Kansas City Mom Collective is featuring a Kansas City organization each month that supports Kansas City families. We hope to introduce you to new organization and provide ways you can support their mission. To nominate an organization to be featured here, email us.
The Children’s Place is Kansas City’s specialized trauma center serving the mental health needs of children since 1978. They strive to be a place where children and families heal from life’s deepest hurts.
The Children’s Place is a safe and welcoming place to heal from trauma and they have become a national leader in children’s mental health services. Regardless of their families’ ability to pay for mental health therapy, they offer services on a sliding scale. No family will be turned away because of their inability to pay.
So much good comes out of this wonderful place located in East Brookside. Just one of the many stories of hope is of Taylor (name changed).
Taylor is now thriving in elementary school and has continued her mental health therapy. During her first session in this new program, Taylor used big emotion words to describe how she feels now compared to before starting at The Children’s Place. She described herself now as happy and excited all the time, no longer scared or lonely. Taylor had previously held trauma in her body with tense emotions that led to big behaviors. Her time in Day Treatment taught her how to navigate her feelings and experiences. She loved to visit “the place with the Rudy Bear.”
Several months into therapy in their Counseling Center, Taylor has opened up even more to her therapist to explain how she feels safe and cared for, and that she’s also able to be herself. She said that she used to feel a little sad, but she’s now able to talk about when she’s feeling mixed up inside. Her emotional vocabulary has greatly increased, and she’s able to trust others in the world. Sharing both nightmares and successes, she was able to learn the skills she needed to succeed in kindergarten and life.Ways to Support The Children’s Place
The Children’s Place is always looking for assistance from the people of Kansas City. Because of the nature of the facility and for the safety of its children these opportunities are not directly with the children, but it is still important. Here are ways to help.
Give Financially
- Become a Healing Hero – Make an impact as a monthly donor, even a few dollars a month adds up to a big difference.
- Donate – Give a one-time gift to help young children in our community heal from life’s deepest hurts
Give Items
- Every week they send home dozens of backpacks filled with food to ensure the children they serve have plenty of food to eat all weekend long. The majority of their food is provided by generous donors like you. Donations of the items on their wishlist can be dropped off during business hours, or you can order easily from their Amazon wishlist and it will be delivered directly to them.
- Donate new clothing items for children sizes 3T-6. Learn more about their current needs.
Volunteer
- Host a food drive (all ages)– Gather with friends or neighbors to host a food drive to stock our food pantry.
- Trash clean-up (all ages) – Small groups are needed to pick up trash surrounding our facility.
- Food pantry volunteers (ages 13+ if accompanied by an adult) – Groups of 1-3 volunteers are needed to help fill backpacks full of food to send home with children each week. This opportunity lasts approximately an hour and takes place Thursdays at 10 a.m.
- Check out other volunteer opportunities.
The Children’s Place
6401 Rockhill Rd.
Kansas City, MO 64131
You can visit them online, on Facebook and Instagram.
