#AliveKC is creating change around Kansas City through leadership and action

July 30, 2021

Jacob Martin,

#AliveKC is an initiative of Alive & Well Communities (AWC) that is raising awareness around racial justice issues stemming from communal and historical trauma. // Courtesy of Alive and Well Communities

#AliveKC was birthed by Alive and Well Communities, a Kansas City-based organization focused on spearheading the disruption of racial and communal disparities and cycles of trauma through grassroots community movement and organizational transformations.

Their model for change is simple. Identify, discuss, and connect community organizations, with larger systems—including those in health care, education, and business—to begin to build a network to improve community wellbeing.

“If there is a food scarcity or malnourishment, how do we address the adverse community environment to ensure we have a better future?” says Ave Stokes, director of Alive and Well Kansas City. “We are seeking to raise up awareness and bring about change.”

That’s where #AliveKC campaign comes in. The digital storytelling campaign, started Monday, July 19, seeks to uplift and shine a light on leaders focused on making a change in an impacted community of Kansas City.

Nika Cotton is one of those leaders. Cotton is the owner of Soulcentricitea, a herbal tearoom at 30th and Troost. The tearoom with soul—as she refers to it, started after a collaboration with other women in a community-based incubator. Since then Cotton has branched out. Becoming a female entrepreneur, starting her own stand-alone business, and she will soon be offering a branded Soulcentricitea coffee. No small feat for a small business operating during a global pandemic.

For Cotton, Soulcentricitea has always been a social business with community organization at the heart of her vision. As a BIPOC woman and business owner, there is a social impact her business has on serving the community around her. Troost Ave., and the community that encompasses it, have historically been underserved and underrepresented—a product of redlining and segregation that continue to affect the community decades later.

Cotton is working with Alive and Well Communities for the creation of the Troost Black Business Association, something that does not exist in the historically Black Neighborhood.

“You have a place for Westport, for The Plaza, for Power & Light, but there’s not really a cohesive organization around Troost right now,” Cotton says. “I’m working to build the capacity but organize the community and build community.

Cotton envisions the Troost Black Business Association as more than just a directory for businesses in the neighborhood.

“I feel creating a very Black-centered message and about creating safe spaces along the streets of Troost,” Cotton says. “Increasing advocacy for the businesses that are here, and for future businesses that may be coming here.”

#AliveKC is spotlighting her initiative to foster a change in her community but also highlights other individuals throughout the Kansas City community that are working to impact their communities in a variety of ways.