Building at 541 Elmwood Ave., which Guide KC has acquired for services. | Photo by Dorri Partain

Daisy Garcia Montoya

Education Reporter

Kansas City nonprofit organization Guide KC is working on moving into its recently secured building in the Northeast to renovate and open a center for Muslim youth resources and programming.

The newly formed organization, which focuses on Muslim youth, saw a need for space where youth could gather outside of their school or home.  Guide KC, which was officially founded in January 2025, started through a group of individuals made up of parents and community leaders who saw a need to create a place where the growing Muslim youth and Somali refugee population could meet outside of school or a home. 

The need for such a space became more apparent before and during the COVID-19 pandemic when Muslim community leaders began to have listening sessions and town halls where many expressed the lack of spaces for young people. Having this in mind, the vision was to create a community center where youth could participate in recreation, academic support and personal development programming. 

The conversation to create Guide KC gained momentum in 2023, post-pandemic when in-person meetings were possible and the community rallied behind securing a physical space in the area.

Although the pandemic delayed the project for a few years, fundraising efforts were still well underway to ensure that having a physical building in the Northeast could be a reality. 

Guide KC Youth Community Engagement Coordinator Nabil Abas said that it wasn’t until January 2025 when all the pieces began to fall into place as they were able to identify and secure the building for the future center located at 541 Elmwood Ave. 

Now with a building to house the nonprofit, Abas shared that the next steps are bringing the  building up to code with the City, cleaning and ensuring its safety to begin programming. 

“When the building was purchased, it wasn’t up to par in a safe condition and things needed to be removed so we just did a call out to our community members and they have really showed up,” Abas said. “This was a way we kind of rallied people and it showed us like, wow, we know people are really behind this.” 

While the building is still undergoing renovations and preparations for heating, ventilation and other necessary upgrades — and is still not being used by the community —  the organization hopes everything can be ready within the year, so that programming within the facility can begin to take place.

In regards to the type of programming it hopes to provide, sports and recreation, health and fitness, arts and culture and life skills workshops were all mentioned. Programming will be aimed at youth ages five to 22 with a  goal  to provide a comprehensive range of programs to support the holistic development of Muslim youth. 

Vice President of Guide KC Ali Awo said that with the programming and extracurriculars, he hopes Guide KC can help youth build their character, keep them out of trouble and guide them in the right path as they head into adulthood. 

“That’s why it’s important that they have a place outside their school or mosque, and can go to a place and open up, say what they need to say and talk about whatever issue they need to,” Awo said. “We want to let them know that we want to help you, that this will be a place that they can come and chill and find activities outside of school.” 

Outside of activities, mentoring and academic help would also be offered as Awo shared that many students, in particular Somali refugees, oftentimes do not have additional support to help them with their academics. 

Even though the building is not yet ready to host events and programming, Guide KC is continuing to co-sponsor events and activities with local mosques to ensure that the community and youth remains engaged.

As for what Guide KC wants the community to know, Awo said  that they are here and ready to partner with others. 

“We are here, we’re here to provide our support to any school that feels that they can benefit that they are in the area and ready to partner with others,” Awo said.  “From us or that we can benefit from them. We are here to collaborate with anybody who wants to work with us in such an important aspect as this of supporting youth in the Northeast area.” 

For more information on the organization visit: https://guidekcyouth.org/ or follow them on Instagram @guidekcyouth to stay up to date with its latest events.