Many years ago I worked for a residential treatment center for homeless and delinquent youth in a small town in Missouri. Every Sunday we took our children to a local church. It frankly was hard to find a church who would accept our “family” because our kids did not act or dress or come from the same family backgrounds as everyone else in this small town.

As many of you know, our foundation office is located on the corner of 18th and Prospect Street in Kansas City, Mo. As I drive to work every morning I purposefully drive through various neighborhoods that are adjacent to our office. The 64127 zip code where our office is located has one of the highest crime rates in the city, high foreclosure rates, high drug use and low owner occupancy rates. As you drive, you'll see many people waiting in lines at bus stops, boarded up old buildings and homes, no full service grocery stores and an abudance of liquor stores and fast food restaurants.

Recently I’ve noticed a trend that has left me hopeful that Americans, especially the younger generations, are becoming more involved in their communities and in the political process.

Recently my wife and I visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, IL and the Gerard Ford Presidential Library and Museum in Grand Rapid, Michigan. We are spoiled in Kansas City to have immediate access to the magnificent Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, which I have visited many times.

We are so lucky to have the UMKC Dental School in Kansas City. Each year the dental school graduates 100 new dentists. 72 of these dental students are residents of Missouri and 20 are from Kansas. The remaining slots are from other states. In a good year Missouri and Kansas retains approximately 70% of their graduates who actually set up practice in their home state. That is the good news!

Last week I took a few vacation days. During my time away from the office, I spent some time with my mom and in-laws. For years I had asked my parents and in-laws to record stories about their life so my children would have the benefits of knowing about their ancestors. My dad died four years ago without recording a single story.

I started my career as a front line child care worker in a residential treatment facility for abused and neglected children. It was a wonderful job. I lived full time with the children, was paid $400 per month and only got a vacation when I took some of the children with me because we were so short staffed. I was young and the 18-20 hour work days did not bother me. I remember thinking what it would be like to have time off or attend a training to become better at my job. No time for that, we were simply too busy taking care of the children.