Build WyCo

05/30/2026

So many ways to connect this month!🌻

🦕 Wednesday, June 10 - Macaroni Dinos! Kids’ clay class. 4 - 5 pm at West Wyandotte Library.

🌈 Wednesday, June 17 - Rainbow Trinket Dish clay class. 4 - 5 pm at Main Library.

❤️🖤💚 Friday, June 19 - The office is closed for Juneteenth, AND we are excited to do a special Third Friday Art Walk in honor of the holiday as well! Third Friday starts near 609 N 6th Street at 5 pm and goes til 9.

💸 Tuesday, June 23 - Financial Management class in Spanish, at our office, from 5 – 7 pm. Gloria will tell you all about how to be smart saving, spending, and planning for the future! To sign up for a class, give us a call at 913.342.7580.

💫🏆 Thursday, June 25 - Celebration of Leadership, a special awards ceremony recognizing everyday people who are working to make Wyandotte County a better place to live. 5:30 – 8 pm at the Bethel Neighborhood Center. Register at: https://events.humanitix.com/cl2026

🏡 Saturday, June 27 - Homebuyer Education Class in Spanish, 9 am – 4 pm at our office. To sign up, call 913.342.7580.

🌞 Summer hours: Our office opens at 8 am Monday-Thursday, from now til the end of the summer, when we return to our normal 8:30 open time. The office will remain closed to the public on Fridays.

05/29/2026

Happy to our friends and neighbors!

"Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander" is an umbrella term that connects the common experiences of people with many distinct cultural and ethnic backgrounds, including people with roots in East and Southeast Asia, Polynesia (including Native Hawaiians), Micronesia, and Melanesia.

For more events and ways to stay connected beyond this month, we also recommend checking out Hella Good Deeds, a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating and sharing Asian culture to cultivate a more connected and inclusive Kansas City.

05/27/2026

🌙 Eid Mubarak! 🌙

Happy Eid to our neighbors celebrating the Festival of Sacrifice.

Eid al-Adha is a holiday that honors generosity, gratitude, and caring for those in need by gathering with family, sharing meals, and giving back to your communities.

Wishing everyone celebrating a blessed Eid al-Adha. May your day be filled with food, laughter, and good company!

05/25/2026

🔥 Happy Pentecost! 🔥

Pentecost marks the birth of the Christian church and the Holy Spirit bringing together people from every nation and language into one community

It's a story about belonging, connection, and the power of neighbors showing up for each other. Values that are close to home in Wyandotte County!

Wishing everyone celebrating a joyful and meaningful Pentecost! Here's to thriving neighborhoods where everyone feels at home. 🕊️

05/23/2026

Getting a buyer into a home is never a solo endeavor.

But when you’re trying to introduce changes at the system level, that really takes a group effort. 🔗

At Thursday’s participatory panel, “Prospect to Purchased,” we saw very clearly that our industry partners are dedicated and collaborative when it comes to tackling the affordability challenge.

🗣 Panelists - who ranged from nonprofit partners to realtors and lenders and even a homeowner - discussed some of the big questions people have about the Community Land Trust (CLT) housing model right now, including: Does it allow buyers to build equity? What is the process like for the buyer? How does a ground lease work?

First, we want to say a big thank you to our sponsor, Commerce Bank, for making this event possible. They have not only been a steadfast supporter of Build WyCo for some time, but have also been some of the first in the KC metro to make the CLT model available to their clients.

We also want to thank all of the panelists, our board members, our amazing team, our event hosts, and of course our guests who had the generosity to come learn and dialogue with us about CLT homeownership. 💗

At the end of the day, it’s all about helping families get into homes – despite the affordability gap. And we’re so grateful to have partners with the perseverance, creativity, and collaborative spirit to make it happen!

05/22/2026

🌿Our team took an out to Kaw Point — where the Kaw and Missouri Rivers meet to learn about the history of the Wyandot Nation. We heard about their forced resettlement in this region and the life and community they built here at this very confluence. Check out for more information about this place!

And speaking of building community — one of our teammates shared this awesome weekly event happening right here in KCK! 👇

🚲 FW4Kids Wednesdays Family Ride
📅 Wednesdays | 6:00 PM
📍 Rock Island Bridge, State Line Park
🛣️ Ride to PCKC Stadium & back (~10 miles, slow-paced!)
✅ Free loaner bikes available

Hosted by@fw4kidskc + this event is open to the community. This is the kind of neighbor-powered, community-building we love to see in WyCo. Come ride with them!

For more info: 913.281.9222 or Facebook DM FreeWheels4Kids

05/20/2026

We're excited to share that we’ve again been selected as an Impact 100 organization by United Way of Greater Kansas City!

When funders like United Way offer unrestricted support, they help create critical flexibility for Build WyCo and others to address challenges like housing affordability.

Together, we’re creating a more resilient community where everyone has opportunities to thrive.

Alt text:

Proud 2026 United Way Impact 100 Partner

This investment in our work comes as unrestricted funding, giving us the flexibility to respond to our community's greatest needs in real time.

05/15/2026

Here's a question...

Was this home sold at market rate or with a discount? What about the others around it?

Hopefully, you can't tell the difference - and that's the point!

💡 Here's how this is possible:

Build WyCo sells some homes through an affordability tool called a Community Land Trust, or CLT.

In a typical home purchase, a family buys the house, including the land it sits on. In a CLT purchase, the family buys just the house, while a nonprofit (like Build WyCo) owns the land, preserving it for future generations.

When the buyer sells the home, they still retain some of the equity, depending on their initial agreement at purchase.

The rest gets passed on to the next buyer. Instead of one family benefiting from the discount, many do!

Why do it this way? Here are a few major benefits:

➕ Better home at a lower price.

Going through the CLT lets the family buy at a significant discount, while the quality of homes that go into our CLT is exactly the same as our homes sold at market rate.

CLT opens the opportunity for homeownership to many families who might never be able to buy a home otherwise - at least not until later, missing out on the crucial opportunity to build wealth.

〰️ Affordable stays affordable.

As market dynamics shift and surrounding properties change hands, retaining ownership of the land allows Build WyCo to continue passing the discount on to future buyers, maintaining affordability.

💗 More impact with fewer resources.

While a down payment assistance grant is great, it can only impact one family. CLT discounts can provide an affordable, high-quality home for generations of families.

So – are all our homes going through the CLT?

Nope! It's a selective strategy that should be available for families who need and want to go that route. Plenty of our buyers go through the typical purchase process.

CLT is one tool that creates the opportunity for more families to buy a home. It's not a universal fit. Just another tool in the toolbox.

PS ✨ did you know ✨: CLTs have been around for some time. For the curious, Grounded Solutions Network has a great article on CLT history!

05/14/2026

05/14/2026

Pictured: that particular type of energy it takes to solve a challenge as tough as housing affordability :)

Here our board members, team leaders, and a representative from NeighborWorks America joined our Spring Board Retreat to tackle big challenges and work towards our goals.

We are so grateful for this driven, caring, and super-smart bunch. When you have such great people behind the work, it makes tackling every other challenge possible.

05/12/2026

Our team was grateful for the chance to join Kansas Leadership Center's Health Narratives, with support from Health Forward Foundation.

The first in this year-long series brought together folks like these table-neighbors from Community Health Council, Warring Dove International, Leadership 2000, Mt. Carmel Redevelopment Corporation, Inc. and more to tackle Wyandotte County's health challenges by changing the narrative.

As a collective of nonprofit and community leaders, we agreed: we need a better story. Wyandotte County deserves a better story.