Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity (MORE2) is a social justice group uniting communities in the Kansas City area. Founded in 2004 to break down racial and class barriers through grassroots organizing, it recently created an environmental action hub to listen to concerns, boost residents’ voices and support them to take meaningful action. “We’re giving folks in the community a place to address issues,” community organizer Jay Jones says, listing flooding, illegal dumping and the condition of Brush Creek as local issues. “It’s prone to flooding, and there’s insufficient green space to absorb the water. The creek flows west to east, meaning the sewage goes east,”Jones explains. A legacy of redlining, the city’s east is home to a disproportionate share of its Black residents and remains socioeconomically disadvantaged. “That creek’s been the same way my whole life – we don’t deserve another generation to go through that and not have hope in their area. Environmental justice is very dear to me.”
An environmental action hub event where topics including dumping and Brush Creek were discussed. Photo courtesy of Jay Jones.
The organization has grown from 12 congregations in 2004 to 40 today, with multiple faiths and backgrounds welcomed. MORE2 benefits from diverse leadership, representing the varied communities in the metro area it serves. With its first environmental action hub in the works, Jones explains the team’s intention to foster relationships with community members and help them grow as advocates and influence policy: “We’ll have one-on-ones with church leaders and residents to understand what they want to see change, provide local leadership training, and connect and learn from elected officials and government leaders to find solutions to our issues.” Over its two decades in action, MORE2 has helped to secure a long list of social justice victories, including fighting for transportation for residents of a food desert, bolstering renters’ rights, banning out-of-school suspensions for young children, and Medicaid expansion in Missouri. “Our ultimate goal is to build leaders in the community,” Jones says. “There’s strength in numbers.”
Community members attending the environmental action hub event in May 2025. Photo courtesy of Jay Jones.