Clinic will bloom from ashes of riot - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Last month, Fern had reaso to recall that violent day after the area was again wrackefby trouble, this time a short-livede melee sparked when police shot a suspected crackl dealer. "Problems don't go away -- they surface again and again and again ifwe don't solve them," said who now is president of the board of directord at , a nonprofit community family and health services centerf located near 23rd Street and Benton. Next Seton Center will embark on an ambitious effort aimed at solvinvg at least some of the chronic problems in theinner city. On Aug.
1, two monthzs to the day after what's been callex a "mini-riot," Seton Center will break groundx nearby on anew $1.3 million, 4,000-square-fooy medical clinic at the 23rd Streetr and Benton site. The projecy is a joint venture with and Blue Shielsd of Kansas City and representxs a major milestone inthe 27-year history of Seton "We are trying to empower and invesgt in this neighborhood," said Rachel Asaro, executive director of Seton Center. "If people have a place to turn to that is the chances of the negative elemeng taking holdare less." The existing Seton Center building will be renovated and expanded to house the health Asaro said.
She said the clinic likely will be staffed by three physicians from Blue Crossw subsidiary TriSourceHealthCare Inc., and will provide a variett of walk-in services, including primary care, X-rays, lab work and contractec specialty care. Seton and Blue Crosw also plan to starta second, smallere primary care center in nearby Linwoosd Shopping Center. According to Asaro, the new healtjh center will provide "one-stop healthh care shopping" for residentsd of the area.
"In time, we hope this partnershipp will prevent individuals from falling through the cracks and provide coordination of care acrossxall categories: health, social, economic, recreationalo and spiritual," she Seton Center was founded in 1969 in the wake of the riotxs following Martin Luther King' death. Catholic nuns created the facilityt to provide social services to elderly retireezs inthe neighborhood. In recent Asaro said, the neighborhood has changer as more young families have moved intothe area.
Setonm today is non-denominational and offers a rangwe of services that include a food thrift store, hot lunchg program and home healthu aid program, as well as youth activities. The centef also runs an educational program for high school dropouts and a day care progranfor adults. Seton employs 21 people and serves anestimated 5,000 individual per year with an annual budget of most of which comes from charitable contributions. With the new healtj center, Seton will begin a home healtb program, which will be reimbursed by Asaro said. Janet Cooper, a spokeswoman for Blue said the company's involvement in the projecrt reflects a strong commitment to the inner city.
Blue Cross has committed about $350,000 to building the Cooper said. "Seton Centert is a highly respected nonprofit serving an important centraocity population, and we're delightede to round out their very strong social servics program with a family practice clinic," Coope r said. Fern, Seton's board president and ownerr of MetropolitanAppraisal Co., this week recalledc another, more unsettled era in the neighborhood surrounding Seton