Kansas City artist Harold Smith with one of his paintings at Reconciliation Services, where he was a panelist at a recent Brewing Change Together event discussing arts and healing (photo by Katie Knight, Reconciliation Services)
Reconciliation Services may not roll trippingly off the tongue, but the organization knows its mission well.
Since 1987 (when it opened as Reconciliation Ministries) RS has provided programs to improve its clients’ social and mental health, food access and sense of community — in an area scarred by decades of disinvestment and discrimination.
Sixty percent of the people it serves are either homeless or considered at risk. In July 2024, after a two-year revitalization project, Reconciliation Services moved back into its facilities at 3101 Troost Ave. Since then, RS has served nearly 3,400 clients.
According to grants manager Heather Lustfeldt, the agency has already logged a 40% increase in case management services and a 50% increase in direct client assistance. But stats are only part of the story, and two prominent pieces of art inside the five-story building speak to that.
One is a poem by Glenn North called “Reconciliation City.” North convened 31 neighborhood residents, pulled one word from each of their responses and wove those into a stirring piece of poetry that adorns an entire wall.
The other is a mural-sized portrait of the late Thelma Altschul.
Harold Smith’s paintings (left to right): “Jazztract,” “Youngmann II,” and “Tribalisms III” were recently exhibited at Reconciliation Services’ Thelma’s Kitchen, which has become a showcase for local artists through its changing Art in the Café mini exhibitions. (photo by Katie Knight, Reconciliation Services)
The painting by Lori and Stuart Bury hangs near the entrance of the restaurant that carries her name. Thelma’s Kitchen is Reconciliation Services’ “front door.” Open to the public, the 80-seat cafe serves daily lunches priced from $1 to $15 on a pay-what-you-can basis, asking diners who can do so to “pay it forward.”
It’s a remarkably productive operation. Even during the pandemic, chef Natasha Bailey and a team that includes hundreds of volunteers continued to cook and distribute meals through a catering service that’s still going strong.
Now Thelma’s Kitchen has become a gallery space too. Thanks to a partnership with the Kansas City Artists Coalition, the wall space next to Thelma’s portrait serves as a showcase (albeit a small one) for works by local artists. In July, three paintings by Harold Smith peeked over plates of healthy food and a flurry of lively conversations.
Art In the Cafe, Lustfeldt says, is an “access point” for people who might benefit from different, sometimes innovative services the organization has to offer, and art plays a key role in one of those.
This summer, their REVEAL program added a new mental health service called Art Expressions. The 8-week therapy group employs visual arts, music and even time outside with horses to help clients work through their trauma. “Beauty is a form of care,” Jodi Mathews, chief impact officer at Reconciliation Services explains. “When neighbors co-create murals, learn in our Art Expressions class, or encounter accomplished local artwork in our space, they reclaim dignity, rebuild trust and begin to imagine the future they’ll build together.”
Lustfeldt attributes the agency’s long-term success to being “nimble and responsive”; i.e., building a strong framework of programs and interventions but not being afraid to pivot when necessary. Last year’s move back to 31st and Troost has been particularly impactful, Mathews says. She calls it “a connector that’s brought more neighbors across our threshold, and more partners to see what’s possible.”
