Banking on KC – Ryan Hudnall of Della Lamb
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Kelly Scanlon:
Welcome to Banking on KC. I'm your host, Kelly Scanlon. Thank you for joining us. With us on this episode is Ryan Hudnall, the executive director of Della Lamb. A Kansas City nonprofit that's dedicated to helping children and families overcome poverty and achieve self-sufficiency. Welcome, Ryan.
Ryan Hudnall:
Really a pleasure to join you, Kelly. Thank you.
Kelly Scanlon:
Why don't you give us an overview of Della Lamb and how it carries out its core mission of, like I said, helping families overcome poverty and importantly achieving self-sufficiency.
Ryan Hudnall:
I think that one of the most common questions I receive, and something that should be addressed immediately is what's a Della Lamb? Rather the question is, who is Della Lamb? Della Lamb was founded in 1897, and it was from a courageous group of high initiative women at that time out of the United Methodist Church who said, "We need to serve our community." They were identifying needs specifically related to Italian working mothers who were striving to care for their children, but had real economic needs and needed to go to work. Della Lamb launched one of the very first daycares in all of Kansas City. So that thread and expression finds itself in our programs today.
We are a licensed and accredited early education center. We are one of two refugee resettlement agencies in Kansas City, and we also offer youth services, which right now is primarily youth sports. Based upon each program, our efforts to come alongside families and understand their unique needs, whether it's generational needs from early education to youth services or family needs as part of our refugee resettlement early education programs, the nature of our program means responsive.
Kelly Scanlon:
So sometimes you are serving people for just a particular need, for a short term, a situation, and other times you will be with them for many, many years, perhaps a family.
Ryan Hudnall:
It can be very, very holistic. Federal resettlement guidelines ... Some of our funding allows us to be the ones that welcome people at the airport and walk with them for the next five years as part of their longer journey of community integration.
Kelly Scanlon:
Now, we hear a lot about food deserts, but there's also a lot of child care and teacher deserts, and that only compounds the problem that ... And I was amazed when I saw the statistic. 48%, less than half, of all low income children are kindergarten ready by age five. Less than half. So how's Della Lamb addressing that kindergarten ready issue?
Ryan Hudnall:
Yeah.
Kelly Scanlon:
Lack of redness.
Ryan Hudnall:
There's a lot here and I'm ready to dig in on this question.
Kelly Scanlon:
Okay. It's important right now, especially. Yeah.
Ryan Hudnall:
It's vital and there's a lot of factors that we need to explore. This question specifically relates to our early education program. And so I think that Kansas City, the state of Missouri, nationally, we're having a conversation about whether early education is a primary or a secondary part of our infrastructure. And we need to think about it as primary. The ripple effects of early education as a primary infrastructure, it impacts employment, it impacts long-term job readiness, academic rates, prison rates. And so as we think about how do we invest, well, early education is a prime preventative investment for our infrastructure as a city, as a state, as a nation.
You noted the statistic regarding that kindergarten readiness metric. 48%. Last year there was a study that came out by a couple of different publications that noted that not just kindergarten readiness, but childcare deserts. That term. And so there's like, what is a childcare desert? That's generally a way of reflecting upon the ratio of children in a specific census tract compared to the number of slots available for childcare. And if that ratio is greater than three, someone lives in a childcare desert. So more simply, if there are three or more children in a specific area and there's only one childcare slot, you're in a childcare desert. The Mid-America Regional Council has early education tools, landscapes, and their data really informs. It's like as we look at our city, what is the state of our childcare deserts? And if you layer childcare deserts with a mapping of families facing concentrated poverty in specific census tract, you'll find that there's very strong correlation.
Kelly Scanlon:
Geographically, as far as mileage goes, like how many square miles is that without one?
