The University of Missouri-Kansas City Board of Trustees announced the 2021 UMKC Trustees Engagement Awards recognizing community partners and their outstanding support to the university and the community.
This year the Trustee Engagement Awards Committee recognized two recipients for both the Community Partnership Award and the Leo E. Morton Community Service Award as no awards were presented in 2020.
The Community Partnership Award recognizes ongoing and indispensable partnerships that strengthen UMKC. The recipients’ support is essential to the university’s success and is also a critical component in fulfilling the university’s urban-serving mission of education and research that enhances the quality of life in the region. Truman Medical Center and Evergy, Inc. received this year’s awards.
Truman Medical Center (TMC), a longtime, critical partner of the university, took a swift and entrepreneurial approach to community care in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Programming included mobile testing units that went to churches, community centers and gathering places. TMC provided immediate and ongoing public education in conjunction with neighborhood partners, including the Negro Leagues Museum and the Kansas City Public Library, in both English and Spanish.
“The leadership that Truman Medical Centers and their Community Health Strategies and Innovation team showed community leaders and members during the pandemic through mobile testing and health education were critical in how our communities responded to the pandemic,” says Rev. John Miles, president of the Metropolitan Kansas City Baptist Ministers Union.
Evergy’s support of UMKC is broad and deep, including schools and programs across campus. They have supported the School of Computing and Engineering (SCE) through scholarship funding and a $500,000 pledge for the Evergy Renewable Energy Lab and Roof Deck in the Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise and Research Center. The company’s support of the KC STEM Alliance, a K-12 STEM initiative housed within SCE, furthers the mission of building the STEM talent pipeline.
“Evergy recruits associates as classroom speakers, mentors, volunteers and judges for a variety of events throughout the year in Kansas City,” Martha McCabe, executive director of KC STEM Alliance, says. “They are committed to reaching a broad range of students and actively recruit a diverse pool of volunteers in efforts to connect with all students.”
The Leo E. Morton Community Service Award recognizes a group or entity within UMKC for outstanding work that embodies the university’s mission as an urban-serving university. The recipients’ contributions ensure UMKC remains embedded in the fabric of the community through innovative services, programs and projects that strengthen and enhance the quality of life in the region and serve the citizens of Kansas City. This year’s awardees are the UMKC School of Law Child and Family Law Program and Cameron Lindsey, PharmD, interim chair of the division of pharmacy practice and administration at the UMKC School of Pharmacy.
The UMKC School of Law Child and Family Law Program spans three decades of innovative services and programs that strengthen the relationship between the university and the community. The Child and Family Services Clinic provides free legal services for parents, relatives and custodians who need help obtaining clear and reliable custody orders for children who have a history of being abused or neglected.
The process of seeking an Order of Protection is time-consuming and challenging, and when COVID shut down courthouses in spring 2020, the problem became more acute. Last year, the school’s Self-Help Clinic worked with the Kansas courts to develop an online portal for those seeking orders protecting them from abuse and stalking. The result is an online protection order portal which is now in place across the state of Kansas.
“While I know this project was but one small part of the many ways in which the Child and Family Law Program provides innovative, justice-driven education and community engagement throughout our region, it is special,” Keven O'Grady, Johnson County Kansas District Court judge, says. “We hope that the portal can be a model for courts across the country.”
Cameron Lindsey, PharmD, interim chair of the division of pharmacy practice and administration at the UMKC School of Pharmacy, is a dedicated community volunteer, securing close to $9 million in donated medications for the Shared Care Free Health Clinic of Jackson County. During the COVID pandemic, Lindsey became authorized to provide vaccines at the university and has been holding weekly clinics, as well as working with other organizations to ensure they have adequate staffing for community events.
“Dr. Lindsey cares deeply for others, the students she mentors and the stewardship of our institution,” Sheri Gormley, chief of staff office of the chancellor. “She fosters a culture of care and service as a leader at the School of Pharmacy and in all she does at UMKC.”
The UMKC Board of Trustees is a non-profit organization established by civic and community leaders to support the University.