By John Sharp
Alvin Brooks and KCMO nonprofit The Whole Person are being honored at the Missouri Human Rights Conference Friday, December 10, hosted by the Missouri Commission on Human Rights.
Brooks, the founder and former president of the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime, will receive the Lucile Bluford Lifetime Achievement Award for his decades of community-focused leadership.
A former KCMO police detective, Brooks was the first director of the city’s Human Relations Department and later served as an assistant city manager.
After that he was elected as a city council member from south Kansas City and was appointed mayor pro-tem. Following his city council service he was appointed by the governor to the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners.
He was named the 2019 Kansas Citian of the Year by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.
For 43 years The Whole Person has served Kansas City area residents living with one or more disabilities of all types.
The nonprofit supports and empowers independent living choices to prevent unnecessary institutionalization. Nearly all its programs and services are provided for free.
Serving about 2,500 clients annually, The Whole Person provides independent living skills training, peer support and mentoring, advocacy, transition assistance, and information and referral services to meet the many different needs of its clients.
The free virtual conference will run from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the 10th. Persons may go online to labor.mo.gov/mhrc/agenda to see the full conference agenda and click on 2021 Conference Registration to register.