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(913) 677-7036
Service
The Sharing Community of Rosedale,
currently comprised of Rainbow Mennonite Church and
Rosedale Christian (Disciples) Church, has sponsored
the Kansas City MVS unit since 1976 in order to provide
community service workers to the metropolitan Kansas
City area. The mission of the unit is to respond to
legitimate needs in the local community that would
otherwise go unmet due to limited funding and resources
for community service agencies. The focus of the unit
has been on the Kansas City, Kan., area, but placements
are made farther out in the metro area in certain
situations.
The variety of opportunities for service is a strong
point of the Kansas City unit. We maintain regular
contact with agencies that provide services such as:
women's and children's advocacy and counseling; GED
tutoring; teaching and working with at-risk youth;
teaching English as a second language; teaching computer
skills to recent immigrants; home weatherization and
repair; nutrition counseling. There are also positions
for those with business and organizational skills.
Location
The unit house
is the former parsonage of the Rosedale Methodist
Church, located in a low to middle income neighborhood
on a large corner lot one block from Rainbow Mennonite
Church. Within a short driving distance are some excellent
and affordable places to eat Mexican food and famous
Kansas City barbeque, a flea market, a drive-in
movie theater and a large hardware store.
Greater Kansas City is comprised of 11 counties with
more than 1.6 million residents. Kansas City is the
most centrally located of the major U.S. cities, and
is built on the state line between Kansas and Missouri,
at the point where the Missouri River turns east toward
St. Louis. Many people mistakenly think all of Kansas
is flat and dry. Kansas City, however, is hilly and
green with an abundance of trees. It is known for
barbeque, jazz and fountains.
Unit
The unit as a whole
is expected to provide its members with the opportunity
to live in community with others who are committed
to service, simple lifestyle and worshiping and learning
together. The Kansas City MVS unit is fluid and is
expected to change as its members shape its style
and direction. A committee of about 8 members from
the Rosedale Sharing Community meets regularly with
the MVS unit to provide support in whatever form necessary.
A number of committee members have had previous volunteer
experience.
Church
Rainbow
Mennonite Church is a vibrant, active group of
about 200 people spanning a diverse range of ages
and professions. Members commute from all over the
metro area. For many years, Rainbow has shared its
building and friendship with one to two other congregation
(currently Rosedale Christian Church). The congregation
is committed to community outreach--evident in the
park it owns and maintains across from the church,
the service coordinator it employs, the soup kitchen
it helps to run, the food pantry and daycare in the
church basement, and the cooperation in a choir with
inmates of Lansing Correctional Institution. Rainbow
Mennonite Church tolerates and celebrates diversity.
Points of interest
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