Crimes against Humanity

Independence is blessed to have the Truman Heritage Habitat for Humanity, an active organization diligently working in the community providing affordable housing with home ownership to young families. Their location, the old Ray Wills Filling Station at corner of Maple and Union, is a wonderful building with a lot of character. The building has a connection to the story of Truman and it was used in a scene in the movie, “Kansas City” by Robert Altman. The Community of Christ Church put the finishing touches on the restoration of the building (after the film crew was done with the exterior restoration) in preparation for its use as the headquarters of the M/TRC Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation. Now the Church has graciously allowed Habitat for Humanity (HfH) to occupy the space. Unfortunately, at this location, they’ve been the victim of criminal thefts at least three times in the last few years. One of their volunteers was actually interested in investing in a home in our neighbor just a few months ago but has since changed his mind due to the high concentration of crime. This is actually the story nobody wants to hear. How the presence of vacant buildings/property affects crime and the vitality of a neighborhood. This is same block where Jim Harpool promised to fill the empty spaces with new housing almost 7 years ago (subject of blog post 08/21/09) under the leadership of M/TRC. One of those abandon lots happens to be next door to HfH on the west side. The rental home north of HfH on Union Street has been vacant for almost a year now. The property to the south was clear-cut of homes in order to have park space. And across the street to the east is our Harry S Truman National Historic Landmark District. Please send a donation to HfH to help them recover from these losses. Also, let them know we appreciate what they do and that it is truly an honor to have them in our neighborhood, Truman’s neighborhood. But to further assist HfH, push officials with M/TRC to finish projects started on this block. Call city code enforcement officials to clean up and secure adjacent vacant properties. And ask the City officials to put more police officers on the streets. Neighborhood Watch only works when there is “Humanity” occupying adjacent “Habitats.”