Green Team Member

Melissa is a member of the class of 2022 at Sumner Academy of Arts and Science in the Sumner-Douglass neighborhood. She loves the environment and working outdoors. She has been a member of the Green Team since spring of 2021 and has since been involved in numerous collaborations with communities in Northeast Kansas City, Kansas, implementing new green infrastructure to enhance neighborhoods for residents. She has planted 49 trees and over 150 native plants in these neighborhoods, maintaining them by watering and weeding so that she is following through with neighborhood betterment, not just starting the process.

Other than the plantings she has done to better local communities, Melissa has poured concrete and improved trails to enhance the look of many of the abandoned lots in northeast neighborhoods. Besides working on construction and planting, Melissa has other interests regarding career skills that can be used to further benefit her community as well as others. After graduation, she plans on attending Kansas City Kansas Community College to complete her associate degree in biology. After she gets her associate, Melissa plans on traveling outside of the state to get her bachelor’s, master’s, and eventually a doctorate in marine biology. She is excited to continue bettering her own community and hopes to one day better communities across the globe, utilizing the skills developed during her community engagement with Green Team as well as the skills she will be learning in her post-secondary education.

Youth Programs Coordinator

The Rev. Stacy R. Evans was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri to Paul and Virginia Overman. She is the fourth born of three brothers and one sister.

She attended Kansas City, MO schools, until the fourth grade, at which time she moved to Raytown, MO, and attended school there until graduation.

With honors she graduated from Raytown South High School, and went on to attend the University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Journalism where she received a Bachelor’s of Journalism in Broadcasting and Producing Journalism, as well as a Minor in African American Studies. She worked as a journalist for 14 years at various radio stations including KPRS/KPRT, KGGN. She also worked as a reporter under Lucille Blueford and Donna Stewart at the Kansas City Call Newspaper.

In 1998 she earned a Master of Theological Studies from Saint Paul School of Theology, with an emphasis in Black Church Ministries.

During her years of working in radio, Rev. Evans also began working with young people; she has volunteered and has been employed by a number of youth organizations, teaching everything from journalism and language arts to environmental awareness.

Rev. Evans is an Itinerate Elder, and has been a Senior Pastor in the A.M.E. Church for 24 years. She is the former two term President of the African Methodist Episcopal Ministerial Alliance of Kansas City, MO, and Kansas City, KS, and served two terms as the Alliance Chaplain. She is now Chairperson of the Western University Association of the AME Church, as well as the Quindaro Ruins Townsite Project.

Today, Rev. Evans is the proud Pastor of Power of Faith AME Church, Kansas City, MO, where she continues to seek God’s face and learn from the people. Her motto is: “To God Be the Glory For the Things He Has Done!!!”

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Green Team Member

Olive Faulkner is part of Johnson County Community College’s class of 2025 and a Sumner Academy of Arts and Science graduate. They joined Green Team in the spring of 2021 due to their love of nature and desire to improve their community. “Nature is a second home to me, and knowing I can improve it brings me peace.” Being a part of Groundwork’s Green Team has allowed them to participate in numerous projects within the North East community, such as tree planting and watering, rehabilitating vacant lots such as 710 Oakland Ave, water testing, improving Parkwood Park’s beautify and natural health, recognizing and removing invasive plant species, planting native plants, and reconnecting with the Douglass-Sumner community. The skills they have developed while with Groundwork are vital to the bond the Green Team intends to create with the community. They hope to give the community the voice they deserve by improving community engagement and creating a safe space.

Operations Director

Adrianne (Adri) Showalter Matlock comes from a culturally Midwestern, East Texan, Houstonian, and Nazarene family. Since she moved to Wyandotte County 12 years ago, she has fallen in love with Kaw Point, chicory, biking with Terry Jackson, queer Wesleyan theology, the Flint Hills, UMKC Lady Roos basketball, the KCK Street Blues Fest, the Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin, and too many WyCo people, places, and moments to count. She is a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Kansas and perennial presenter at the Midwest Sociological Society. You can find her photography, sketches, and collages on Instagram @scorchedfeet, her only publication to date in the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, and her paternal family cemetery in Craig, MO.

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Heritage Trail Projects Coordinator

Mata Townsend, Communications & Planning Coordinator, originally hails from Flint, Michigan, but has lived in the Kansas City area for over 50 years. She served in the federal government for 36 years in the Departments of Treasury (DOT), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Commerce (DOC), and Labor (DOL), respectively. She was the recipient of the NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) EEO Award and was selected as the Employee of the Year in 2012 by the Internal Revenue Service, DOT. After ten years of retirement, Mata decided to return to service working in the AmeriCorps VISTA program to join Groundwork NRG to help fulfill its mission of neighborhood revitalization in the northeast corridor of Kansas City, Kansas.

Mata’s love of travel has taken her to France, Mexico, Thailand, Japan, Cambodia, and many locations in the states. She enjoys volunteering and was a Charter Member Ambassador for the Kauffman Center for Performing Arts and also served as its Social Director from 2010-2014. She has served as secretary for the Turtle Hill Community Association for the past six years. Mata is also the Lead Steward for her community garden, Liberty Orchard & Freedom Garden, which was installed through a grant through the Kansas City Giving Grove (KCGG) in 2016 with over 20 fruit trees and cherry, raspberry, and blackberry bushes. Mata is the proud mother of two, grandmother of three, and great grandmother to one great-granddaughter.

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Green Team Member

Ezra is a dedicated Green team member at Groundwork NRG. Prior to their professional role, they volunteered for 2 years, demonstrating their commitment to environmental and community development.

Raised in Riverside, beneath Northeast KCK, they attended Douglass Elementary before graduating with honors from Sumner Academy. These formative experiences instilled in them a deep appreciation for the Douglass-Sumner neighborhood. Motivated by their desire to give back to the community that shaped them.

Ezra is also eager to continue learning and growing, particularly in trade skills and gardening to pursue their dream of becoming a farmer.

Green Team Member

Gerardo Zapata—an attendee of Sumner Academy—joined the Green Team in March of 2021, a decision he made because of his love for nature and desire for change. He is quiet but can still bring lots of energy and enthusiasm. He loves music and his hobbies include playing guitar and bass. He still strives to learn more about the environment (and everything else).