Della Lamb Community Services

10/10/2026

Do you work with kids or teens in Jackson County? We want to connect with you!

This World Mental Health Day, our ask is simple: help us make sure more young people know that free mental health support is available to them.

Della Lamb provides free individual and group therapy for kids and teens ages 4–19 in Jackson County. We’re looking to build stronger relationships with schools, nonprofits, youth programs and community organizations already connected to young people.

Right now, we have a particular need to connect more teens with our group therapy sessions, where they have a safe place to talk, connect with their peers and be heard.

This year’s World Mental Health Day theme is “Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change.” That feels especially meaningful at Della Lamb. The young people we serve bring different stories, cultures, languages and experiences, including children and teens in our refugee and immigrant communities who may be navigating life in a new country while carrying experiences many of their peers cannot see.

If you serve kids or teens, are a parent, or are a young person looking for support yourself, we want you to know this resource is here. Help us make sure it reaches the young people who may need it.

Interested in partnering with us or learning more? Reach out to Laura at [email protected] or visit dellalamb.org/therapy

10/10/2026

Tomorrow is World Mental Health Day. So tonight, this is simply a reminder for anyone who might need it:
You are not forgotten.
There is a place for you here. There are people you haven’t met yet who will be so glad to know you.
You belong. 💙

10/07/2026

On October 1, changes to Medicaid eligibility took effect that impacts some of the refugee and immigrant families we serve.

For some families, that could mean losing access to health coverage they have relied on while rebuilding their lives in Kansas City. But a change in coverage doesn’t change the need for care.

A child still needs a checkup. A prescription still needs to be filled. And families still need someone who can help them understand a complicated healthcare system and what options are available to them. This is why sustaining this work matters.

For the past several months, our Refugee & Immigrant Services' Health & Wellness team has been preparing families for these changes, helping them understand what may happen to their coverage and where they can turn for care.

They also created a series of videos to help make this information accessible to more of our community. Resources are available in English, Spanish, Swahili, Haitian Creole, Pashto, Ukrainian, Kinyarwanda, Dari and Arabic.

We’ve made the full playlist available on YouTube for anyone who may need it. Please watch, share and help us get these resources into the hands of our neighbors who may be affected: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUI9TWbl_Z1k

Healthcare systems are complicated enough. No one should have to navigate these changes alone.

10/06/2026

For World Teachers’ Day, a reflection from a Della Lamb mom 💛

"Dear Della Lamb teachers,

Pierce started at Della when he was just 12 weeks old and basically grew up in your classrooms, all the way through Pre-K. This fall, he started kindergarten.

We recently got his first round of kindergarten assessments back, and he was above benchmark on two of his reading assessments and in the 91st percentile in math. I was so proud of him, but I also immediately thought about his teachers at Della Lamb.

I printed out the results and brought them in to show LaChon, who was his teacher for almost two years. I handed them to her and said, “You did this.” Then I looked around the room and realized four of his other former teachers were in there, too.

And honestly, that got me a little emotional. Five years after I first dropped him off as a tiny baby, so many of the same people who cared for him and taught him are still at Della Lamb, still doing the same for other kids. Especially in early education, I don’t think that’s something to take for granted.

Obviously, there are so many things that go into how a child learns and grows, but I know what I saw during his years there. His teachers really knew him. They knew when he needed help, when he needed to be pushed a little more, and, most importantly, they made him feel safe and loved.

I think that matters more than anything. Kids learn when they feel safe, and I never questioned whether Pierce felt safe at Della Lamb.

So to Joni, Debraniah, Muna, Jackie, Donelle, Terria, Whitney, and LaChon, thank you for everything you gave him during those five years. Teachers don’t always get to see what happens next for their students. I hope you know that the work you did with him didn’t end when he left your classroom.

He’s doing so well in kindergarten, and you’re a part of that.

With gratitude,
A very proud Della Lamb Mom"

Every day, our Early Education teachers are building relationships, creating safe places to learn and laying foundations that children will carry long after they leave our classrooms. Today, we’re especially grateful for the people who choose to do this work. 💛

09/25/2026

We made it.

