Bryan Stalder
Bryan Stalder
Contributor
A Kansas City nonprofit dedicated to celebrating Asian culture and building community connections has found a permanent home in Columbus Park.
Hella Good Deeds recently announced it signed a lease for a new space at 913 E. 5th St., formerly a barbershop and the recent home of Tiger Alley Tattoo, marking a significant step forward for the organization’s cultural programming and outreach efforts.
The nonprofit shared the news on social media Monday, March 9, saying it is in the early stages of renovating the building and is looking for volunteers to help prepare the space for future community use.
“We just signed our lease! Looking for volunteers to help us,” the organization wrote in a post announcing the milestone. “We have big plans for our new home in Columbus Park and are so excited to be working closely with the communities we hope to serve.”
Volunteers who assisted with renovation work were treated to free coffee from Cafe Cà Phê, 916 E 5th St, a Vietnamese coffee shop where director Béty Lê Shackelford previously led community outreach before founding Hella Good Deeds in 2024—allowing Café Cà Phê to focus on coffee and Hella Good Deeds to focus on community impact.
Shackelford said this new location will house both Jade Market and a community resource center designed to support small businesses and neighborhood programming.
“Jade Market will serve as a maker’s marketplace to highlight small business owners. We also plan to build out a pantry and grab-and-go in the market.”
The community resource center will host smaller workshops and gatherings throughout the year, including storytelling events, art programming and training for entrepreneurs.
“We plan to host live story sessions, interactive workshops for entrepreneurs, and art workshops,” Shackelford said. “We are also launching our new health initiative this year, Hella Good Care.”
Through that initiative, the space will occasionally host “provider service days,” bringing health professionals into the neighborhood to offer information and services aimed at improving access to care.
While the building is modest in size, Shackelford said it will be designed as a community-facing space rather than simply an office. “We definitely want to utilize the space for our community,” she said. “Any smaller events or more intimate workshops will be here, but of course our larger events will be at a larger venue. The space will consistently function as Jade Market, with little pop-ups and workshops woven in throughout the year.”
Hella Good Deeds focuses on celebrating and sharing Asian culture while fostering a more connected and inclusive Kansas City through its Annual Heritage Event Series and other programming that centers Asian narratives. In recent years, the organization has hosted events ranging from cultural festivals and educational programming to collaborations with neighborhood groups in Columbus Park and beyond.
The organization has also played a key role in organizing Kansas City’s annual AANHPI Heritage Festival, which celebrates Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander culture. This year’s festival is scheduled for May 2 at Zhou B Art Center, 1801 E 18th St.
Renovation work at the new headquarters is already underway, though much of it is relatively simple. Shackelford said volunteers have been helping patch holes, paint and organize the space.
“We are lucky the space doesn’t need any major renovations,” she said. “This past weekend, volunteers came by to do all these little projects, and we love and appreciate them all so much.”
The organization hopes to complete renovations and open the space to the public by June.
“Our goal is to be fully open by June 2026,” Shackelford said.
Shackelford believes establishing a permanent home will help the organization expand its cultural programming and strengthen partnerships across Kansas City.
“Having a physical location will provide consistency,” she said. “We are always listening to feedback and the needs expressed by our community and tailoring our programming to match that. This space will allow a lot of those programming needs to come to fruition.”
She added that a visible, neighborhood-based location will help amplify the stories and work already happening in Kansas City’s Asian communities.
“We want to use this space to highlight the people in our community and hopefully reach even more people to continue expanding our networks and making new connections,” she said.
Shackelford also credited the team and volunteers who help power the organization’s work.
“I would love to give my day-to-day team—Associate Director Lauri Pham, Operations Director Xay Vongxay, and Community Care and Engagement Director Christine Bernhard—their flowers,” she said. “Their ability to execute the mission and vision of Hella Good Deeds is extraordinary.”
“And to our dedicated board, friends and volunteers,” she added, “I appreciate and adore your willingness to join in on the fun of building community together. How lucky we are. Hella.”
Community members interested in volunteering with renovation efforts can contact Hella Good Deeds through its LinkTree.
Read more about the founding of Hella Good Deeds at:
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