Do The Right Thing: Utopia Point extends ‘beacon of light’ to those left in the shadows, in need of care

The following profile features one of five finalists for the “Do The Right Thing” social impact pitch competition organized by the KC BizCare Office, Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City and Startland News. Finalist features will be published throughout the week. Click here to read more features.

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Patricia McCreary is honoring her grandmother’s legacy by specializing in the redesign of the geriatric and disabled care community in Kansas City and beyond, she shared.

McCreary founded Margaret’s Place — an adult daycare, senior recreation and wellness center on Kansas City’s east side — in 2015 in honor of her grandmother, with whom she always had a special bond. Now McCreary — along with co-founder Shereese Hameed-Muhammad — is working to build Utopia Point, an extension of Margaret’s Place.

The mission, the co-founders said, is to provide a nurturing and inclusive environment dedicated to promoting health and wellness while enhancing quality of life.

“We want to make Kansas City be the hub on how to do senior and disabled care in the right way,” McCreary continued.

They duo currently is raising money for Phase 2 of Utopia Point, McCreary said, noting that when it’s finished the space will house Margaret’s Place and include a wellness center that mixes Eastern and Western modality, model housing for independent, assisted, and veterans living, chicken coops, and a garden. Phase 1 included purchasing the building at 35th and Woodland and Phase 2 will include building the wellness center.

Click here to learn more about the July 25 Do The Right Thing pitch competition.

“We like to think of ourselves as a beacon of light,” she explained. “We are really giving the seniors and disabled people a place in this world and it’s a duplicatable model that can go to different cities. So now we’re giving not just seniors and disabled people in Kansas City that place, we’re giving all people that place.”

“Then for the individuals who are not seniors or disabled, we’re creating a safe space that is a one stop shop for every mental health resource, every resource for your health, every resource for your life plan, every resource that you could need,” McCreary added.

Ariel view of Utopia Point; rendering courtesy of Utopia Point

Ariel view of Utopia Point; rendering courtesy of Utopia Point

Outdoor kitchen at Utopia Point; rendering courtesy of Utopia Point

Outdoor dining at Utopia Point; rendering courtesy of Utopia Point

The vision all started with her grandmother, Margaret Brown, who McCreary took care of as she got older and battled dementia, she shared. Needing a place to care for Brown during the day, they visited several facilities in Jackson County.

A photo of Patricia McCreary’s grandmother, Margaret Brown, at Margaret’s Place; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

“She said, ‘I’d rather sit at home and rot than go to any of these places,’” McCreary explained.

Six months after her grandmother passed away, she recalled, she opened the doors to Margaret’s Place, where she sought to address all of her grandmother’s concerns.

McCreary created a warm inviting environment that smells good, serves homemade, delicious, nutritious meals (made by a local chef and with produce from their garden), and offers fun, engaging, purpose-driven activities. It includes a cozy living room, movie theater, game room/man cave, zen space, outdoor space, plus a store where they can buy things with the “money” they earn from participating in activities.

“This is their home away from home,” McCreary said.

“Every single complaint (Brown) had, (McCreary) fixed in this lovely Margaret’s Place,” Hameed-Muhammad added, “and that transitions into the Utopia Point mindset.”

The secret sauce that McCreary added to her grandmother’s wishes is partnering with Hameed-Muhammad — founder of Peace For Your Pieces — to provide wellness resources to the participants, she said. Hameed-Muhammad — her best friend since high school and a certified life coach who also worked in the banking industry — meets with each participant to form a life plan and connects them to any wellness resources they might need.

“We want to create ways for you to be able to live your best life and to have the resources that you need,” McCreary noted.

Peace For Your Pieces Wellness Center

With the planned Utopia Point, many of those resources will be provided in the wellness center, the co-founders shared. The center will serve as a co-working space for wellness practitioners that can then provide their services — which could include things like speech therapy and acupuncture — to those at Margaret’s Place and members of the community. They also plan to continue to partner with Kanbe’s Market to provide fresh produce for the neighborhood.

“Everything we do here is intentional and it all was birthed for the senior and disabled demographic, but it’s for all of Jackson County, especially our wellness center,” McCreary explained. “Anybody in Jackson County or surrounding areas can go. We field different types of insurance. We’re also working on creating our own insurance.”

Future plans for Utopia Point also include a mural around the building dedicated to telling the Black history of Kansas City, Thumper’s Garden (named after Hameed-Muhammad’s biological father), chicken coops, a bath house for water therapy, a food pantry for the neighborhood, outdoor activities, plus a rooftop deck and an outdoor kitchen that will be available for event rental, McCreary and Hameed-Muhammad shared.

The duo also plan to build several shipping containers model homes for independent, assisted, veterans, and traveling nurse living, they continued. Although no one will live in them at Utopia Point, they will provide space for respite care when needed.

“They will be tiny house communities to show the city what they can do with these vacant lots,” McCreary explained.