Ryan Hudnall:
I think of things more, if I'm thinking east and west, a lot of these go down Independence Avenue. And that's where you're going to find your, not all but many of your low-income concentrations of poverty. And so as we go down through the county, down Independence Avenue, you'll just see statistics related to concentrated poverty and the absence of childcare. And of course, the ripple effects of this are for families, particularly with different composition of families, that without adequate childcare and quality childcare, you're going to impact the child's development and also job opportunities. It's hard to enter the workforce if you're meeting the needs of your child first.
Kelly Scanlon:
Given the childcare desert, especially along Independence Avenue as you just described, but in other areas too. How are you addressing that problem?
Ryan Hudnall:
No. It's a critical question, and we need to think about how do we be proactive in this? And we've even taken fundamental steps this year in order to take steps to create greater access and quality for early education. Part of it's philosophical. What do we think of our program and how are we inviting people to invest in our program? And so how do we think about what partnerships look like? The state of Missouri has provided some funding to our primary schools to launch their own early education programs. And so in Kansas City, this is known as the Kansas City Pre-K Cooperative. And so Della Lamb has partnerships with charter schools in order to expand access to early education. That's one important piece. How do we think about what partnerships look like to expand access using available funding? We need to discuss the proverbial elephant in the room.
Wages are so so low and this is a real barrier. There is not just a center shortage, there is a teacher shortage. And so Della Lamb prior to COVID-19, our licensed capacity was around 109 children. We were serving 65 to 70 per day. Not good, but fine. We increased our capacity 133 during COVID-19. But when we shut down in March of 2020, in response to the pandemic, coming out of COVID-19, when we reopened and we reopened early May of 2020, our numbers were 20. And so we've been working our way back to get to that original, even though we have additional capacity. And so you're saying, well, why aren't you filling the classrooms, there's incredible need.
Kelly Scanlon:
Exactly.
Ryan Hudnall:
There's no teachers. So many have left the field. Retention is a real challenge. And many of it does. How do we value our educators? And so this year we said we're tired of it. We got to increase our wages. And we got to do so in such a way that is not reflective of current market rates because we got to address something structural. The state of Missouri made an important change two years ago as part of their budget. They increased the subsidy reimbursement rate for early education providers. So Della Lamb receives subsidies from the state of Missouri for serving families who are characterized as low income. We were previously at 22% of the market rate and jumped to 58% of the market rate. And there's some additional other bonuses on top of that based upon the number of low income families you're serving and if you're accredited.
This puts sustainability in a whole new conversation and allows us to be responsive. We got to think long-term structurally about how do we compensate teachers. There's a certain metric, the class metric. Basically, you boil it all down, it assesses what is the interaction between teacher and child as the primary way to assess the quality of an early education program? And if we believe that statistic and say, of course, the interaction between the teacher and the child is fundamental, then we got to think about, well, how do we have high quality instructors?
Kelly Scanlon:
Yes. Exactly.
Ryan Hudnall:
And so we got to invest in our instructors. And this can take many different forms, and I had a professor in college that would say reasonable people can disagree. But fundamentally, I think that we have to look at wages. This is an industry that is disconnected from the importance of the development. Your first five years of brain development, personality development will be a leading indicator for the rest of your life. But somehow we've undervalued and under invested the instructors for that primary age. I don't want to minimize the importance of the home or caregivers as part of that. But for our low income families that are really thinking about how do I make leaps and break generational cycles of poverty? How do we invest well by equipping early education centers to be not just operating bare bones just to maintain functionality, but to invest and come alongside and provide that holistic care.
Kelly Scanlon:
You're collaborating with other institutions and organizations here in the Kansas City area and also governments, government agencies, and then also, you have increased the pay, and it sounds like some of the training as well for the teachers that you do have.
Ryan Hudnall:
Yeah. We got to care for our teachers. In an early education environment this is a precious age. This is an age we get dream with and really see, as I said, how those preventive investments ... I.T's not just caring for a child, it's caring for the whole person. Because how we invest right now will set them up for the rest of their lives.
