River of Refuge newsletter, June 2025
Saying Goodbye Can Be Toughest Part of River of Refuge Program
No matter how daunting it can be for parents to enter the River of Refuge program, it can be even scarier to exit: Graduates must apply the principles they have learned without the support of the staff and other families living here.
The time of reckoning for Kelley Brown, 36, came in March.
She entered the program in July 2024, following an eviction the previous fall from an apartment in Belton. She and her family lived with her brother for a while, but then she and her husband split up, leaving Brown and her four children to stay with her father and then her aunt.
“Once you’re (at River of Refuge), and you really embrace the program, and you’re taking everything that there is to offer, it’s hard to want to leave, because it’s like a family outside of the family you have outside of those walls,” Brown said.
One of Brown’s biggest financial hurdles when she moved into River of Refuge was an unpaid $1,000 light bill. She also owed her former apartment complex back rent and eviction-related fees. Her total debt was about $5,000.
Brown’s other challenges upon entering River of Refuge were recovering from cataract surgery and managing an unreliable Ford Fusion in the unfamiliar role as a single parent. She also underwent another medical procedure while at River of Refuge.
Finding River of Refuge was a relief after staying with relatives.
“I’m grateful that I was given that opportunity because it was like a weight lifted,” she said. “I had somewhere to sleep. I had somewhere for my kids to be able to just call theirs for the time being. They were able to be comfortable, not like on eggshells, because when you’re at other people’s houses, it’s not yours, everything is just different, right? It’s different not being in your own dwelling.”
A 2007 graduate of Central High School in Kansas City, Missouri, Brown is a senior certified pharmacy technician with Walgreens. She will have been doing pharmacy work for four years come October, and she recently transferred from a retail site to a location inside Research Medical Center.
Brown has also worked as a bus monitor for the school district in Raymore, Missouri, and is working toward earning her commercial driver’s license to become a bus driver in the district.
Her kids attended school in the district when she lived in Belton, and she wants them to stay there even though she is now renting a duplex in South Kansas City. They will be able to do that if she works for the district.
The kids are doing well. There are two girls, Kaydence, 16, and Maliyah, 9, and two boys, Junior, 13, and Ma’Khi, 12.
The girls are into dance. The boys are into sports and earning money cutting grass. Ma’Khi has picked up the saxophone. Junior is into streaming and gaming and has a job stocking stores with bread through a gentleman they met in their new housing complex.
She’s happy Junior is anxious to join the workforce, earn his own money, and get used to saving as Brown did at River of Refuge.
However, the budgeting part was not difficult for Brown.
She knew that giving up Taco Bell runs on Friday nights for the kids and getting her nails done every couple of weeks were sacrifices she needed to make for long-term financial security. Brown has also found that making pizza at home saves money while providing a bonding experience for the family.
Brown realized that budgeting did not mean you had to cut out the occasional night out for ice cream; it just had to be worked into the budget or as a celebration when a little money was left over at the end of the month.
“I think people see the budget when they first join the program … and it’s just like, ‘I can’t do this.’ They’re not looking at it as it’s you’re sacrificing certain things that really are holding you back from getting a whole lot further, especially when it comes to the financial side of it, right?” Brown said.
“And it’s all worth it. And I don’t think that’s what people realize. It’s really not that hard, especially if you … want that end result. If you want what’s at the end of that rainbow, that pot of gold, you’re going to do it.”
From Honeysuckle to Onions: Volunteers Have Cleared, Hauled, and Harvested for River of Refuge
Volunteers have come through for River of Refuge in a big way during the past few months:
In April, members of the Raytown Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints removed the honeysuckle and brush that had overtaken the walking path and pedestrian bridge in our lower park.
Elders Quorum President Jimmy Kennedy, who is with Timberline Tree Services, cut down all the growth. Then, about 15 church members spent more than two hours on a Saturday dragging the cuttings up a hill to the street, so that Kennedy and his crew could haul them away.
River of Refuge Executive Director Pam Seymour found it endearing that a little boy left a snail he had found in the care of his sister after his mom called for him to help with something. The sister built a little hotel for the snail.
It’s that kind of experience Seymour is hoping River of Refuge families can experience once again. “The kids can go down there, they can be creative, they can use their imaginations, they can have discovery without toys.”
In May, approximately 20 members of JE Dunn Construction’s Risk Management Group — including Seymour’s son, Zac Berkstresser — spent time a few hours on a Wednesday cleaning the parking garage, weeding our lower-level gardens, moving furniture and other household items, completing assembly of new basketball goals, and filling the bases with sand to keep them upright.
Other tasks included moving twin mattresses from top-floor storage into the parking garage for donating (or tossing), and airing up bike tires and balls on the playground. One of the participants donated a couple of children’s bikes to River of Refuge following the volunteer day.
Seymour enjoyed watching the group test out the new basketball hoops and appreciated the emphasis that JE Dunn places on volunteerism.
And finally, in June, the irrepressible Tiffany Buckley led a group of volunteers that harvested more than 80 pounds of potatoes, onions, leeks, collards, and kale from River of Refuge’s community garden.
Chef Avis and her assistant, Jesse, prepared some dishes for the group.
“In true garden-to-table fashion,” Buckley said on Facebook, “there was about an hourish between harvesting and eating. Incredible!!!”
FROM THE DIRECTOR
My mother always told me before I left home without her to behave because you never knew who might be watching. I grew up in a small southeast Kansas town where everyone knew everyone and their business.
The advice stuck. I still live by this rule all these years later.
One way I apply it professionally is that I always put my best foot forward when meeting new people. That’s the courteous thing to do, of course, but I still hear my mom urging me to be on my best behavior.
In my role as the executive director of a nonprofit, cordiality is especially important in speaking to a group. You just never know when the talk might result in new volunteers or donors.
That’s exactly what happened recently. Here’s the story….
Judy started volunteering with us during childcare on Monday evenings while parents are in Life Skills Class. As I got to know her, I learned that she was a retired ICU nurse at Park Lane Hospital. Yes, right here where we are located.
She was drawn to this opportunity because of the wonderful memories she had from working at the hospital for several years. She was also curious to see the current use of the property.
More than a year later, Judy is still a regular on Monday evenings. Earlier this year, she asked if she could bring in some of her Park Lane friends for a get-together and a tour of the facility on a Saturday.
Of course, I said yes. What a day it was!
About 15 former Park Lane Hospital personnel attended. As I guided them through the former medical center, now our main facility, they talked about where they had officed and what was now there. They were very impressed with what we’d done with the place!
As always, I encouraged them to volunteer at ROR.
A few weeks later, we gained another Monday evening childcare volunteer from this group!
Then, a couple of months ago, two ladies from St. Robert’s Bellarmine Catholic Church in Blue Springs came by and presented us with a $2,000 check.
How generous and thoughtful!
As it turns out, one of the gals who attended the Park Lane reunion and tour attends this church and suggested that they donate the proceeds from their St. Joseph’s dinner to River of Refuge.
You just never know how a simple reunion and tour can result in such generosity. Moms always know best, right?
We are so thankful!
Until Next Time,
Pamela Seymour, Executive Director