Fall 2022 Neighborhood Newsletter

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Kansas City, Mo. Permit No. 782

1100 Rockhurst Road Kansas City, MO 64110

COMMUNITY update fALL 2022

NOW OPEN Saint Luke’s Urgent Care

The Prosperity Center provides financial and employment education, coaching and income support services. They focus on helping people improve their financial bottom line, as they work towards becoming financially independent.

Through educational workshops and oneon-one coaching, clients are encouraged to increase income, decrease expenses, establish, or improve credit and build assets.

The employment coach supports job seekers in all areas of their career path, including resume assistance, mock interviewing, career assessments and job placement assistance. The center works closely with community partners to offer additional resources and are a direct link to income supports referrals.

Monday – Friday: 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Saturday – Sunday: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

No appointment needed

Rockhurst University will celebrate the inauguration of its 15th President, Sandra Cassady, Ph.D., with a series of events in the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 11.

Troost Ave. and 52nd St.

For this joyous and historic occasion, Cassady has chosen the theme “We Are Called.”

Inspired by the inscription on Rockhurst’s bell tower — a quote from the Rev. Peter Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., former superior general of Rockhurst’s founding order of priests, the Jesuits — the theme is meant as an invitation to the University community to honor our past and be part of the future.

For more information call 816-501-4239.

To learn more about our services, or to schedule an appointment visit rockhurst.edu/prosperity-center.

Visit saintlukeskc.org/urgent-care for a list of conditions we treat.

2021-1838

ROCKHURST UNIVERSITY’S NEW PRESIDENT TO BE INAUGURATED NOV. 11

Visit rockhurst.edu/presidential-inauguration for a listing of events and to learn more about Dr. Cassady.

A PRAYER FOR NEIGHBORS FROM THE REV. DON FARNAN

FAMILIAR FACE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD LEADS RU’S MAC The MAC, or Magis Activity Center, is a campus workout facility completed in 2019. But its new director, Dominique Washington, goes back a lot farther than that. Not only is Washington a 2016 graduate of Rockhurst and a former member of the men’s basketball team, but he’s a graduate of nearby Hogan Preparatory Academy (where he was part of the 2011 state championship team) and grew up near campus.

Tell us about your new role. What are you most excited about as the MAC director/ intramurals coordinator?

For starters, my new role comes as a blessing simply because it was something that I’ve been working toward for nine years. I’ve gained some experience working in the parks and recreation field in different cities, states and counties. I learned that I flourish in this position during my graduate assistant days at Avila University when I took on a lead role of running intramurals, tournaments and leagues. What excites me most about being the MAC director and intramurals coordinator is the opportunity to share my ideas with the student body, staff and faculty, and being able to team up with different departments and implementing programs that will further grow the school and student body experience. Knowing that health and wellness is important in my life, I’m able to encourage and motivate everyone on campus who may be struggling with a starting point.

What are your memories of growing up in the area?

My family moved here when I was 8 years old, and we never left. I’m an inner-city kid — I wear that with pride. Neighborhoods like where I grew up have challenges, but there are also a lot of great people who live there and a lot of history, and I’m grateful to be part of that legacy. I went to the Kansas City Middle School of the Arts, where (Ronnie) McFadden taught me how to tap dance. And I have a lot of memories of playing basketball — I played basketball all over this city, including at Rockhurst for some of my AAU games. And winning the state title with Hogan Prep — I think it was one of the first state titles for an inner-city school — I’ll never forget holding that trophy.

How does it feel to be back in the neighborhood and at Rockhurst?

It feels great, honestly. It’s been a wild ride, but it absolutely feels like I was meant to come back here.

I come in to work happy every day. I’ve always tried to give back to my community when I could, and I hope to do that in this role, too. I was that little kid who grew up in the neighborhood, and I think trying to get more young people from the neighborhood onto campus would be great.

Lord God, when your Son was asked “Who is my neighbor?” He told a story about a marginalized citizen that was good to the core. In doing so, He reminded us that our neighbor is anyone within our proximity or within our vision, anyone who can help and anyone who needs help. We are blessed to exist in proximity to the heart of Kansas City and to the heart of your Son’s message. Help us to be good neighbors. Guide us as we seek true justice: a challenge to make our surroundings better by getting right with You, with ourselves, with one another, with creation and especially with our neighbor. And please grant us deeper faith so that we will realize You are with us every step along this earthly journey. Amen.

The Rev. Don Farnan is a 1981 graduate of Rockhurst University who joined the University this Fall as special assistant for faith-justice.

Home for All Seminar Series Community members are joining Rockhurst University staff, students and faculty members in a yearlong seminar series titled Home for All. Pictured is Troostwood resident Wanda Taylor leading a Sept. 14 session.

CELEBRATE ARTOBERFEST AT ROCKHURST UNIVERSITY! October is National Arts and Humanities Month, and to recognize the occasion, Rockhurst University’s Center for Arts and Letters is hosting a series of events for both campus and the community. Join us for these upcoming, free public events: 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 7 | Explore the Van Ackeren Collection of Religious Art at Rockhurst University with Loren Whittaker, Ph.D., who researched the collection for her doctoral thesis.

Hear about the stories behind this unique art collection in our own backyard!

10 a.m. – 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15 | Plein air painting and urban sketching demos and KC Symphony Music Box pop-up concert on the Rockhurst University campus quadrangle.

10 a.m. – 3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 29 | “Kansas City through different lenses” neighborhood bus tour and poetry shaping workshop, in partnership with the Kansas City Museum.

Click this QR code to find the list of all ArtOberfest events and register to attend!