Philosophically, Della Lamb including our other programs, even it's never been an organization since its inception that says, this is mine. It's always said, this is ours. Now, that's diversified over the years. Della Lamb was founded in 1897. So being 127 years old, we've gone through some waves of change and volatility. And so we've adapted and responded based upon what our community is saying, what their needs are and how we have invited people in to serve as part of our efforts. And that is the main thread that has kept Della Lamb relevant and responsive over the course of more than a century.
Kelly Scanlon:
The childhood education piece of this is obviously a huge part of your focus, but what are some of the other key programs and initiatives that Della Lamb offers?
Ryan Hudnall:
Other than early education the two other primary programs we offer, refugee resettlement. This has grown exponentially over the past three years, particularly in relation to the fall of Kabul in Afghanistan. Our response to meet that need and the continued efforts to welcome people who have faced displacement from across the globe. The other program is youth services. The surgeon General last year 2023 issued a report that said there is an epidemic of loneliness and isolation.
Kelly Scanlon:
Oh, I've seen those. Yeah.
Ryan Hudnall:
And if you look at some of the other statistics that are emerging, there's the 2024 World Happiness Report. This year, they took an interesting look at the happiness metrics based upon generation. Our youth ... And not just youth globally, because this differs. The youth in the United States are suffering. We are more digitally and virtually connected than ever before yet our youth are reporting statistics related to loneliness, isolation, mental health issues that are alarming. So how does that relate? So youth services. And our expression right now is primarily youth sports. So we offer heavily subsidized fees so that youth can access sports. Basketball programs, track and field and football.
Kelly Scanlon:
So are these intramural programs?
Ryan Hudnall:
They're recreational, but we have some competitive. We have a girls' basketball program that's nationally ranked.
Kelly Scanlon:
Oh, wow.
Ryan Hudnall:
And we've had a number of first time college students. So how do we overcome the challenges of education? Well, a scholarship helps that. So that's maintained an important thread. One of our former track and field athletes won the gold medal in the 400 meters this past year at the Paris Olympics. And so right now I'm referring to us as a gold medal organization. I think that-
Kelly Scanlon:
I think you're onto something there. Hey.
Ryan Hudnall:
Nothing of my own doing. Thank you, Quincy. But youth sports is often seemed as peripheral, not primary.
Kelly Scanlon:
That's true.
Ryan Hudnall:
But it's these gathering places that as we look back in COVID-19, these important times of one social connection with your peers and also connection with mentors. It's like those who can share that wisdom with you and just give you a warm hug and say, "Hey, I see you. We're going to make through this."
Kelly Scanlon:
And I've interviewed so many people who talk about their time playing sports that taught them leadership skills and teamwork skills. And in addition to combating the isolation that you're talking about, there's just so many other foundational skills that children learn when they play sports.
Ryan Hudnall:
That's fundamental. It is holistic development. Forbes did a reflection on women CEOs in the Forbes 500. I'm going to misquote this, but I'm going to say it anyways. It's between 90 and 97% of if you're a woman CEO you played sports.
Kelly Scanlon:
Large number. Yeah. Major number.
Ryan Hudnall:
It is very, very significant. And so really it sets up a foundation. How do you address adversity? How do you work through challenges? How do you develop teamwork and collaboration? Not to mention all the physical development aspect.
Kelly Scanlon:
You mentioned a little bit that you work with other organizations. But within the local communities that you serve, how do you build partnerships, not just with the other organizations and businesses, but with the community itself? How do you engage and draw people in?