Today, the final miles of the Walk for Welcome ended beneath the Gateway Arch, but Ryan didn’t walk them alone.

Friends from LifeWise StL, Archway Refugee Connections, Missouri Office of Refugee Administration, MUMF members, new friends from across St. Louis, staff from back in KC, and people from different communities, backgrounds and walks of life joined together for those final steps.

And maybe that’s the best way this walk could have ended.

For more than 300 miles, we’ve talked about what it means to welcome people. Today, we got to see it: people showing up, walking alongside one another and choosing to care.

Because even in a time when so much can feel divided, people are still trying. People are still showing up. People still want their communities to be places where others are seen, wanted and supported.

To everyone who walked, hosted, donated, shared, prayed, listened or simply followed along: thank you.

We’re excited to get back to Kansas City and keep showing you the work happening at home. And we’re not quite done sharing this journey either. We have more stories and moments from these final days that we can’t wait for you to see.

The walking is finished.

The work of welcome isn’t. ❤️

09/25/2026

09/25/2026

WE’RE HERE, ST. LOUIS! 🩵

Well over 300 miles walked to remind our communities that refugees and immigrants are still here. Still building lives. Still raising families. Still contributing to our communities. And still deserving to know they are seen, wanted and not forgotten.

Tonight, we’re looking forward to a great evening with LifeWise and other St. Louis partners who share that commitment.

Tomorrow, we walk the final miles.

Meet us at the Gateway Arch at 11 a.m. as we finish Walk for Welcome together, standing with our refugee and immigrant neighbors every step of the way.

09/24/2026

What does it look like to go beyond welcoming someone and make sure they feel truly seen?

Recently, our Health & Well-Being team sat down with refugees and newcomers in focus groups to listen. Not to assume what people need, but to hear directly about the barriers they’re facing, the systems that are difficult to navigate and what would help them feel safer and more supported.

That kind of listening matters.

Because welcome is more than opening a door. It’s making sure someone knows their voice matters once they’re inside. It’s seeing the person in front of you, listening to what they need and reminding them: you belong here, and you matter here.

Tomorrow, after more than 300 miles, Ryan will walk the final two miles to the Gateway Arch.

And maybe that’s what this whole walk has been leading us toward: not simply welcoming people, but building communities where people feel wanted, known and seen.

09/23/2026

Last night at The Well in Weldon Spring, a question came up that has stuck with us:

You can be welcomed. But do you feel wanted?

There’s a difference.

Welcome can be a smile, an open door or a friendly hello. But being wanted means being celebrated. It means someone is genuinely glad you’re here.

So with just two days left in the Walk for Welcome, we have a challenge: Don’t just welcome someone today. Find a way to make them feel wanted. Celebrated. Like their presence matters.

And we want to hear from you, too: What does welcome mean to you? Drop it in the comments. ❤️

Two days. One final stretch. Let’s finish this walk the way we started it: reminding people that they matter.

09/23/2026

We are not okay with this.

The administration has proposed admitting just 17,500 refugees next year, with those admissions expected to go primarily to Afrikaners, South Africa’s white ethnic minority.

And part of the justification?

The administration says it expects Afrikaners to “fully assimilate into the United States.”

Sit with that for a minute.

Because at the same time, Afghan allies who served alongside Americans are still waiting. Families who were already vetted and approved have been left behind. Children are growing up in refugee camps. People are fleeing war, religious persecution, genocide, authoritarian governments and gender-based violence.

For so many of them, the door remains closed.

But for a predominantly white population the administration believes will “fully assimilate,” we found a door.

This is not about whether an Afrikaner experiencing genuine persecution deserves safety. They do. Every human being does.

It is about the standard we are using to decide who gets that safety.

Is our refugee system for people fleeing persecution? Or is it for people we believe will “fit in”?

Those are not the same thing.

For nearly 300 miles, we have talked about seeing people others have stopped seeing. We have talked about human dignity. We have said that welcome cannot depend on where someone was born, what they look like or whether their story is convenient.

We meant it.

And we are not okay with this.