Category Archives: Blog

Volunteers Dedicate Their Time to reStart in Honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

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In celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, volunteers took a chance to start the year off right by making an impact in our community. We had some amazing volunteers at reStart dedicate their holiday by helping those we serve on Saturday, January 18th; Monday, January 20th; and Wednesday, January 22nd.

We were thrilled to have Church of the Resurrection Downtown and Leawood visit with our residents and play BINGO with them, organizing our in-kind donations, clean our Family Shelter, and provide administration help. H&R Block provided more than 60 volunteers to clean, paint, serve in our kitchen, and provide administration help. Other groups and individuals provided lunches, crafts and games for our residents, and organization of our in-kind donations. We are so thankful for their dedication to reStart!

We are always in need of volunteers! Please contact Alissa Parker at aparker@restartinc.org to set up your group or to get more details.

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reStart Employees Participate in Trauma Informed Care Training

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Thanks to a grant from H&R Block, all reStart employees from front desk staff to the management team participated in a week of Trauma-Informed Care training in two sessions—one last October and one this January. Lead by Elizabeth Power, M. Ed., CEO of EPower & Associates, she is a sought-after speaker, facilitator, teacher, and consultant. Because such a high percentage of reStart clients have experienced trauma—either before or after becoming homeless—this training will help all of our staff members provide services in a manner that avoids further victimizing or traumatizing our clients. Our goal is to create a safe, supportive environment in which our residents can heal from past traumas and move on to stable housing.

Thank You Congregation Beth Torah!

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We want to thank Congregation Beth Torah for purchasing, preparing, serving and cleaning up after lunch and dinner every weekend in the month of January, for more than 20 years. Their generous annual donation has made a true impact here at reStart. Supporters and groups like Beth Torah are what can really make reStart function day to day. President and CEO, Evie Craig, spoke at their Sunday School on January 12th.

Congregation Beth Torah is a modern, Reform Jewish congregation dedicated to creating an inclusive, caring community and providing opportunities for Lifelong Learning and meaningful worship. We strive to encourage and promote ethical Jewish Living, spiritual and personal growth, social justice and the continuity of the Jewish people.

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reStart Celebrates the Holidays!

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reStart had a very blessed holiday this year with our generous supporters adopting our families and singles, many of our dedicated volunteers coming in donating their time, and we even had Santa and Mrs. Clause visit our kids one evening. We were very excited to have Kansas City Chief’s linebacker, Tamba Hali, adopt reStart this year. He took time out of his busy schedule to spread some holiday cheer. He surprised some of the teens from our youth shelter by taking them shopping and then made a visit a few days later with his elves delivering even more gifts for all—kids, teens, families, and adults. He met with each and every resident to take a picture and sign autographs. We are truly thankful for everyone that put smiles on our residents’ faces this season!

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reStart Achieves a 4-Star Rating from Charity Navigator

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We are proud to announce that reStart has achieved a 4-star rating for sound fiscal management and commitment to accountability and transparency through Charity Navigator. As the nonprofit sector continues to grow at an unprecedented pace, savvy donors are demanding more accountability, transparency and quantifiable results from the charities they choose to support with their hard-earned dollars. Charity Navigator evaluates charities and provides donors with essential information needed to give them greater confidence in the charitable choices they make. You can review reStart’s financial and accountability rating details here.

Welcome to our new website and blog!

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reStart is very excited to launch our new website and first ever blog! With a fresh new look, user-friendly navigation, and in-house maintenance we are now able to inform our clients, donors, and volunteers with the latest information on our services, facility updates, events, and needs. A tool we are certainly excited to help us grow, so we can continue to help our clients move towards independence!

Along with the launch of our new website and blog, we have joined the LinkedIn community and updated our Twitter handle to @reStartKCMO. Please follow us to keep up-to-date on what we’re doing in the Kansas City community and see how you can help!

Big thanks to Ad 2, a club within AAF-KC specifically for young members, for designing our new website and blog!!