Ryan Hudnall:
It's a fundamental question to our vision and view of Kansas City. This isn't mine, this is ours. This is our city. And so how do we invite people into a larger vision for our city? How do we engage? We're in refugee resettlement. We dream with our littlest learners. We fundamentally believe in the giftedness of all people. So whether you're a program participant, a volunteer, a donor, we believe that there's giftedness to dream about what our city will be. And so how do we activate that and get that investment in our city? So for instance, early education. There's a number of partners that we have that span the spectrum of how they're contributing. The Crittenden Children's Center, we've partnered with them for trauma-informed care training. Rockhurst University. We reached out to them several years ago, and we said, because of the populations we serve, low income, and generally coming from households that are English as a second language, we were noticing that there's trends between language and literacy development and behavior. And so we need to invest in language and literacy. So Rockhurst paired us with their graduate speech pathology program for the past three years, graduate students from Rockhurst University come in twice a week and invest one-on-one in our kids. To think about how do we cultivate that language and literacy, which, what do you know if someone can't communicate, they're going to have behavioral issues.
Kelly Scanlon:
True.
Ryan Hudnall:
So as you develop those skills, it's like, oh, maybe there was a misdiagnosis here. This is not a challenge on a child. This is someone that's desperate to communicate and to be heard and seen. The family Conservancy for consulting efforts and investment in our teachers, School Smart, the Kansas City, Pre-K Cooperative. Which I mentioned we have partnerships through KC Pre-K Cooperative with other charter schools to expand accessibility. And of course, I would be remiss not to mention Country Club Bank. Country Club has sponsored one of our classrooms, and they've also come in and offered financial literacy courses to help many of our parents.
And what's interesting is many of our teachers have raised their hand and said, "You know what? I think this would behoove me to think about financial planning." And so really, we think about how do we tap in ... It's really a community-based asset approach. What's in your hand? You're gifted in some way. Our city needs that. How do we tap into that in such a way where you see your giftedness used because we know that you're going to have joy seeing your gifts used to invest in our city and impact another person. And so by having that philosophy, knowing that this isn't mine, it's ours. And if we tap in, I firmly believe that joy is multiplied. It's not a zero-sum game. That when we tap into each other, I don't have the market on it, nor do you, but we can multiply it and share it. There's this classic statement that one of my counselors before I was married shared with me. He said, "Remember, this is part of dealing with conflict and building a team. By any team that you have, is that burdens are shared, joys are multiplied." And I think if we have that mindset as a community. We get to share this, but we also going to multiply this. Then we get to fundamentally reach outcomes that we dream that our city could be.
Kelly Scanlon:
Given everything that you do and sometimes the challenges that you're facing, what constitutes success for you?
Ryan Hudnall:
Yeah. It can get so contextual, can't it? Just in thinking about the families that we serve, what does success look like for them? And also, it's really not our place to define what their success is. We want to hear their voice as part of determining what success will be. Now, I don't want to say that we don't have metrics. We absolutely have metrics. Kindergarten readiness rates is one of them. Over the past three years, our kindergarten readiness rates have been 92%, 96% and then this past year was at 80%.
Kelly Scanlon:
So double double what the national 48%.
Ryan Hudnall:
And for families who are low income, and also many from English is a second language. This one year of investment is absolutely fundamental. It teaches social-emotional health, cognitive health, physical development. It's critical. In our refugee resettlement, we have self-sufficiency rates, job placement rates. For our youth services, we look at program participation as well as some of our achievements. How are we doing on and off the field? But I really think about how do we measure success? What we treasure is how we should measure our success. And there's often a disconnect between the two. So how do we align those two? And I think that as I think about what is our greatest asset, it's time.
So if we think about time as one of our greatest treasures and our greatest assets, that should be a driver. So much of our work is volatile. It's dependent upon external forces. So as I think about all the, how do we walk through and reflect on how we measure success. So how do we best use our time? Are we proud of the investments that we made? Our mission is really about thinking about the possibilities for all people. But our vision is about meaningful connections. So if we are walking hand in hand with our community members, our program participants, our donors, our volunteers, if we're walking hand in hand thinking about how do we overcome barriers to take steps forward, and we're making meaningful connections in the process, we've been really good stewards of our time. And I think that's the point.
Kelly Scanlon:
It's almost more anecdotal. You can have all of the numerical statistics, but when you look at families who have achieved that self-sufficiency and been able to move on, and you see those generational cycles, as you mentioned being broken and the next generation having more opportunity you know it's been successful.
