Dave’s Place CommUNITY Impact Center has been serving the Walnut Grove neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri for more than 15 years. It has been a safe haven of sorts for people who live there.
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The Christian-based organization provides various human services designed to bring people of Walnut Grove together and connect them to any resources they need.
“Everything that we’re trying to work with under Dave’s place is in this community, because what we want to do is, see what it looks like to strengthen a community from the ground up,” Dave's Place founder Faye Johnson-Kendrick said.
Johnson-Kendrick says everything they do is intimate and personal because the ones who run it are from there. Johnson-Kendrick bought the building in 2004 and dedicated in 2005 after her late husband Dave passed away.
“That’s the investment that I have for this community — to see it grow,” Johnson-Kendrick said.
She remembers a time when her neighborhood had schools, churches, grocery stores and youth. Fast forward, she says the climate has completely changed. Now their nearest store is a Family Dollar that is maybe open two weeks a month.
The staff’s mission is to make sure people in this small pocket of the city are not forgotten. To do this, they offer a bi-weekly food pantry, community gardens, a women’s recovery home and low-cost counseling services. It is something Rosie Johnson would not have had otherwise.
“Being able to afford counseling or therapy… I just didn’t even consider, because it was just too costly. Out of my price range. So for it to be available here, it was the best, Johnson said.
Unfortunately like many other organizations in the metro, Dave’s place is struggling to make ends meet. Lack of funding and donations have brought them to a halt.
While they survived the pandemic, staff is concerned about the outlook as they head into the holidays. They are hoping for a Christmas miracle to bring new donations, partnerships and funding.
“If it didn’t exist, I think people would be hurting in a lot of ways,” said Johnson.
Anyone who wants to donate can make checks payable to “Dave’s Place” and drop it off at their center:
2116 E. 74th St.
Kansas City, MO 64132
You can also donate to the National Christian Foundation Heartland or donate to Cash App: $DAVEsPlace2116
