Tikkun-KC, a nonprofit dedicated to transforming blighted blocks of urban houses into quality affordable housing for deserving homeowners, has announced a new board of directors.
Tikkun-KC was founded in 2018 by long-time urban renovator Larry Myer, who believes that providing ownership of affordable housing is the key to resolving urban blight. Through his company, Inner City Realty, Myer has 36 years of experience in renovating more than 1,800 distressed and abandoned urban core houses and apartment buildings in Kansas City, Missouri.
A Missouri and Kansas real estate broker, Myer is a regular guest speaker for several national real estate investment podcasts and seminars. He is a member of the Urban Neighborhood Initiative as well as local and national real estate organizations. He also is president of Congregation Beth Torah.
New Tikkun-KC board members include:
Alan Edelman, who has served on numerous local, regional and continental advisory committees, and served as a guest theologian in many churches, universities and seminaries. Edelman served as associate executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City prior to his retirement in 2017. He currently serves as the Jewish director on the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council and is a member of the board of directors of the Center for Practical Bioethics, Avodah, EmberHope, Schechter Institute and The Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning.
Lon Lowenstein, of Lowenstein Financial Solutions, Inc., a QuickBooks expert who works with businesses and nonprofits. Lowenstein is past president of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City, a trustee of the Jewish Community Foundation, treasurer of KU Hillel and treasurer of Happy Bottoms.
Jeremy Applebaum, an expert in both resale and new construction with experience in home building and the real estate brokerage business. Applebaum has extensive knowledge of the greater metro area on both sides of the state line and has sold more than $150 million dollars in real estate since 2010. Applebaum and his family sponsored the construction of a Habitat for Humanity home in Kansas City, Kansas, in 2006. He currently serves on Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City’s board of directors and its allocations committee.
Cynthia Wilson Conner, grant writer and compliance coordinator for Mattie Rhodes Center. With an interest in urban health, public health policy, and ethics, Conner has more than 20 years of experience with community outreach and fundraising. Conner is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals of Greater Kansas City and Nonprofit Connect. She is also a member of Congregation Beth Torah.
Rabbi Doug Alpert, spiritual leader of Congregation Kol Ami. Rabbi Alpert is on the Missouri Coordinating Committee for the Poor People’s Campaign, the Missouri executive committee of the NAACP and received the Harold Holliday Civil Rights Award from the NAACP KC branch. He is a board member of Missouri Faith Voices, the faith co-chair for Missouri Jobs With Justice, the immediate past president of Missouri Healthcare for All, an ally with Stand Up KC and a member of MORE2, the metropolitan organization for racial and economic equity.
Tikkun-KC — whose motto is “Repairing our corner of the world one house at a time” — cost-effectively renovates dangerous urban houses to create quality, affordable homes. Completed properties are occupied by deserving low-income individuals who are given the opportunity to become homeowners.
Tikkun-KC tackles houses that are often scheduled for demolition, saving taxpayers the $10,000 to $12,000 cost of demolishing each house. Tikkun-KC also fixes the exteriors of nearby properties owned by long-time residents who cannot afford repairs. The nonprofit’s renovations spur private investors to renovate surrounding properties that they previously shunned.
Tikkun-KC works to provide training and employment opportunities to local contractors and residents of the neighborhoods it restores. Participants in its apprenticeship program benefit from employment and an opportunity to learn skilled trades leading to careers in the construction industry.
To learn more about Tikkun-KC, please visit www.tikkun-kc.org, email or call 816-287-8800.
