Urban Neighborhood Initiative

The Urban Neighborhood Initiative (UNI) is a community development corporation that serves residents in the urban core of Kansas City.

They believe in strengthening communities through building quality mixed-income housing, serving as a connection to resources, presenting STEAM-based educational experiences for youth, and providing space for community organizations to meet and connect.

They serve ten neighborhoods south of Truman, north of 52nd Street, east of Troost, and west of Prospect, including Beacon Hill, Wendell Phillips, Mount Hope, Key Coalition, Center City, Boston Heights, Squier Park, Invanhoe, Manheim Park, Troostwood, and Blue Hills.

Their work has supported over 45,000 individuals in these communities, invested over $225,000,000 into the heart of KC, built over 1.2 million sq. ft of new real estate, and restored over 1000 homes.

They also have numerous programs outside of real estate development to help support the families they service, including Steam E2 ( Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math, Entrepreneurship, Equity), where the youth can experience hands-on learning.

They also have two other youth programs, one being Policy & Advocacy Collective (P.A.C.), a leadership and policy-focused summer intensive created in 2022 to help high school students in the urban core recognize the power of their voice.

The other, WRiTE BRAiN: Summer Authors Program, was created to engage young leaders in grades 3-5 to write, illustrate, and publish their own storybooks over six weeks.

UNI has four main priorities for serving the community: Engage, Encourage, Elevate, and Educate.

I cannot wait to see how they continue to grow and impact even more lives in the heart of KC in 2024.

Visit their website to learn more, volunteer, or donate.

Website: uni-kc.org