, depression, and anxiety, appeared to have very poor self-esteem, and did not feel that he had any worth in the world.

Sometimes, the journey to self-sufficiency is a long one, fraught with adversity that threatens to derail you from your goals. This is a story of resiliency, courage, resourcefulness and a profound belief that eventually, life will get better.

In 2016, with seed money from the City of Independence (Community Development Block Grant dollars), Community Services League was able launch its first Bridges to Career Opportunities training cohort. That cohort consisted of 15 women in Independence who all received tuition-provided training to become CNAs (Certified Nursing Assistants).

As our area’s largest provider of homeless services, people want to talk all the time about the issue of homelessness. Right now, the issue is everywhere around us.

Beginning June 1, Merideth (Parrish) Rose will be serving as the Chief People Officer at Community Services League.

I’d like to share some news that shows the power of our neighbors to make huge strides in 2020 and made 2020 their best year yet.

Helping low-income families remain stably housed is something that CSL has helped with since we were formed in 1916.

We salute Taymonia for the way she works to keep Black History alive in our community.

A big part of CSL's work is a connection to resources for local families, and we're sharing this information in the hopes that it will be helpful for many families.

Strong social services were critical across our nation to help families weather 2020. Here are some of the things we did together last year.

It is with mixed emotion I am reaching out today to let you know that our colleague, Amber Bauer, CSL’s Vice President of Housing Services, is taking on a new and exciting role with the Greater Kansas City Coalition to End Homelessness (GKCCEH).

We must provide basic needs, like food, medicine, shelter, and other essentials. We are also focused on how we make tomorrow brighter by providing access to jobs or training programs.

This summer more than ever, we need to help keep kids and families strong and move towards recovery. To that end, we will continue drive-thru feeding programs at all 10 CSL feeding sites until significant restrictions are lifted.

Your support and collaboration has provided the fuel to make program expansion happen.

The addition of a loan product to support improved housing situations provides a supply of assistance that can be replenished as borrowers make their payments.