Ryan Hudnall:
That's exactly it. And so there's both quantitative and qualitative aspects. But you don't want to lose sight of the people with the metrics. We can look at all of our statistics-related job placements related to economic self-sufficiency. But then you meet the people and it's like you are worth it.
Kelly Scanlon:
Exactly. Well, and as you said, those metrics are very key to getting your funding too, in many cases. So you can't overlook those. But then when you put the stories on top of it, layer them on top of it-
Ryan Hudnall:
That's the richness of the work. That's it.
Kelly Scanlon:
Looking ahead, where do you see Della Lamb heading? How is it planning to expand its reach and its effectiveness?
Ryan Hudnall:
Yeah. A hope for Della Lamb, a hope for our city. And so as we think about our programs, I'm hopeful for integration of our early education refugee resettlement and youth services program. One example is that we just started a partnership with the Mid-America Regional Council that is addressing child care access for refugee families. And this way we're thinking through how do we be innovative in a space? It takes a significant capital investment to open up a new early education center. The presence of child care deserts in our city, it's an indicator that the capital investment required we're talking decades in the making. Particularly in a volatile environment. The city will change over time so how are we responsive? So we need to be more adaptive. So we're looking at how do you have less capital-intensive solutions to addressing access to child care? And then how do you come alongside and equip those likely in-home solutions in order to drive quality and prepare someone to improve their kindergarten readiness rates? That's much more streamlined and also can be much more culturally responsive to those families.
I am looking for deep, deep partnerships. We recently have had a partnership with the city of Kansas, City and other institutions that are really part of the welcoming effort. How do we become a welcoming city? As we prepare for the World Cup what are they going to find? What are people going to find that are coming to our city? I hope they notice that we are distinctly welcoming. That classic Midwest kindness. Let's really be intentional in saying, we're so grateful here you've come to our city. Thank you. We see you. But let's do that for everyone.
And then finally, the number of partnerships, the advocacy, the engagement that we will have in the light of changing dynamics. Time is dynamic. The election will give us new opportunities for engagement, new advocacy. So some things will grow, some things will contract. But we're going to really press in on how we invite people in as we think about changing policies, federal policies, federal administrations, really think about the local experience. It's in our hands. How do we invest? Certainly federal policies bear themselves out. But we have a voice in this. Let's think together about how we work together to drive growth in those key areas that need to be addressed in our city.
Kelly Scanlon:
For our listeners who are interested in working with you, as you just described, or in other areas just supporting your programs in general, where can they find more information so that they can contribute to the mission you've described today?
Ryan Hudnall:
If someone is interested, we'd love for you to check out our website. Www.dellalamb.org. You can find information about volunteering. You can find more programmatic information about our impact. And certainly if you're looking to financially contribute, there's easy pathways to give. So we'd love to have you visit dellalamb.org.
Kelly Scanlon:
Ryan, thank you so much for being our guest today and for all the work you do throughout the city and for the children who are our future. We really appreciate that.
Ryan Hudnall:
My pleasure to be here.
Joe Close:
This is Joe Close, president of Country Club Bank. Thank you to Ryan Hudnall for being our guest on this episode of Banking on KC. Della Lamb plays a critical role in supporting Kansas City families through comprehensive programs designed to foster self-sufficiency, and alleviate poverty. Their early education, refugee settlement, and youth services initiatives directly address the pressing needs of childcare, accessibility, and educational preparedness, which are both crucial for empowering children and their families toward a more sustainable future. Country Club Bank proudly supports the initiatives like those at Della Lamb that contribute to the vitality and self-sufficiency of our community. Our commitment to financial literacy and community engagement aligns with the vital services Della Lamb provides underscoring our shared mission to empower Kansas Citians. Thanks for tuning in this week. We're banking on new Kansas City. Country Club Bank, member FDIC.