Port KC, Truman Medical Centers Leadership Joins SAVE, Inc. Board of Directors

KANSAS CITY, MO: SAVE, Inc. is proud to announce that Aaron Crossley and Joe Perry have recently joined the Board of Directors.

Aaron Crossley is a Licensed Master Social Worker in Missouri and works as a Project Coordinator at Truman Medical Centers Behavioral Health. In his current role, Aaron wears many hats related to project management and developing business strategy with the goal of empowering individuals served by the Agency. Crossley has a diverse array of experiences including ten year in behavioral healthcare, nine years of business marketing and strategy and four years of nonprofit development. Crossley’s previous positions include Executive Level Social Work Intern & Community Support Specialist with Truman Medical Centers, Development Coordinator with Impact France and Marketer for Sharp-Long 72 Degrees Heating & Air Conditioning.

Crossley is passionate about SAVE, Inc. and has served on the SAVE Programs Committee since 2019. He notes that his drive comes from waking up to leave the world a better place than he found it. Wholly believing in SAVE, Inc.’s work, Crossley notes: “I’m thrilled to be part of an organization that so firmly proclaims that housing is healthcare – both in message and in action.”

In his free time, Crossley enjoys coming up with dad jokes while cooking for his wife, Jessica, and their two children: Corban (12) and Isabelle (10). He can be heard rambling about politics, political advocacy and co-hosting the podcast, “MO Speaks Social Work,” with SAVE, Inc. Board of Directors President, Heather Bradley-Geary.

Joe Perry has been the Vice President of Real Estate & Development for Port KC for the last ten years, after previous experience as Commercial Director for Gale Communities, Project Director for the Central Business Corridor Transit Plan and experience as an urban planner & project manager. Perry’s 35-year career in real estate has included experiences spanning construction, owner’s representation, land development, capital finance, leasing, property management and low income housing tax credits (LIHTC). He has actively worked on multiple developments and currently serves on a special committee for housing industry officials working on the housing shortage in KC.

Perry’s enthusiasm for SAVE, Inc. stems directly from his desire to assist others in their pursuit of a better life. Perry says, “I enjoy few things more than watching people accept help, build a better life and then give back to the community that helped them.” Perry also has a listening & welcoming approach to service, allowing others to “thoughtfully question conventional wisdom that often leads to constructive shifting toward greater possibilities.”

Perry resides in the Brookside area with his partner Chuck Hitzeman, three children: Olivia (20), Ella (16) and Jack (14) as well as three adopted Persian cats. He admits to being more PBS than ESPN and you are more likely to find him on a national park trail than on a cruise ship.

SAVE, Inc.’s Board of Directors is a volunteer board consisting of 10 directors. These individuals assist the SAVE, Inc. leadership team with policy, DEI, public relations, strategic planning and more. To learn more about joining the SAVE, Inc. Board of Directors, contact CEO Blaine Proctor at bproctor@saveinckc.org

About SAVE, Inc.

SAVE, Inc. was founded in 1986 by volunteers who recognized the need to provide people with AIDS who had lost their homes a place to die with dignity. What began 35 years ago as an eight-bedroom hospice has now expanded to include permanent, transitional and emergency housing assistance. SAVE, Inc.’s campus includes seven residential buildings with over 100 units as well as a drop-in and emergency shelter for youth ages 18-24 facing homelessness all located in midtown Kansas City. The largest processor of tenant-based rental assistance vouchers in Misssouri, SAVE, Inc. provides housing and housing solutions to over 900 households every month in 15 counties on both sides of the state line. To learn more about SAVE, Inc., visit www.saveinckc.org or find them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Alhaven, A Supportive Housing Community in Midtown, Breaks Ground

Alhaven, A Supportive Housing Community in Midtown, Will Break Ground in September
25% of these units will be set aside for young adults diagnosed with HIV or AIDS

SAVE, Inc., a leader in providing comprehensive housing solutions to socially and medically disadvantaged people, along with the Vecino Group, a supportive housing developer, are both excited to announce they will break ground on a new, 50-unit affordable, permanent-supportive housing community, Alhaven, on Thursday, September 12, 2019 at10:00am. Mayor Quinton Lucas and City Councilman Eric Bunch will both be attending and speaking.

Alhaven will be built in Midtown Kansas City near 31st and Harrison Streets, one block west of the Troost Corridor. This new community will be a single, four-story building with 50 housing units; 12 studio apartments, 27, one-bedroom apartments and 11, two-bedroom apartments, each complete with a kitchen, washer, and dryer.

25% of these units will be set aside for young adults, ages 18-25 that have a diagnosis of HIV or AIDS. The groundbreaking ceremony will begin at 10:00 am, Thursday, September 12th at SAVE, Inc.’s Silverleaf building located at 911 E. 31^st Street, Kansas City, Missouri, 64109.

To date, there are no supportive housing solutions in the greater Kansas City area serving young adults with HIV/AIDS. While many people think homelessness resonates the same way regardless of age but youth or “street youth” homelessness is distinctly different from adult homelessness. The causes and consequences are diverse and so is how interventions are acknowledged and implemented.

“We are thrilled to be able to provide 50 new units of affordable housing to our Midtown Kansas City campus and more importantly, to the youth in our community. This project will further support SAVE’s mission and help us to continue our 33-year history of serving Kansas City’s most vulnerable citizens through stable housing and supportive services. Alhaven will complement our existing facilities and programs,” said CEO of Save, Inc. Blaine Proctor. “We’re grateful to be working with the Vecino Group to make our dream a reality”, Proctor added. Onsite medical services will be provided in collaboration with community partners.

Youth aging out of foster care and youth without a permanent place to call home is the fastest-growing homeless population. In addition, young adults living with homelessness are more likely to contract HIV through unsafe sex and needle sharing. These youth often combat homelessness by practicing “survival” methods such as emergency sex in order to have a couch to sleep on or to provide “rent” just to stay in an abandoned building. This population is seeing an increase in the HIV diagnosis and are more than likely to fall out of treatment once diagnosed proposing a risk to others. According to a study conducted by the University of Chicago during 2016-2017, one in ten youth between the ages of 18 and 25 experienced homelessness within the previous year. With the development of Alhaven and the partnership between Save Inc. and the Vecino Group, they will be able to combine affordable housing and onsite medical services and will set a standard for best practice methods of addressing this pivotal issue.

About SAVE, Inc.
SAVE, Inc. was founded in 1986 by courageous volunteers who recognized the dire need to provide AIDS victims who had lost their homes, a place to die with dignity. With few resources and a firm belief in the need to help others, those volunteers established SAVE Home in midtown Kansas City, the first AIDS-specific hospice in the state of Missouri. What began more than 30 years ago as a mere 8-bedroom hospice has since expanded to include 66 units in seven residential buildings, and to providing housing and housing solutions to over 900 households every month in 15 counties on both sides of the state line. Because of these efforts, SAVE Inc. has become the largest processor of tenant-based rental assistance vouchers in Missouri and has expanded its mission to include people with a dual diagnosis of homelessness, poverty, serious and persistent mental illness, substance abuse disorders, and/or HIV/AIDS. For more information, please visit www.saveinckc.org.

About The Vecino Group
The Vecino Group, LLC is a company focused on development for the greater good. Each project the company undertakes must address a broader community need, set an example, give back to the community, and inspire the professionals working on it with a greater sense of purpose. Based in Missouri, the Vecino Group is currently working in 11 States and has completed more than 1,500,000 square feet of development.