Neighborhood Housing Services of Kansas City

When an F 5 tornado struck Joplin, Missouri on May 22nd, 2011, Neighborhood Housing Services of Kansas City’s’ President Mark Stalsworth had no idea that his organization would be instrumental in the construction of seven new homes in this storm-ravaged city in southwest Missouri. “I used to spend a lot of time in Joplin working with non profits there a few years ago, so I was concerned about the residents and my friends,” says Stalsworth. “I knew from that first day that NeighborWorks® would be involved in the recovery, somehow, but I didn’t know that NHS would be a part of bringing the story to television.”
 
Only weeks after the disaster, NeighborWorks® staff members and Stalsworth met with John Joines, Executive Director of the Economic Development Corporation of Southwest Missouri. “Mark was an old friend, and I was glad to see him returning to Joplin to help us. We needed all the help we could find,” said Mr. Joines.
 
The process of obtaining a grant for Joplin was started the day the Kansas City staffers returned to their offices. “When we were finishing up the details, John called and told me that Extreme Makeover Home Edition wanted to do a whole street of houses, seven houses in a row. The problem was he needed to buy the land and commit to specific sites so that planning could begin. He needed to buy the land, replat the lots and get everything done ASAP,” stated Stalsworth. NHS and NeighborWorks® then worked with the Joplin agency to develop a plan to provide funding. $200,000 was made available, with NHS serving as the grant administrator.
 
“What NHS and NeighborWorks® did was what we always do; find out what we can do to help, and then try to make it happen,” said Leon Gray of NeighborWorks®. “Being the first in donor on a project like this was an amazing experience.”
 
Months of advance work, interviewing, sponsor coordination, site planning and negotiations followed.
By the time the Extreme Makeover team had come and gone, the $200,000 grant had been leveraged to build seven 1500 square feet homes valued at over $2,000,000. Major suppliers of home products, appliances, paint and lumber had contributed their products, and volunteers had contributed thousands of hours of work. “I feel very lucky that NHS and NeighborWorks® came to the table the way they did,” says John Joines. “Their money made this whole process possible."
 
The story of the Joplin Extreme Makeover Project will air on January 13th at 7:00PM Kansas City time on ABC. This will be the 200th episode, and the final show of the series. “I am sorry to see the show go off the air,” said Joines, “but they are certainly going out with a bang!”
 
Neighborhood Housing Services is a NeighborWorks® Charter Member, and is located at 5835 Troost, Kansas City, MO 64110. Its mission is to revitalize and maintain urban neighborhoods as vibrant areas that attract people who value diversity, historic architecture, security and community.
 
If you would like to assist with supporting NHS’ ongoing efforts in Joplin and the other programs and services offered by Neighborhood Housing Services, donations may be sent to the NHS offices.
 
Working together for strong communities. . . . .