KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A group changing lives in the metro is getting some help from the state to serve even more people, and make a bigger impact.
Kansas City's Metropolitan Lutheran Ministry is a beacon of hope for many, as their food pantry serves 20,000 people each year.
It's made possible by the generosity of the community, which now includes the state of Missouri.
The nonprofit is the the only one in Kansas City to be awarded $490,000 in tax credits under Missouri's Neighborhood Assistance Program.
The ministry's application was one of two made by organizations in the Kansas City area. Organizations around St. Louis made more than a dozen applications.
"You still need to go out and get tax donors who will contribute financially to the organization and receive those tax credits," Scott Cooper, executive director for Metro Lutheran Ministry, said.
Over the course of three years, those funds will assist 900 people in receiving food, cover emergency rent and utility costs for 75 individuals and place 120 homeless families in Platte and Clay counties into a permanent home.
Families chosen for the so-called Rapid Re-Housing program will get a case worker assigned to them for year.
"So that our families can actually move straight into an apartment, pay rent on that apartment and literally take over that lease and become self-sufficient right there and in place," Cooper said.
The organization currently has three offices around the metro: NE Vivion Road, their main office at E. 30th Street and Holmes Road in Midtown Kansas City and a third location in Kansas City, Kansas. They now plan to open a fourth office in North Kansas City specifically for this program.
They're now tasked with linking up with local companies who will donate.
"They get to make a difference and they get a benefit of being able to get tax advantages with it," Cooper said.
Applications are now being accepted for the second round of NAP submissions, which must be postmarked no later than September 4 to be considered. Organizations can apply for one, two, or three year projects. More information is available online.
