The Reading Room is a place to share stories, ideas and dreams – where lives are enriched through art, music and performance – learning in their own diverse community.
Leader
Sherry Ashcroft
Location
1524 White Avenue Kansas City, MO 64126
McCoy Friends y Amigos was formed with a vision to create a park where three years ago a 100-year-old school building stood closed, abandoned, fire-damaged and vandalized. Today McCoy Park is a reality with a set of swings and an open field – mostly a blank slate.
The Reading Room project is the beginning of a creative playspace where neighbors gather to share stories, ideas and dreams, and sometimes just to practice English. The project will enrich the experience of our neighborhood children through art, music, performance, and science by bringing resources into their own community.
Phase 1 is a concrete courtyard surrounded by stone seating to create an intimate, formal setting for cultural and educational programming. The star design in the concrete patio floor reflects community pride in the Gold Star academic achievement status of the once vibrant school. The future Phase 2 will bring outdoor musical instruments, chess/game tables and an art installation that celebrates the neighborhood’s rich ethnic and cultural diversity.
STEP 1: COMPLETE!
$14,000 seed money – Community Capital Fund’s (CCF) Neighborhood Opportunity grant
STEP 2: Crowd Funding
Raise $3,000 through donations that will be matched by CCF.
STEP 3: Construction: September – October
Weather permitting, we will complete the project in early November.
McCoy is historically a neighborhood comprised of immigrants from across the globe. Many of the residents live below poverty level, work at low paying jobs and struggle with a new language. They came here to make a better life for their children. This urban neighborhood is challenging for the children who are growing up here. They deserve to have enriching opportunities woven into the fabric of their own community. Along the way we educate, advocate and build relationships both in and outside of the neighborhood.
Our mission is to improve quality of life by empowering residents to take responsibility and work toward common goals that build a stronger sense of community through participation in neighborhood improvements, environmental stewardship, community development and enhanced awareness of opportunities and restrictions. Through investing in the children, we hope to inspire some of these kids to recognize that everyone can make a contribution and to believe that compassion makes us better people. Everyone can be a star.
Learn more about us at mccoyfriendsyamigos.blogspot.com